Clients may well bring to conselors

Clients may well bring to conselors problems and concerns that are inappropriate for them to deal with. In such a case it is the ethical obligation of the counselor to make that determination and to refer the client to a more appropriate resource. In some ceses, if no other referral resource is available, or if the clients is unwilling to accept referral, the counselor must, ethicslly, refuse to treat the client. One of the somber realities of professional life is that sometimes inexpert treatment is indeed worse than no treatment at all. Research (Bergin, 1963) bears out this disturbing fact.