Foreword - Special issue: legal and ethical issues in school counseling

Professional School Counseling, Oct, 2002 by Theodore P. Remley, Jr.

Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of consulting with school counselors regarding the legal and ethical challenges they encounter in their professional positions. I have written on this topic, conducted numerous workshops, served as an expert witness in school counselor malpractice cases, served on licensure boards that have reviewed complaints against school counselors, and talked with individual school counselors as they have struggled with difficult legal and ethical issues.

Both the professional literature and my own experiences have led me to the conclusion that school counselors, to a greater degree than counselors who practice in other settings, are continually challenged with legal and ethical problems. I believe legal, and ethical issues arise more often for school counselors because their clients are minors, they have responsibilities to numerous constituencies (students, their parents and guardians, teachers, and administrators), they have such large numbers of students to counsel, and they work in a setting that requires compliance with many complex federal and state statutes.

The knowledgeable and talented authors in this special issue of Professional School Counseling have addressed important legal and ethical concerns of school counselors. They have provided a foundation for their topics from the professional literature and have offered practical guidelines for the professional practice of counselors in schools.

The collection of articles begins with a quiz Wayne C. Huey and I developed to highlight sections of the American School Counselor Association and the American Counseling Association codes of ethics. Hopefully, readers will learn about these codes as they take the quiz. In addition, it is our hope that the information in the article will be used to educate and enhance the professional development of school counselors in the future.

Mary A. Hermann, who is a lawyer and a counselor educator, has summarized a research study she completed in which school counselors reported the actual legal issues they face most often and the degree to which they feel prepared to address these issues. Harriet L. Glosoff and Robert H. Pate, Jr., have explored the difficult area of privacy for minor clients in school settings. Two important court rulings related to school counselor negligence in the areas of academic advising and abortion counseling have been reviewed by Carolyn Stone.

Counseling students who are at risk for harming themselves or others probably poses the most difficult legal and ethical dilemmas for school counselors. Counselors must make professional decisions that have serious consequences for their clients and their families. David Capuzzi has offered information on suicide prevention and counseling potentially suicidal students. In addition, Mary A. Hermann and Abbe Finn have offered advice on counseling and managing students who have the potential for violence. Finally, legal and ethical issues related to both administrative and clinical supervision for school counselors has been explored by Barbara Herlihy, Neal Gray, and Vivian McCollum.

School counselors must continually update themselves on legal and ethical dimensions of their practices. Hopefully, the articles in this issue of Professional School Counseling will provide helpful information and practical guidelines for practice. Producing this collection of excellent articles was possible because of the outstanding contributions of each of the authors and the friendly cooperation and superb editing of Kenneth E Hughey, past editor of Professional School Counseling.

Theodore P. Remley, Jr., J.D., Ph.D., is professor and chair, Department of Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Foundations at the University of New Orleans, LA.