Roles and Importance of Ethics in the Counseling Profession

Abstract

Absence of rules, guidelines, or instruction in any setting will lead to chaos. Ethics is a written law, and in this chapter, the focus is on the role and importance of ethics in counselling. Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the morality of human actions. Every professional body is governed by ethics and counselling profession is not exclusive. Counselling Association of Nigeria (CASSON) does not have already established ethical codes due to several challenges but the ethical codes of American Counselling Association (ACA) and British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) have been very helpful. These major associations (ACA and BACP) are guided by similar ethical principles and code of ethics. Without ethics, counselling will achieve nothing or very little of her goals. Hence, the roles and importance of ethics in counselling is crucial; it sets order and guarantees a total and healthy human development.