 With so many healthcare workers publicly stating their intention to refuse care or even harm people over conflicting values and political beliefs, it’s important to review exactly what professional ethics require of our different professions. In this post, I will highlight the ethical codes for the three main counseling professions: Clinical Mental Health Counseling (LMHC), Marriage and Family Therapy (LMFT), and Social Work (LCSW). All three of these professions require a state license in order to practice as a counselor or therapist in the United States, although different states may use different titles. If you’re not sure what the difference is between these three professions, here is a previous article which explains them.  Clinical Mental Health Counselors (LMHCs) Governed by: American Counseling Association’s (ACA) Code of Ethics In its preamble to the code, the ACA describes 6 guiding core values. Although the ACA is the only one of the three counseling professions’ ethical codes to name them, these core values have historical context and are used as the basis for the majority of healthcare ethical principles, so it’s important to understand them.
Each of the three counseling professions, like most healthcare professions, use these ethical values as a guide for their profession-specific codes of ethics. In addition to the above-linked Code of Ethics for LMHCs, please see the Codes for LMFTs and LCSWs, listed below with their professional governing bodies. Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFTs) Governed by: American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy’s (AAMFT) Code of Ethics Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs) Governed by: National Association of Social Workers’ (NASW) Code of Ethics Although written with different language, each of the three codes also emphasize the values of equality, social justice, and integrity between clinicians and clients as well as between professionals. The professional organizations also provide resources and encourage consultation between professionals when ethical concerns arise.   At Issue: Social Justice vs. Individual Justice The ACA Preamble instructs Counselors that “promoting social justice” is a professional value. Social workers are described as promoting “social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients” in their Preamble, while Marriage and Family Therapists’ Commitment Statement includes being “concerned with developing laws and regulations pertaining to marriage and family therapy that serve the public interest, and with altering such laws and regulations that are not in the public interest”. This commitment to social justice does not include advocating for political, moral, religious, sexual, racial, or other forms of justice. While Counselors are ethically obligated not to discriminate, the professional ethics of social justice refer only to mental health advocacy. The professional associations do not have any authority on clinicians’ personal, individual advocacy choices or values. Some counselors or therapists struggle with the balance between their responsibilities towards individuals vs. their responsibilities towards the social system. If an individual therapist also has difficulty with the basic counseling skill of ‘bracketing’ - the setting aside of one’s personal beliefs and biases in order to provide nonjudgmental service to clients - they are at risk of harming their clients and violating their professional ethical requirements. Given the above, logic dictates that refusing to treat a client whose profession or political views differ from the therapist’s own is a clear violation of professional ethical standards. Whether or not this constitutes a legal issue is best answered by attorneys.   So will he/she judge me, or what? In an ideal world, your therapist will not judge you. Well-trained counselors with high ethical standards will do their best to think of you with “unconditional positive regard” (Carl Rogers, Ph.D., Person-Centered Therapy) and remember the statement “people are doing the best they can at any given moment” (Dr. Marsha Linehan, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy). They actively work to view issues from their clients’ unique perspectives. They proactively seek out professional supervision or consultation when they have difficulty reconciling an issue with their personal values. They do not refuse to treat clients who have views contrary or offensive to their own. Unfortunately, the world is not ideal. While none of us are perfect and we all hold our own biases, a skilled counselor will do their best to self-examine their responses and behaviors, maintain emotional homeostasis, and keep their professional composure. Unskilled or inexperienced therapists might have difficulty with these tasks. If you are feeling judged by your therapist, tell them. Most of the time, counselors welcome constructive criticism and will do their best to repair the professional relationship with you. There are, however, certain times when a counselor or therapist is ethically required to refer you to a different provider, but only for legitimate treatment reasons, such as the counselor not being trained in a particular area. Some examples of these areas include addictions, eating disorders, or gender reassignment, as clients with these issues are best served by counselors with specialized training. Counselors can and do still work with clients in their own areas of expertise, such as counseling a transgender person for depression, anxiety, or trauma while referring out for the gender reassignment counseling. I think my therapist is judging me due to my political views. What do I do? The first thing to do is to talk to your therapist directly and tell them how you feel. Give them the opportunity to reflect on what they’ve said or done that has made you feel uncomfortable. Hopefully, it’s an honest misunderstanding that an apology and open discussion will resolve. If talking directly to your counselor doesn’t resolve the issue, you can call the office and speak to their supervisor. You can request reassignment to a different counselor, or referral to another agency. Lastly, you can consider whether to file a formal complaint with the therapist’s professional association or licensing board. This ‘nuclear option’ should be reserved for serious violations involving significant harm or distress, not as a means of getting revenge, because you’re angry, or because you disagree with your counselor’s personal values. They, too, have a right to their beliefs outside of the counseling session, and filing frivolous complaints not only damages the individual counselor, but the profession as a whole. Links to Other Professional Codes of Ethics: Now that you know about mental health ethical standards and what to do in case of a conflict with your therapist, I invite you to review the following links to the ethical codes of other common healthcare professions. Doctors/Physicians: AMA-Code Homepage Nurses: 2025 Code of Ethics for Nurses | American Nurses Enterprise Anesthesiologists: Principles for the Ethical Practice of Anesthesiology Nurse Anesthetists: AANA | Professional Practice Manual Emergency Medical Services: EMS Code of Ethics Dentists: Code of Ethics | American Dental Association Medical Assistants: aama-code-of-conduct-and-disciplinary-standards.pdf One More Link: Lastly, because it is trending on social media recently, this is a link to the potential criminal charges and lawsuit liability that tampering with someone’s food can bring. Don't risk it! Is It Illegal to Spit in Someone’s Food? - LegalClarity Heidi E. Jameson, LMHC is the founder of The Mangroves Seeds of Change, LLC. You can read more about her here.
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 Happy New Year! Periodically, we like to share some of our favorite feel-good content on the internet. In case you missed them, here are a couple: Depression Busters! Funny Stuff to Watch when Feeling Down Five Favorite Feel-Good YouTube Channels To start off the new year, we have a few more content creators who we find funny, positive, and non-political (the trifecta!): Josh Pray Josh has a lot of great content, but my favorites are his “5 things” videos. Not too short, not too long, and always funny. Josh Pray - YouTube Just Josh Pray 😥 (@_joshpray) / X Josh Pray - Facebook Josh Pray - Instagram  OMGItsWicks I’m not going to lie. I came very close to buying a flipphone last time I upgraded, just so I could flip it up like Wicks does! OMGitsWicks - YouTube (1) omgitswicks (@omgitswicks) / X OMGitsWicks | TikTok Omgitswicks / Florida sketch comedy (@omgitswicks) • Instagram photos and videos  Garron (Irish humor) Be forewarned, he curses and is rude, but if you can get past that, he is really funny! Some of our favorites are his food reviews. Garron - YouTube  JOne8 When I discovered JOne8, aka Jalen Hinton, I discovered I was a black parent. He had me laughing as I thought about my own upbringing - and some of the things I’ve said as a parent! J.One.8 - YouTube Jalen Hinton (@thej.one.8) | TikTok Jalen Hinton (@j.one.8) • Instagram photos and videos JONE8TV - Twitch JOne8 on Facebook  Chris Chris The first video I saw was the Christian-approved dances, and I nearly spit out my coffee! If you were raised in the church, like I was, this should tickle your funny bones, too. Chris Chris - YouTube Chris Chris (@chrischris011) • Instagram photos and videos Chris Chris Comedy on Facebook Chris Chris on TikTok  Adrian Bliss Adrian’s deadpan delivery and quirky sense of humor about history, bodily functions, and the Bible keep me giggling! Another one that is not always for young audiences, but much of it is fine. Just prescreen before showing the youngsters. Adrian Bliss - YouTube Adrian Bliss - TikTok Adrian Bliss (@adrianbliss) / X Adrian Bliss (@adrianbliss) • Instagram photos and videos With this recent collection of funny stuff, we wish you good mental health and much happiness in this hope-filled new year. *We are not affiliated with any of the creators listed above, and do not receive any compensation for listing them. In fact, we’re pretty sure they are unaware we exist.
Heidi E. Jameson, LMHC is the founder of The Mangroves Seeds of Change, LLC. You can read more about her here. |
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