Falling From Grace: Understanding an Ethical Sanctioning Experience

Abstract

Although an ethical sanction is viewed as an incredibly stressful event for professional counselors, the experience of being sanctioned is not well known. This article provides an overview of the sanctioning process, a discussion of professional silence, and a case example of a sanctioning experience for a counselor. The sanctioning experience is described in a 3-stage response sequence and is illustrated with journal entries from a sanctioned counselor. Response interventions for each stage are suggested, and implications for the counseling profession are offered.

“Don’t Shame Me; Walk with Me”

“…Accordingly, this literature review includes the findings of studies related to social workers and allied professionals. Existing research on licensed social workers, nurses, family and marriage therapists, psychologists, and counselors suggests that when licensees are sanctioned for ethical or legal violations, they experience significant personal and professional consequences (LaDuke, 2001;Thomas, 2005;Warren & Douglas, 2012;Wilkinson et al, 2019). Personal consequences refer to physical, emotional, and social impacts, including relationships with family and friends.…”

“…They questioned the necessity of publicizing their sanctions. In an article based on a case study of sanctioned counselors, Warren and Douglas (2012) highlight the negative impacts of stigma and professional isolation. Given the stigma associated with being sanctioned, licensees may have trouble identifying and accessing support such as professional supervision or counseling.…”

Conceptualization and initial measurement of counseling ethics competency: the influence of spirituality and self-efficacy

“…Professional work in counseling is characterized by Initial measurement of counseling ethics unclear problems, multiple dimensions and commonly fraught with values and ethical implications (McAuliffe and Eriksen, 2011). There are multiple ethical challenges faced by the registered counselors; therefore, they need to be prepared for complexities in their counseling work, which is illustrated in the many challenges such as ethnicities, gender expectations, multiple society values, moral centers and ethical judgments (Warren and Douglas, 2012;Zakaria, 2007Zakaria, , 2013Zakaria and Warren, 2014;Zakaria and Warren, 2016).…”

“…Professional work in counseling is characterized by unclear problems, multiple dimensions and commonly fraught with values and ethical implications (McAuliffe and Eriksen, 2011). There are multiple ethical challenges faced by the registered counselors; therefore, they need to be prepared for complexities in their counseling work, which is illustrated in the many challenges such as ethnicities, gender expectations, multiple society values, moral centers and ethical judgments (Warren and Douglas, 2012; Zakaria, 2007, 2013; Zakaria and Warren, 2014; Zakaria and Warren, 2016). To meet these professional expectations, registered counselors need to develop competence in ethical standards of professional organizations and credentialing bodies, as well as competence in the application of ethical and legal considerations.…”

Fast forwarding Higher Education Institutions for Global Challenges

“…An individual could also grasp ethics understandings through life experiences gained from the interactions with families, friends, communities, and spirituality affi liations. An individual with ethics enthusiasm and curiosity could learn a great deal about ethics education from direct instructional learning environment by enrolling in a formal ethics education class, dialoguing with ethics educators, exchanging information with ethics experts, attending ethics education workshops and conferences, or even making one's own ethical mistakes throughout a career lifespan (Warren and Douglas 2012 ). These direct instructional mediums embed and infuse ethics education content through good classroom ethics pedagogy.…”