In no more than 2000 words you are required to complete an essay on ethical issues in the practice of counselling, by addressing the following question:

When working with clients, there are times when a counsellor’s personal values create challenges in their ability to work ethically. From the list provided*, you are asked to identify which client would be most difficult for you to work with from an ethical perspective. 

It is suggested students address the following three subheadings in their essay:

• Personal values: Analyse and reflect upon why this case is personally challenging, outlining the personal values that are involved.
• Risks & Difficulties: Discuss the potential risks and difficulties for you as a counsellor and consider the potential ethical implications if these ethical risks are not managed
• Practical strategies: Outline how you would respond to such challenges in your work by providing practical strategies to support ethical practice for counsellors.

Within these subheadings, students should address the following assignment Criteria (see unit guide for more detail)

1.Demonstrates an understanding of values and the potential implications for both counsellor/client acknowledging relevant ethical codes and legislation

2.The essay demonstrates insightful personal self-reflection

3.Suggestions are made for responding to the ethical issues

4.A selection of relevant and recent journal articles are considered in the discussion of the ethical issue, with an integrated critical discussion of these where appropriate.

5.Presentation and mechanics (word limit, expression, referencing etc).

• Your essay must include insightful personal reflection, and such statements should refer to your own counselling practice (or future practice).
• The two clients should be discussed separately, amounting to no more than 1500-2000 words for each client scenario.
• The essay should convey a scholarly tone, using carefully selected, recent academic references to support ideas. You may write in the first person when engaging in self reflection.
• Referencing and in text citations should be formatted with APA (6th ed) style; a Virtual Tutorial is available through the Monash University library system. Students should include a minimum of 6 relevant journal articles to support their ideas. Articles should be no more than 10 years old.

• 1. Can we write in the first person? You may write in first person when referring to your self reflection/opinion. The assignment does suggest you write with a “scholarly tone”. It is suggested you aim for this for the main part of the assignment, e.g., when critically appraising literature. Then you might revert to first person during self reflection/adding personal perspecitve.
• 2. Do I need a cover sheet / title page? No. Please place your total word count at the top of your 1st page.
• 3. Do I have to use subheadings?Yes, this makes it clear for the reader. Your subheadings should clearly relate to the key components of the essay to guide the reader as to when you are changing between one element and another. This also keeps you on track and makes it clear that you have addressed all parts.

4. Is there a specific format for headings/margins? We request APA referencing (in relation to your citation formatting), but not APA formatting of margins/headings. Headings should be clearly marked and consistently formatted within you paper (but not necessarily conform to APA requirements) We do ask that you use Size 12 font preferred and 1.5 or double spacing. Margins should be at least “normal” size at minimum, to enable markers to add comments on the side of the document.

• 5. Should we follow the essay structure when constructing our assessment (introduction, body, conclusion) or would you like us to get straight into the analysis, reflection, discussion and response after identify which case we will address? The word limit will likely mean that option b of these suggestions is more appropriate to best make use of the small number of words you have (ie. identify which case you have selected and work to the criteria immediately). There is no need for a global introduction linking the two cases, it likely is not the best use of words.
• 6. Do I need to use the Steinman et al., ethical decision making model for Assignment 1?This assignment does not require you to work through the ethical decision making model (this is for assignment 2). The first assignment is an essay which has self reflective elements and that is informed by a range of recent literature.
• 7. Do I need to explicitly define theoretical terms? It is always good to provide a brief definition (and cite the source), that way the reader can be sure the meaning you are applying to a given term.
• 8. I have completed the first case study and am ready to begin the second. I am concerned that there will be significant repetition in writing the second part of the essay. Will this be a problem? Choose two cases that enable you to explore a range of core values if possible. You should aim to discuss the cases separately in the main, but you maychoose to complete section three for both cases together if it’s more appropriate (practical strategies).  Just be sure that you address all criteria for both cases.

• Refer to the Unit Guide for detailed criteria
• Moodle discussion forums have been set up to ask questions about assessment tasks, check to see your question has not already been answered before emailing your lecturer.
• Remember to use your Monash email address when contacting your lecturer, Monash University policy does not allow correspondence with students via external email accounts.
• What makes a good assignment?
• Address the marking criteria
• Sub headings to guide the marker
• Clear concise points and effective use of paragraphing
• Consistent referencing using APA (6th ed)
• Assessment feedback will be provided within 15 working days of submission for Assessment 1 and 20 working days following submission of Assignment 2.
• Only letter grades (not marks) are provided to students during semester for completed assessment tasks. Final grades are released to students on the date of official publication of results by the University, following the Board of Examiners meeting.