# Ethics, self-care & professional growth

Grounded in the ACA Code of Ethics (the code in the CTEVT course pack) and the curriculum's ethics tasks. Ethics is not a list to memorise; it is how trust is manufactured, session after session.

## The seven working principles

| Principle | What it demands (ACA sections) | The Nepali edge-case |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Client welfare first | Dignity and welfare above everything, including the family's wishes (A.1) | When parents demand "fix him", the client is still the young person |
| Informed consent | Explain, verbally and simply: what counselling is, risks, fees, limits; ongoing, not one-time (A.2) | Low literacy → consent by clear conversation, witnessed; minors → assent + guardian consent, weighed against the young person's growing capacity, and never when the guardian is the source of harm |
| Confidentiality & its limits | Nothing shared without consent: EXCEPT serious foreseeable harm to self or others, child abuse, or court order; disclose the minimum (B.1–B.2) | In a small village everyone knows your door; where you park, who greets you: all leak. Session one covers the limits |
| Boundaries & dual relationships | No sexual/romantic contact, current or recent former clients (A.5); avoid overlapping roles; gifts weighed culturally (A.10.f) | Dual relationships are unavoidable in villages: manage them openly and in supervision rather than pretending they don't exist; a khada or fruit may be respect, cash is not |
| Competence & its boundaries | Practice only what you are trained for; know your referral line; monitor your effectiveness (C.2) | You are the only "mental health person" for hours in any direction: the temptation to exceed competence is the ethical test of the job |
| Nondiscrimination | No discrimination by caste, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, status (C.5) | Caste is the test Nepal adds: the same cup of tea, the same chair, the same touch, for every client |
| Records & honesty | Accurate, secure, code-numbered records; honest representation of your qualifications (A.1.b, C.4) | "Counselor" ≠ "doctor": never let a community upgrade your title |

**Template in the CTEVT course pack:** the Nepali informed-consent form (Nepali_Psychosocial_Informed_Consent_Form) covers exactly what this row requires: voluntary participation and the right to stop, confidentiality and its legal/safety limits, written consent before sharing information, referral possibility, no guaranteed outcome, and guardian signature for minors. Practise explaining every line aloud in plain Nepali.

**Self-care is an ethical duty, not a luxury** (ACA C.2.g: impairment). Listening to trauma wears the listener: secondary traumatic stress and burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, dread of clients) impair the service.

The curriculum's professionalism list is your maintenance schedule:

- Regular supervision
- Peer support
- Reading and refresher training
- Reasonable caseload
- The same sleep, movement, boundaries, and connection you prescribe to clients
- Care-for-caregiver training
- Knowing when to pause practice
**Growth:** read journals, consult seniors, join professional associations, attend ToT and higher studies, advocate for counselling services.

## The APA's five principles, and a ladder for hard decisions

The class notes teach the American Psychological Association code alongside the ACA's. Its five *general principles* are aspirations (what a good counselor reaches for); its *ethical standards* are enforceable rules. The seven working principles above are the standards in daily clothes.

| Principle | In one line | Where it bites in Nepal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A · Beneficence and nonmaleficence | Do good, and above all do no harm; look after your own burnout before it reaches the client | One counselor for a whole district: rest is part of the job |
| B · Fidelity and responsibility | Be trustworthy, know your role, own your duty to the community | Say clearly what you are and are not; keep the referral promise |
| C · Integrity | Honest, accurate, no deception or inflated credentials | "Counselor" stays "counselor" on the signboard |
| D · Justice | Fair access and equal quality for everyone; watch your own bias | Caste, language, distance from the road |
| E · Respect for rights and dignity | Privacy, self-determination, cultural identity | The client decides, even when the family speaks first |

**Confidentiality's three mandatory limits**, in the APA's words:

1. Imminent danger to self or others (the "duty to warn")
2. Suspected abuse or neglect of a child, elder, or vulnerable adult
3. A binding legal order
**When a dilemma has no clean answer, climb the ladder:**

1. Name the conflict precisely; code against law against client wish
2. Map the context: culture, vulnerability, power, who else is affected
3. Consult: the code, the law, your supervisor
4. List the options and weigh each one's consequences
5. Act, and write down what you decided and why
Key points

1. Client welfare first, informed consent, confidentiality with its limits, boundaries, competence, nondiscrimination, honest records: the seven working principles.
2. Confidentiality yields only to imminent danger, child abuse, or a legal order, and then only the minimum needed.
3. Self-care is an ethical duty: supervision, rest and boundaries keep the counselor safe for the client.
Learn more

Pick one, not all.

Code**ACA Code of Ethics: sections A, B, C**: the document in the CTEVT course pack; read A and B before your first client.

Video · 15 min[Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong](https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong): an ethics lesson disguised as an addiction talk: connection over judgment. Its "connection" thesis is contested; take it as a lens, not a finding.

Book**Irvin Yalom, The Gift of Therapy**: 85 short chapters of humane craft wisdom; read one per day.


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*Source: https://manoatlas.com/ethics · Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Mano Atlas is an educational resource, not a diagnostic tool.*