The department of Ethics is responsible for providing access to and interpretation of the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics. We hope that this webpage will provide ACA members and interested members of the public with the necessary tools to ensure compliance with the rules of professional counseling.
To that end, please peruse our page and take advantage of resources such as the Online Ethics Courses, A Practitioner’s Guide to Ethical Decision Making and the compilation of Risk Management FAQ’s supplied by Nancy Wheeler, our Risk Management consultant.
If you are a student member, please follow the link to our library to access articles and databases that may assist you with research projects.
To file a complaint against a counselor who is an active ACA member, please review the Policies and Procedures for Processing Complaints of Ethical Violations and click on the “File a Complaint” tab for further information.
Ethical Consults
Ethical dilemmas and professional challenges surround us on a daily basis, and assistance with these issues is at hand! An ACA member receives as a benefit FREE confidential ethical/professional standards consultation five days a week between 8:30am and 4:30pm ET. Though the service is not designed to function as a hotline, inquiries are prioritized and answered within 72 hours. The Professional Affairs staff values the opportunity to provide you with this valuable service. Professional assistance is only and email/letter and phone call away. Contact the ACA Ethics and Professional Standards Department at (800) 347 6647, ext. 314 or email: ethics@counseling.org.
2005 ACA Code of Ethics.
2005 ACA Code of Ethics (PDF)
Highlights of the ACA Code of Ethics
Para una copia del Código Ética en español, marqué aqui.
Graduate Student Ethics Competition
The ACA Graduate Student Ethics Competition is now open. The competition runs annually from mid-October through the end of January. For rules, registration, and other details, visit the the Graduate Student Ethics Competition page.
To cite the ACA Code of Ethics as a resource for an academic work, use:
"American Counseling Association (2005). ACA Code of Ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author."