But more generally, our counselors are dedicated to the best interests of their clients, to the law and the ethical standards of their clinical professions, to their contractual obligations in the church and workplace, and to proven data from the bio-psycho-social sciences.

In addition, our counselors are bound by these common goals and ethics:
--Knowing and loving God
--Loving and serving others
--Avoiding all harm toward clients and others
--Bringing truth, healing, and agreed-upon change into people’s lives
--Helping set people free from the bondage of mental, disorder and emotional distress
--Making peace and doing justice; assisting the church, community, and profession to grow to full maturity

Our counselors are committed to disciplined learning and faithful growth in counseling knowledge, gifts, and skills. They are dedicated to a continual evaluation and improvement of their practices in order to fulfill the call to excellence as mental health practitioners and as pastoral counselors.

Our counselors serve clients with ethical integrity--practicing with the utmost respect, sensitivity, honesty, energy, and capability. They do not use clients for their own personal gain and strictly avoid all client harm and exploitation. They avoid activities that violate or diminish the civil and legal rights of clients and do not discriminate in the provision of client services--even if ethical referral is all that is done--on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, disability, religious creed, denomination, socio-economic status, nation origin, or sexual orientation.

Finally, aspiring to honor God in all things, the counselors at theeffect are also committed to personal honesty and professional and organizational integrity. They know and respect the limits of their competence and do consult, refer, and network with other service providers, and continually study to improve their excellence and service.