Professional and Ethical Issues in Person-Centred Counselling
Professional and Ethical Issues
Introduction
In order for counselling to be effective and purposeful it must be conducted in an ethical way. The very act of seeking counselling predisposes that the seeker is vulnerable/troubled and needs assurance that the main focus of counselling will be their well-being and promote for them a greater sense of autonomy, and not to serve any other purpose. Therefore the foundation of good counselling must be an ethical relationship, hence the need for an ethical framework. As Tim Bond (2010) states:
An ethical framework creates a basic conceptual structure within which we can all feel safe and supported to move around freely and make choices. There is enough of a structure to define the available choices and give a sense of distinguishing what is ethically acceptable from the unacceptable or unwise............the framework creates sufficient spaces.....where counsellors can position themselves in ways that fit a sense of personal and professional integrity and take into account the needs of clients (pg. 56).
In counselling there are five national organizations within Britain whose ethical requirements have been adopted as the minimum ethical standards for the profession. These organizations are:
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
Counselling Psychology Division of the British Psychological Society (BPS)
Confederation of Scottish Counselling Agencies (COSCA)
Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP)
The major professional organizations all stress these ethical concerns:
Client Safety – Professional Competence and Fitness to Practice – Respect for Differences in Lifestyles and Beliefs between Clients – Respect for Client Self-Determination – Prohibitions on Exploitation of Clients – Contracting – Confidentiality – Duty to Maintain the Profession’s Reputation.
The linchpin to all these concerns is the client.
Introduction
In order for counselling to be effective and purposeful it must be conducted in an ethical way. The very act of seeking counselling predisposes that the seeker is vulnerable/troubled and needs assurance that the main focus of counselling will be their well-being and promote for them a greater sense of autonomy, and not to serve any other purpose. Therefore the foundation of good counselling must be an ethical relationship, hence the need for an ethical framework. As Tim Bond (2010) states:
An ethical framework creates a basic conceptual structure within which we can all feel safe and supported to move around freely and make choices. There is enough of a structure to define the available choices and give a sense of distinguishing what is ethically acceptable from the unacceptable or unwise............the framework creates sufficient spaces.....where counsellors can position themselves in ways that fit a sense of personal and professional integrity and take into account the needs of clients (pg. 56).
In counselling there are five national organizations within Britain whose ethical requirements have been adopted as the minimum ethical standards for the profession. These organizations are:
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
Counselling Psychology Division of the British Psychological Society (BPS)
Confederation of Scottish Counselling Agencies (COSCA)
Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP)
The major professional organizations all stress these ethical concerns:
Client Safety – Professional Competence and Fitness to Practice – Respect for Differences in Lifestyles and Beliefs between Clients – Respect for Client Self-Determination – Prohibitions on Exploitation of Clients – Contracting – Confidentiality – Duty to Maintain the Profession’s Reputation.
The linchpin to all these concerns is the client.
References: BACP. (2010) Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy. Leicestershire: BACP. Bond, T. (2010) Standards and Ethics for Counselling in Action. (3rd ed.) London: Sage. Tolan, J. (2009) Skills in Person-Centred counselling & Psychotherapy. London: Sage.