examining the methodological and epistemological fundamentals of ethical code of counseling in the United States of America

The purpose of this research is examining the ethical code of counseling of the United States of America, ACA, in order to evaluate its epistemological bases and ideological premises. The significance of this task lies in the fact that ACA is one of the most famous ethical codes in counseling and psychology and is a sample for preparing other similar codes throughout the world. So finding its structure and premises is crucial for recognizing the basic epistemological and methodological approaches of other codes and their insufficiencies. Reexamining the general mentality which constructs this code and finding its theoretical presuppositions and cultural premises and avoiding its possible wrongs could be beneficial for developing an ethical code in Iran. The main question of the research is: “what are the epistemological basis and cultural ideological presuppositions of ACA? For this purpose we would examine its ethical commands according to our critical hypothesis that the psychological, the ethical and the religious are inseparable from each other. We would find that the epistemological and ideological bases of ACA are some western liberal conceptions of the nature of human beings, ignoring the spiritual aspects of their existence and maintaining the methodological individualism.