This document includes detailed notes on the BACP's 'Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions', as well as how to implement this framework into your counselling practice. It covers the meaning of discrimination and how this applies to counselling, as well as anti-discriminatory practice an...
Unit 3
Using an Ethical Framework for Counselling Skills
ethical framework a set of moral principles that provide guidelines for carrying out work with other people i.e. the
counselling relationship with clients.
British Association for Counselling + Psychotherapy (BACP):
- provides an ethical framework for counsellors, trainers + supervisors of counsellors.
- intended to guide the good practice of counselling + psychotherapy.
- intended to inform the practice of closely-related roles that are delivered in association with counselling +
psychotherapy.
fundamental values of counselling + psychotherapy include a commitment to:
- respecting human rights + dignity.
- alleviating symptoms of personal distress + suffering.
- enhancing people’s wellbeing + capabilities.
- improving the quality of relationships between people.
- increasing personal resilience + effectiveness.
- facilitating a sense of self that is meaningful to the person concerned within their personal + cultural context.
- appreciating the variety of human experience + culture.
- protecting the safety of clients.
- ensuring the integrity of practitioner-client relationships.
- enhancing the quality of professional knowledge + its’ application.
- striving for the fair + adequate provision of services.
… these values provide the basis for the following set of ethical principles.
ethical principles of counselling + psychotherapy:
being trustworthy honouring the trust placed in the practitioner + is fundamental to understanding + resolving ethical
issues.
practitioners who adopt this principle:
- act in accordance with the trust placed in them.
- strive to ensure clients’ expectations are ones that have reasonable prospects of being met.
- honour their agreements + promises.
- regard confidentiality as an obligation arising from the client’s trust.
- restrict any disclosure of confidential info about clients to no further than purposes for
which it was originally disclosed.
autonomy having respect for the client’s right to be self-governing.
emphasises the importance of developing a client’s ability to be self-directing within therapy + all
aspects of life.
practitioners who respect their clients’ autonomy:
- ensure accuracy in any advertising or info given in advance of services offered.
- seek freely given + adequately informed consent.
- emphasise the value of voluntary participation in the services being offered.
- engage in explicit contracting in advance of any commitment by the client.
- protect privacy + confidentiality.
- normally make any disclosures of confidential info conditional on the consent of the person
concerned.
- inform the client in advance of foreseeable conflicts of interest, or as soon as possible after
such conflicts become apparent.
beneficence having a commitment to promoting the client’s wellbeing.
acting in the best interests of the client based on professional assessment.
working strictly within one’s limits of competence + providing services on the basis of adequate
training or experience.
counsellors are obligated to use regular + ongoing supervision, + to update practice by continuing
professional development (CPD).
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