Adhering to the code of ethics is essential to any counselor’s or psychologist’s practice. It allows clients and professionals to build trusting relationships that are professional and based on mutual respect of boundaries. Privacy and confidentiality are the key principles of an ethical code of conduct. Several organizations have developed a universal code of ethics for specialists working in mental health. The paper compares and contrasts the privacy and confidentiality regulations of the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC), the American Psychological Association (APA), and the American Counseling Association (ACA).
Each organization structured its codes of ethics uniquely, yet they all cover the topic of privacy and confidentiality. In NAADAC, that part is referred to as Principle II: Confidentiality and Privileged Communication, and it involves 29 paragraphs regarding each part of the working process of the addiction counselor’s job (NAADAC). All principles are written separately, so the general appearance of the paragraphs is not systematic. On the contrary, the ACA code of ethics is structured with topics and subtopics. Its section B is devoted specifically to privacy and confidentiality (ACA). The section has seven subsections, each having several paragraphs of regulations. Such a system makes the code of ethics simpler to refer to as it is organized logically.
Finally, the APA code of ethics has section 4 devoted to privacy and confidentiality. Similar to the ACA, the APA has structured its section into logical subsections such as 4.01, 4.02, etc., with paragraphs marked with letters (a), (b), and (c) for referential convenience (APA). Overall, all code of ethics meets their objective of being accessible and logically structured documents that aid professionals and clients in conducting their practice ethically.
References
ACA. Ethics.
APA. Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct.
NAADAC. Code of Ethics.