Improving the professional ethics learning experiences of psychological counsellors in the personal and professional decision-making process

This paper explores the affordances of learning experiences gained in undergraduate students’ professional ethics courses during the pandemic. The article also touches upon the possible contributions of the practices within the scope of the professional ethics course to students’ professional and personal lives. Action research was used. Data-generating instruments include various ethical dilemma examples and solutions, ethical dilemma analysis forms, ethical drama scenes, student assessments, and group checklists. Document and content analysis were used for data analysis. The study participants consist of counsellor candidates (N = 71; 2 years follow-up N = 30) who took the Professional Ethics and Legal Issues course (PELIC) at a state university in Türkiye. Skills in recognising and analyzing the nature of the dilemma through different ethical dilemma scenarios have improved. The practices contribute to their intellectual and emotional development and enable them to realise the professional roles they need to develop in the long term.