Ethics refer to a standard that guides a professional’s behavior and practice in the performance of their duties or delivery of services. The standard is expected by all members of an organization or profession that is entrusted to serve. In addition, ethical standards are a minimum threshold that associations envision members must meet to ensure both credibility and safety to the public. It is equally important to understand what ethics is not. Although ethics informs laws and legal systems, ethics differ from laws, even though both are created by a society and are codified. This chapter addresses basic ethical principles that most professional fields espouse while integrating and connecting ethics, the active fiber connecting these disciplines, and acknowledging the intersectionality of both ethical behavior and several human services professional disciplines.

This chapter serves as the foundation for exploration of the definition, history, framework, nature, and significance of interdisciplinary practice in counseling and human services to improve outcomes for clients. It discusses the concept of “interdisciplinary” and “disciplinary foundations” to construct interdisciplinary linkages. The chapter explores common core characteristics of human services practice across the disciplines of counseling, rehabilitation counseling, social work, psychology, and allied health. It presents the information (a) roles and functions, (b) values and ideas, (c) cultural competence, and (d) knowledge, skills, and competence in the shared areas of human growth and development, clinical assessment and evaluation, goals development and implementation, application of interventions and evidence-based practices, and ethics. It also identifies the strategies for establishing interdisciplinary collaboration across various human services, health, and behavioral disciplines. Finally, the chapter examines the challenges and benefits of interdisciplinary practice within human services practice.