Ethics can be defined as the philosophy or principle central to the accepted attitudes and behaviours of a professional group (Terry, 2010). The aim of this essay is to reflect on a subsequent counselling session with a person who has challenged the counsellor ethically. The aim of this essay will be achieved by using verbatim examples from the practise session created for the purpose of this essay. The essay will then go on to analyse ethical practice and the ethical decision making process. The essay will continue to discuss social, legal and ethical issues that were present during the practice session and how the application of ethical decision making skills were used with the use of verbatim examples from the practice counselling session, as well as identifying areas of improvement or alternative strategies that could have been used to improved the practice counselling session. Finally, the essay will discuss the overall effectiveness of the counsellor during the practice counselling session as well as implications for future professional development. The practice session began with a discussion of the clients presenting issue, which was her unhappiness at work. At the beginning of the session I attempted to gather information about the client and her current feelings in regards to her work. The middle of the session was where the issue was discussed further, allowing the client to reflect on her emotions in a supportive environment. The session concluded by discussing self-care strategies available to the client, plans for future discussions in counselling as well as arranging for the client to make another appointment. Facing ethical issues as a counsellor is an inevitable experience, whether it be issues such as accountability, confidentiality, session fees or dual relationships, these issues all vary in seriousness yet each are valid of the ethical decision making process (Welfel, 2013). Despite the fact that there are a myriad of ethical decision-making models, all models share a number of similarities, which can be covered in a systematic step approach (Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-Flanagan, 2006). The first step for the counsellor is to recognise the ethical issue, or to determine if there is a presenting ethical issue, the second is to obtain all relevant facts to ensure no assumptions are being made. The next step of the process is to evaluate the current options, which allows the counsellor to assess what option will produce the least harm and respect the rights of all involved. The counsellor must then decide on a course of action, completing questions such as; "Would I be happy for my actions to be publically scrutinized?" or, "Would I be happy for my family to know I did this?" are effective to ensure the best possible outcome. Finally the counsellor needs to reflect on the outcome of the decision leading to reflect on learning from the same experience (Sommers-Flanagan & Sommers-Flanagan, 2006). Bond (2000) suggests that a variety of ethical issues cannot be decided without consideration of the law and it is beneficial to have a clear understanding of what actions are prohibited by law, what actions are required to be performed by law and what rights and responsibilities does the law protect. There is a general consensus that confidentiality does not extend beyond threats to harm yourself or someone else, however during the ethical decision making process it is strongly suggested throughout literature for all discussion of possibility breaking confidentiality be addressed with the client first. This approach ensures transparency and also allows the client the opportunity to resolve or remove the counsellor from the ethical dilemma (Bond, 2000). Although the majority of the discussion in the counselling session was focused on the client’s unhappiness at work, she raised a number of issues t