Illinois Administrative Code › Title 68 - PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS › Part 1375 - PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR AND CLINICAL PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR LICENSING AND PRACTICE ACT › Subpart C - GENERAL › Section 1375.225 - Unprofessional Conduct

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
The Division may suspend or revoke a license, refuse to issue
				  or renew a license or take other disciplinary action, based upon its finding of
				  unethical, dishonorable, or unprofessional conduct within the meaning of
				  Section 80 of the Act, which is interpreted to include, but is not limited to,
				  the following acts or practices:
a)
				Counseling Relationships
1) Practicing,
				condoning, facilitating, collaborating with or engaging in discrimination
				against prospective or current clients, students, employees, supervisees, or
				research participants based on age, culture, disability, ethnicity, race,
				religion/spiritually, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital
				status/partnership, language preference, socioeconomic status, immigration
				status, or any basis proscribed by law.
2) Engaging in any action that violates or
				diminishes the civil or legal rights of clients.
3) Engaging in the sexual exploitation of
				clients, client's romantic partners, client's family members, students, or
				supervisees.
4) Engaging in or
				condoning sexual harassment, including but not limited to, deliberate or
				repeated comments, gestures, or physical contacts of a sexual nature that occur
				in connection with professional activities or roles.
5) Bringing personal or professional biases
				into the counseling relationship. Through an awareness of the impact of
				stereotyping and discrimination (i.e., biases based on age, disability,
				ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual preference), counselors guard the
				individual rights and personal dignity of the client in the counseling
				relationship.
6) Engaging in any
				type of sexual or romantic intimacies with clients, client's romantic partners,
				or client's family members. Counselors shall not provide counseling services to
				persons with whom they have had a sexual relationship, including the person's
				romantic partners, or their family members.
7) Engaging in any type of sexual or romantic
				intimacies with former clients, former clients' romantic partners, or former
				clients' family members within five years of professional contact.
8) Engaging in any nonprofessional
				relationships with clients, former clients, clients' romantic partners, or
				clients' family members should be avoided, except when the interaction is
				potentially beneficial to the client. All potentially beneficial relationships
				must be documented in case notes, and conducted with full client consent. When
				unintentional harm occurs to the client, or former client, or to an individual
				significantly involved with the client or former client, due to the
				nonprofessional interaction, the counselor must show evidence of an attempt to
				remedy that harm.
9) Failing to
				offer all pertinent facts regarding services rendered to the client prior to
				administration of professional services. The purpose of informed consent is to
				ensure a client's complete access to information pertaining to professional
				services. Examples include, but are not limited to, the purposes, goals,
				techniques, procedures, limitations, potential risks, and benefits of services;
				the counselor's qualifications, credentials, and relevant experience; and
				continuation of services upon the incapacitation or death of a counselor.
				Counselors must take steps to ensure that clients understand the implications
				of diagnosis, the intended use of assessments and reports, billing
				arrangements, length of treatment, and utilization of consultants. The client's
				signature indicating receipt of pertinent information is strongly
				encouraged.