Professional Ethics in Counselor Education: Ethical and Unethical Situations from The Sopranos TV Series

Abstract

The aim of this study was to present examples of ethical and unethical situations through therapy scenes and therapy-related scenes of The Sopranos TV series and to create a supportive teaching material for ethical decision-making processes. The ethical codes of American Counseling Association (ACA) and Turkish Counseling and Guidance Association (TCGA) were taken as reference in the evaluation of ethical situations. Document analysis, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. Research data were collected from therapy scenes and therapy-related scenes in all episodes of The Sopranos series (6 seasons and 86 episodes). As a result of this research; ethical and unethical behavior examples were determined in counseling relationships, multiple relationships, boundaries, confidentiality, dangerous clients and professional competence. This study shows that the therapy and scenes related to therapy in The Sopranos can be used as experiential learning materials while teaching professional ethics in counselor education.