Ethical Thinking in Couple Counselling and Therapy
Ethical thinking in couple counselling and therapy
Derek Hill
The characteristics of, and practitioner training for, couple therapy
Couple therapy' is an enterprise that is subject to pressures analogous to those affecting couple relationships themselves. The needs of the partners as individuals, of children and kinfolk, and of the larger community, all press for attention. The couple relationship being the client, the therapist's task is to manage the tension between competing voices, focusing on others only to the extent that is necessary to assist the partners to evaluate, and perhaps seek to change, influences that affect their capacity to make choices about the nature of their relationship. In England and Wales, therapeutic work with couples was the earliest manifestation of initiatives that have resulted in a wide variety of forms of counselling and psychotherapy being available to the general public today. It remains largely the province of the voluntary agencies which were responsible for introducing and developing it over the past 60 or more years (Lewis et al. 1992). Today, services are offered to those in common law relationships and in lesbian or gay relationships, as well as to married couples and those forming or ending relationships. Work with second and subsequent relationships, and the problems arising in 'blended' families, are a growing part of couple therapists' work. Some couple therapists also offer psychosexual therapy and others staff schemes specifically designed to address domestic violence. Educational programmes preparing people for adult relationships and for parenting have been provided by the 'marital' agencies since their earliest days, often using
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DEREK HILL
ETHICAL THINKING I N COUPLE COUNSELLING AND THERAPY
69
the skills and insights of couple therapists in their design and delivery. Couple therapy is available in a variety of forms. Brief, solutionfocused couple therapy may involve no more than a single
Derek Hill
The characteristics of, and practitioner training for, couple therapy
Couple therapy' is an enterprise that is subject to pressures analogous to those affecting couple relationships themselves. The needs of the partners as individuals, of children and kinfolk, and of the larger community, all press for attention. The couple relationship being the client, the therapist's task is to manage the tension between competing voices, focusing on others only to the extent that is necessary to assist the partners to evaluate, and perhaps seek to change, influences that affect their capacity to make choices about the nature of their relationship. In England and Wales, therapeutic work with couples was the earliest manifestation of initiatives that have resulted in a wide variety of forms of counselling and psychotherapy being available to the general public today. It remains largely the province of the voluntary agencies which were responsible for introducing and developing it over the past 60 or more years (Lewis et al. 1992). Today, services are offered to those in common law relationships and in lesbian or gay relationships, as well as to married couples and those forming or ending relationships. Work with second and subsequent relationships, and the problems arising in 'blended' families, are a growing part of couple therapists' work. Some couple therapists also offer psychosexual therapy and others staff schemes specifically designed to address domestic violence. Educational programmes preparing people for adult relationships and for parenting have been provided by the 'marital' agencies since their earliest days, often using
68
DEREK HILL
ETHICAL THINKING I N COUPLE COUNSELLING AND THERAPY
69
the skills and insights of couple therapists in their design and delivery. Couple therapy is available in a variety of forms. Brief, solutionfocused couple therapy may involve no more than a single