Faculty Articles

Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling’s Best Practices in Addressing Conscience Clause Legislation in Counselor Education and Supervision

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling

ISSN

1553-8338

Publication Date

2019

Abstract

The amount of various, state-level legislation allowing the denial of counseling services to individuals with values that conflict with those of the professional counselor continues to increase. Such laws are in direct conflict with the values, principles, and ethical standards of the counseling profession. These “conscience clause” legislations are of concern due to the ability of the counseling profession to safeguard and protect the welfare of clients seeking counseling services. Potently, however, much of the focus of conscience clause legislation centers around the legal sanctioning of bias and refusal to provide services to affectional and gender minority clients, and the intersection of sexual/affectional orientation to spiritual and religious values. Provided is a review of these laws and the way they clash with the counseling profession. To assist profession counselors in navigating appropriate ethical behavior, specific counseling-appropriate and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer affirming recommendations are provided. Each layer of professional counseling, direct work with clients, supervision, and counselor education, is addressed.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/15538605.2019.1565800

Volume

13

Issue

1

First Page

2

Last Page

27

Peer Reviewed

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