CODE OF ETHICS FOR REGISTERED AND LICENSED GUIDANCE

COUNSELORS
Article I
General Ethical Principle
Section 1. Observance of Principles. Guidance Counselors shall observe the
following basic and general principles:
1.1 Abide by the ethical principle laid down by the Guidance and Counseling
Profession.
1.2 Not misuse the professional relationship for profit, power, or prestige, or
for professional gratification nor consonant with the welfare of his Counselee.
1.3 Realize that his professional time and effort are fully, faithfully,
conscientiously, and truthfully devoted to the accomplishment and
improvement of the guidance and counseling profession.
1.4 Grow professionally and keep abreast with current trends in guidance
work through continuing professional education and affiliate himself with
reputable and recognized local, national and international guidance
associations.
Article II
Relationship with Counselee
Sec. 2. Counselors Relationship with Counselee. Counselors shall establish and
maintain good relations with their counselees and, accordingly, shall:
2.1 Respect the personhood and integrity of the person with whom he works.
2.2 Recognize individual differences.
2.3 Clarify his role to the Counselee.
2.4 Establish professional relationship with the Counselee.
2.5 Explain results of tests and other diagnostic tools in a comprehensive and
constructive manner.
2.6 Give information about the Counselee only to person who can be of help to
the Counselee and is done only with the approval of the Counselee and/or his
parents or guardian. When revelations may result in possible harm to the
Counselee or to someone else, or may endanger the community of the
country, he must report the facts to appropriate authorities and take
emergency measures to prevent any untoward event or harm to Counselee.
2.7 Recommend a referral when it is indicated that the Counselee does not
benefit from the guidance relationship, but assume responsibility for the

welfare of the Counselee until the guidance responsibility is assumed by the

person whom the Counselee has been referred.
Article III
Relationship with the Community
Sec. 3. Counselors Relationship with Community. Guidance Counselors shall
establish and maintain good relations with their community, and, accordingly, shall:
3.1 Establish a relationship between the community and the guidance program
in a manner that is beneficial to both.
3.2 Show sensible regard for and ethical recognition of the social code and moral
expectations of the community in which he works and strives to elevate the
understanding of its social and cultural traditions.
3.3 Attend to the needs, problems, aspirations, and human resources of the
community in order to enable him to give relevant service responses, and to
develop a wholesome community spirit.
Article IV
Relationship with Colleagues in the Profession
Sec. 4. Guidance Counselors Relationship with their Peers. Guidance Counselors
shall establish with their colleagues, and, accordingly, shall:
4.1 Initiate peer relations and maintain high standards of professional
competence in the guidance and counseling discipline.
4.2 Keep relationships on a professional level by refraining from petty personal
actions.
4.3 Consult colleagues as a matter of professional courtesy, when planning to
initiate a professional activity likely to encroach upon his colleagues
recognized academic disciplines or researches.
4.4 Give accurate information and avoid any misrepresentation or unclear
explanations.
4.5 Hold responsible for proper permission from and adequate recognition of
authors and publishers of counseling and testing instruments which he uses
and sees to it that psychological tests are administered only by
professionally-trained and competent guidance personnel under his direct
supervision.
Article V
Research and Publications
Sec. 5.Guidance Counselors Attitude on Research and Publications. Guidance

Counselors shall undergo research and publications and, accordingly, shall:

5.1 Undertake research to contribute to the achievement of the Guidance and
Counseling profession.
5.2 In conducting research, adhere to the highest standards of research
methodology.
5.3 In reporting results of researches, reveal the identity of the subjects of
research only with the permission of the subjects concerned and only for
professional purposes.
5.4 Acknowledge the source of his ideas and material in his research as well as
in his publications, and recognize divergent opinions from responsible
person.
Article VI
Miscellaneous Provisions
Sec. 6. Administrative Penalties. Any registered and licensed Guidance Counselor
who violates any provision of this Code shall be administratively liable under Sec. 24,
Art. III of R.A. No. 9258 and Sec. 24, Rule III of Board Resolution No. 02, Series of
2007, the RR of R.A. No. 9258.
Sec.7. Separability Clause. If any part of this Code is declared unconstitutional or
invalid, the remaining provision/s or part/s thereof not affected thereby, if
separable, shall continue to be valid, enforceable, and operational.

CODE OR MANUAL OF TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR REGISTERED

AND LICENSED GUIDANCE COUNSELORS
This Technical Standards of Good Practice considers the changing
circumstances in which Guidance and Counseling is now being delivered
changes in the range of issues and levels of need presented by clients;
professional growth in levels of expertise from practitioners, ongoing
continuing education programs; and the accumulated experience of the
Guidance and Counseling Profession Association over four decades.

Guidance and Counseling practice is found in various settings. The

diversity of settings oftentimes may have a practitioner working alone or two
or more practitioners providing Guidance and counseling services within an
institution (school, community, industry, private counseling clinic, hospital,
counseling center, and hospice). Modes of delivery services vary from one
setting to more than one. Thus, practitioners are faced with the challenge of
responding to diverse clients in diverse settings and helping them effectively.
The term practitioner refers to anyone providing professional Guidance
and Counseling services as mandated by Republic Act No. 9258 (The
Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004) and the Implementing Rules and
Regulations attached to this Law. Professional Guidance and Counseling
services rendered for free or for a fee must be delivered only by licensed
professionals. The term client as a generic term refers to the recipient of
any of these services. Terms practitioner and client may have alternative
names in the practice setting as terminology varies according to context and
custom.
I. MAINTAINING A STANDARD OF GOOD PRACTICE
All clients are entitled to a standard of practice from practitioners in
Guidance and Counseling. Standards of good practice require professional
competence; good relationships with clients and colleagues; and
commitment to and observance of professional ethics.
Good quality of practice requires competently-delivered services that meet
the clients need by practitioners who are appropriately supportive and
accountable.
1. Practitioners should give careful consideration to the limitations of their
training and experience and work within these limits, taking advantage of
available professional support. If work with clients requires the provision of
additional services operating in parallel with guidance and counseling, the
availability of such services ought to be taken into account, as their absence
may constitute a significant limitation.
2. Good practice involves clarifying and agreeing to the rights and
responsibilities of both the practitioner and client at appropriate points in
their working relationship.
3. Dual relationships arise when the practitioner has two or more kinds of
relationship concurrently with a client, for example, client and trainee,
acquaintance and client, colleague and supervisee. The existence of a dual
relationship with a client is seldom neutral and can have a powerful
beneficial or detrimental impact that may not always be easily foreseeable.
For these reasons, practitioners are required to consider the implications of
entering into dual relationships with clients, to avoid entering into

relationships that are likely to be detrimental to clients as they are

accountable to clients and colleagues for any dual relationship that may
occur.
4. Practitioners are encouraged to keep appropriate records of their work with
clients. All records should be accurate, respectful of clients and colleagues
and protected from unauthorized disclosure. Practitioners should take into
account their Guidance and Counseling Act (Republic Act 9258), the Code of
Ethics, and any other legal requirements.
5. Clients are entitled to competently-delivered services that are periodically
reviewed by the practitioner. These reviews may be conducted, when
appropriate, in consultation with clients, supervisors, managers, or other
practitioners with relevant expertise.
II. MAINTAINING COMPETENT PRACTICE
6. All practitioners must have regular and on-going continuing education in
view of professional development. Managers/directors,
coordinators/supervisors, educators, researchers and providers of counseling
services including volunteers in counseling centers and various settings are
required to review periodically their need for professional and personal
growth and to upgrade their skills, knowledge, and competencies.
7. Regularly monitoring and reviewing ones work is essential to maintaining
good practice. It is important to be open to appraisals and assessments and
be conscious in considering feedbacks from colleagues. Responding
constructively to feedbacks helps to advance the practice.
8. Practitioners should be conscientiously aware of any legal requirements
concerning their work and be legally accountable for their practice.
III. KEEPING TRUST
9. The practice of Guidance and Counseling depends on gaining and honoring
the trust of clients. Keeping trust requires an attentiveness to the quality of
listening and respect offered to clients, culturally appropriate ways of
communicating that are courteous and clear, maintaining respect for privacy
and dignity, and careful attention to clients consent and confidentiality.
10. Clients should be adequately informed about the nature of the services
being offered. Practitioners should obtain a written and informed consent
from their clients and respect a clients right to choose as to whether to
continue with or withdraw from the services.
11. Practitioners should ensure that services are normally delivered on the basis
of the clients explicit consent. Reliance on implicit consent is more
vulnerable to misunderstandings and is best avoided unless there are sound

reasons for doing so. Practitioners should be accountable to clients,

colleagues and the profession if they override a clients known wishes.
12. When clients pose a risk of causing serious harm to themselves or others,
the practitioner should be alert to the possibility of conflicting responsibilities
between those concerning their client, significant others, and society.
Consultation with a supervisor or experienced practitioner is strongly
recommended, whenever this would not cause undue delay. In all cases, the
aim should be to ensure for the client a good quality of care that is as
respectful of the clients capacity for self-determination and trustworthiness
as circumstances permit.
13. Working with young people requires specific ethical awareness and
competence. The practitioner is required to consider and assess the balance
between young peoples dependence on adults and their progressive
development towards independent living. Working with children and
adolescents requires careful consideration of issues concerning their capacity
to give consent to receiving any professional service independent of parental
consent and the management of confidences disclosed by these clients.
14. Respecting confidentiality is a fundamental requirement for keeping trust.
The professional management of confidentiality concerns the protection of
personally identifiable and sensitive information from unauthorized
disclosure. Disclosure may be authorized by clients written consent or the
law. Any disclosures should be undertaken in ways that best protect the
clients trust. Practitioners should be accountable to their clients and to their
profession for management of confidentiality in general and particularly for
any disclosure made without their clients consent.
15. Practitioners should be willing to respond to their clients requests for
information about the way they are working and any assessment that they
may have done. This professional requirement does not apply when
imparting this information would be detrimental to the client or inconsistent
with the counseling or psychotherapeutic approach previously agreed with
the client. Clients may have legal rights to this information and this must be
taken into account.
16. Practitioners must not abuse their clients trust in order to gain sexual,
emotional, financial or any other kind of personal advantage. Sexual
relations or any other type of sexual activity or sexualized behavior with
clients are prohibited. Practitioners should exercise caution before entering
into personal or business relationships with former clients and should be
accountable if the relationship becomes detrimental to the client or to the
profession.

17. Practitioners should not allow their professional relationships with clients to
be prejudiced by any personal views they may have about lifestyle, gender,
age, disability, race, sexual orientation, beliefs, or culture.
18. Practitioners should be clear about any commitment made with the clients
and colleagues and honor these commitments.
IV. TEACHING AND TRAINING
19. All practitioners are encouraged to share their professional knowledge and
practice in order to benefit their clients and the public.
20. Only qualified doctoral-degree holders are to teach the doctoral program
courses in Guidance and Counseling.
21. Practitioners who provide counselor education and training should have
professional continuing education, knowledge, skills, attitudes and
competencies to be effective teachers, facilitators and trainers.
22. Practitioners involved in teaching and training must update their syllabi,
modules, curricular programs and courses periodically to be relevant and be
within the prescribed Guidelines of RA 9258, the Implementing Rules and
Regulations, and the Commission of Higher Education (CHED).
23. Internship and practicum courses should be done in diverse settings to
enhance the skills, knowledge and competencies of Guidance and Counseling
students.
24. Curricular programs, training courses, learning modules, and seminar
programs should be evaluated in terms of contents, strategies or techniques,
implementation process, and the expected output to ensure total
effectiveness.
25. Practitioners should always be fair, accurate, and honest in their assessment
of their students.
26. A written consent is required from clients if they are to be observed,
recorded, or if their personally-identifiable disclosures are to be used for
training purposes.
27. Practitioners must serve as role models for professional behavior.
V. SUPERVISING AND MANAGING
28. Practitioners are responsible for clarifying responsibility for the work with the
client.
29. Counselors, guidance specialists, guidance mentors, supervisors, and
trainers may receive supervision/consultative support independently.
30. Supervisors and managers have a responsibility to help practitioners acquire
professional competencies, maintain and enhance further the guidance and
counseling practice for the clients welfare.

31. Practitioners give due credit to clients or supervisees for their contributions
to research and scholarly projects through co-authorship, acknowledgment or
other appropriate means, in accordance with such contributions.
VI. RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION
32. Guidance Counselors are committed to fostering research that will inform
and develop the guidance and counseling practice. Practitioners are
encouraged to support research undertaken on behalf of the profession and
to participate actively in relevant research work.
33. Researches should be undertaken with rigorous attentiveness to the quality
and integrity both of the research itself and of the dissemination and
application of the research results, if appropriate.
34. Articles and researches for publication must be peer-refereed.
35. Responsibility and accountability as well as intellectual honesty in doing
research by the Practitioner should be upheld and observed respectively at
all times.
36. The rights of research participants should be carefully considered and
protected. The rights include the right to freely give an informed consent,
and the right to withdraw at any point.
37. The research methods used should comply with the standards of good
practice in guidance and counseling, Code of Ethics, and RA 9258.
38. Practitioners acknowledge other researchers who have contributed
significantly to the research and/or publication, and those who have done
previous work on the topic.
39. Research work should be presented in for a, conventions, and conferences
for public dissemination.
VII. ASSESSMENT AND REPORT
40. Practitioners should select standardized psychological tests that meet the
purposes for which they are to be used and that are appropriate for their
intended clients.
41. Practitioners must have the professional knowledge, skills, and
competencies in test administration, test interpretation, and preparing
reports.
42. Practitioners should interpret test scores based on appropriate norms.
43. Practitioners should examine and understand the specimen sets, test
booklets, manuals, directions, answer sheets, scoring templates, and score
reports before administering and assessing.
44. Practitioners should take into account any differences in test administration
practices or the clients familiarity with the test items.

45. In selecting tests, practitioners should use tests that are culturally-fair in
terms of gender, ethnic background, religion, race, and handicapped
conditions.
46. Practitioners should be aware of clients limitations in understanding
language usage and technical terminology.
47. Practitioners should ask the consent of a parent or a guardian of a minor
before giving an assessment tool and explain the purpose for this.
48. Practitioners should comply with the test administration, test scoring, and
test interpretation procedures as prescribed in the Test Manual.
49. Practitioners should inform the client of the assessment results in a manner
that is clearly understood.
50. A copy of the psychological report stamped with the word CONFIDENTIAL
may be provided by the practitioner to the client.
51. Practitioner should use assessment data by taking into account various
factors and characteristics of the client being assessed that might affect the
practitioners judgment or reduce the accuracy of interpretation.
52. Practitioners do not base assessments, recommendations, or test results
that are outdated for the current purpose.
53. Practitioners make reasonable efforts to maintain the integrity or security of
tests and other assessment techniques.
VIII. REVIEW CENTERS AND CLASSES
54. Only degree-granting institutions offering CHED-approved Guidance and
Counseling programs are regulated to have review centers and classes for
licensure purposes, and must be approved by the Professional Regulation
Commission (PRC).
55. Review classes shall be handled only by competent masters and doctoral
degree holders in Guidance and Counseling.
56. A member of the Professional Regulatory Board of Guidance and Counseling
(PRBGC) may serve as lecturer in Review Centers of institutions offering
CHED-approved Guidance and Counseling programs only two years after
his/her term in the PRBGC.
IX. FITNESS TO PRACTICE
57. Practitioners have a responsibility to monitor, and maintain their fitness and
update their competencies to practice at a level that enables them to
provide effective service. If their effectiveness becomes impaired for any
reason, including health or personal circumstances, they should inform and
talk to their immediate supervisor regarding the situation. Results of
consultation with supervisor and experienced colleagues will help the
practitioner to make the appropriate decision.

58. Attending to the practitioners well-being is essential to sustaining good

practice. Practitioners have a responsibility to themselves to ensure that
their work does not become detrimental to their health or well-being by
ensuring that the way they undertake their work is as safe as possible and
that they seek appropriate professional support and services when the need
arises.
59. Practitioners are entitled to be treated with proper consideration and respect
consistent with Standards of Good Practice.
X. RESPONSIBILITIES TO ALL CLIENTS
60. Practitioners have a responsibility to protect clients when they have good
reason for believing the clients well-being is at risk.
61. If matters cannot be resolved, practitioners should review the grounds for
concerns and evidences available and have appropriate consultation.
62. If practitioners are uncertain as what to do, their concerns should be
discussed with an experienced colleague or supervisor provided they strictly
follow the guidelines in keeping trust.
63. Practitioners are strictly encouraged to ensure that their work is adequately
covered by insurance for professional indemnity and liability.
XI. WORKING WITH COLLEAGUES
64. Professional relationships should be conducted in a spirit of mutual respect
and collegiality.
65. Practitioners should endeavor to attain good working relationships that
enhance effective services to clients at all times.
66. Practitioners should treat all colleagues fairly and foster equal opportunity.
67. Practitioners should maintain their professional relationships with colleagues
and not be prejudiced by their own personal views about a colleagues
lifestyle, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, beliefs, or culture.
68. Practitioners should refrain from undermining a colleagues relationship with
clients by making unjustified or unsustainable comments.
69. All communications between colleagues about clients should be on a
professional basis.
XII. HANDLING PRACTITIONER-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
70. Practitioners should respond promptly and appropriately to any written
complaint received from their clients.
71. Practitioners should endeavor to remedy any harm they may have caused
their clients and to prevent any repetition.
72. Practitioners should discuss, with their supervisor, manager or other
experienced practitioner(s), the circumstances in which they may have

harmed a client in order to ensure that the appropriate step will be taken to
mitigate any harm and to prevent any repetition.
73. If practitioners consider that they have acted in accordance with good
practice but their client is not satisfied that this is the case, they may use
independent dispute resolution including seeking a second professional
opinion, mediation, or conciliation, whichever is both appropriate and
practical.
XIII. AWARENESS OF CONTEXT
74. The practitioner is responsible for learning about and taking into account the
different protocols, conventions, and customs that can pertain to different
working contexts and cultures.
XIV. MAKING AND RECEIVING REFERRALS
75. All routine referrals to colleagues and other services should be discussed
with the client in advance and the clients consent obtained both to making
the referral and also to disclosing information to accompany the referral.
76. Reasonable care should be taken to ensure that (a) the recipient of the
referral is able to provide the required service; (b) any confidential
information disclosed during the referral process will be adequately
protected; and (c) the referral will be likely to benefit the client.
77. Prior to accepting a referral the practitioner should give careful
consideration to the appropriateness of the referral; (b) the likelihood that
the referral will be beneficial to the client; and (c) the adequacy of the
clients consent to the referral.
78. If the referring party is professionally required to retain overall responsibility
for the work with the client, it is professionally appropriate that said referring
party be provided with brief progress reports. Such reports should be made
in consultation with clients and not normally against their explicit wishes.
XV. PROVIDING CLIENTS WITH ADEQUATE INFORMATION
79. Practitioners are responsible in clarifying in advance to the client the terms
on which their services are being offered including the clients financial
obligations and/or other reasonably foreseeable costs or liabilities.
80. All information about services should be honest, accurate, devoid of
unjustifiable claims, and be consistent with maintaining the professional
standing of Guidance and Counseling.
81. Particular care should be taken in maintaining the integrity of presenting
qualifications, accreditation, and professional standing.
XVI. ACCESSIBILITY OF SERVICES

82. Practitioners make their Guidance and Counseling services accessible to all
regardless of their clients socioeconomic status or inability to pay such
professional fee. In this case, no client should be turned away or refused by
the practitioner for monetary reason. Foundations may be tapped via
networking.
83. Practitioners render voluntary or pro bono services in the community
utilizing their knowledge and expertise in their field of specialization.
84. Practitioners have the responsibility to do advocacy in Guidance and
Counseling via print media, film, TV, radio, and cyber technology.
XVII. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
85. Conflicts of interest are best avoided, provided they can be reasonably
foreseen in the first instance and prevented from arising. In deciding how to
respond to conflicts of interest, the protection of the clients interests and
maintaining trust in the practitioner should be paramount.
86. Practitioners who own any business entity must refrain from engaging in any
business activity under a Guidance Organizations name where such personal
interest is highly placed.