Professionalism and Ethics in Counselling

Professionalism and Ethics in CounsellingMy agreement of superiorism is having the sort to be apprised of and work to a set of values do up of legal statutes, of headmaster body frameworks and guidelines and of employer policies, frameworks and guidelines, which together detail judge life. Those statutes, policies, frameworks and guidelines should be used to identify roles and responsibilities which in turn define boundaries. The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), of which I am a bookman member, is the largest professional body in the UK for counselling and psychotherapy and lays down what standards of conduct counsellors, service users and the mankind expect at a national level.If a counsellor or therapist is a member of a professional body, he or she will be bound by a enter of professional ethics framework or in the object less(prenominal)on of the BACP, the ethical frameworkit recognises that choices are often not clear-cut, and that whateve r durations problematical decisions necessity to be made that, even when emergencen in assertionworthy faith, may construct unpredictable and unwanted exposecomes (Merry, 200211)Professionalism and ethics some(prenominal) subsume to proper conduct. I view the ethical framework as a list of qualities for how the counsellor should be and a list of behaviours for what the counsellor should do and not do. Examples of the desired attitudes include possessing empathy, sincerity, oneness, resilience, lever, humility, competency, fairness, wisdom and courage. Examples of the desired behaviours include fidelity, autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, judge and self- reckon.The BACP produced the ethical framework to hold dear both the guest and counsellor with level-headed h grey-headed in counselling and psychotherapy. It sets out a series of professional and personal values, underlying principles and moral qualities which reflect my attributes as a trainee counsellor in o rder to promote a safe and professional environment, one where I could enable leaf nodes to in allow trust to develop inside our relationship. I abide by the BACP guidance on good pr telephone numberice which is concerned with leaf node safety, counsellor responsibility and accountability, clear detection and my competence as a trainee counsellor. It provides information for what counsellors are expected to do and sanctions for consequences of malpractice.I ingest chosen a hypothetical ethical dilemma, albeit a real one, relevant to my chosen placement at The Truce YMCA in Lancaster.A 16 year old female client depicts with news of her parents having scattered two weeks previously. She lives with her mum who is drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and who is not deal with the day to day duties of looking after the clients nine year old brother, who is now mostly in the clients care. No other meals are cosmos provided other than school dinners and no money is being allocat ed to them for food. Last night era the clients mum pushed the client against the wall and the client has a head injury. The client asks me not to tell anyone.The ethical dilemma here is that my client has disclose a tiddler Protection issue and asked me to maintain the confidentiality aspect of the contract. thither are several implications, professionally I must breach confidentiality as thither would be no way that I could hold that information, my integrity would be conflicted. I would squander a professional obligation that would be impossible for me to ignore. However, by breaching confidentiality this could have severe consequences for the client, myself (our relationship), and the clients family. A question I get to ask myself isWhat are our statutory duties and responsibilities?Wehave a profession under the Children Act 1989 to safeguard and protect children who may be abject from abuse. This may be physical, sexual, emotional or as a direct of neglect http//www.tam eside.gov.uk/childprotection/parentinfot2 date accessed, 21st April 2010The YMCA has put together a effect flow chart and as part of my training I have been made aware of it. It is a clear lawsuit of my role, responsibilities and boundaries.Safeguarding means doing e realthing you crapper to protect children and young passel from harm. A safeguard is a sum of money to help reduce the risk of children and young mess being harmed. http//www.nspcc.org.uk/ assure/trainingandconsultancy/consultancy/cst/safe_communities_toolkit_english_wdf70126.pdf date accessed, 19th April 2010The disclosure demands to be sensitively, sincerely and respectfully explored in order to honour the principle of non-maleficence because every child matters. As a trainee counsellor I have an ethical responsibility to strive to decline any harm caused to a client even when the harm is needed or unintended (BACP, 200703)There are several implicationsI am aware that the principle of fidelity requires a respo nsibility to honour the trust that has been placed in me as a trainee counsellor and that how I impinge on the process forward from this point could alter how the client and I may or may not work together in the future. Without confidentiality and empathy there is potential to harm the relationship, and as Bond (199346) states that, responsibilities to the client are the best concern of the counsellor. The justification of counselling rests on this work being undertaken in a counsellor-client relationship.Where as a trainee counsellor can I relegate guidance on consent and disclosure?I could check against the BACP guidelines, with my field of studywork supervisory program, my managerial supervisor, the agencies codes of practice and policies, my tutors and Social Services. To avoid the possibility of prosecution I need to respect my role and abide by the BACP guidance on good practice which is concerned with client safety, counsellor responsibility and accountability, clear cont rperforming and my competence as a trainee counsellor.Professional accountability is also distinguish in ensuring globe protection and allows the Profession to move forward enjoying the public confidence in the services providedhttp//www.bacp.co.uk/prof_conduct/ 4th February 2010The principle of beneficence involves acting in the clients best interest and maintaining the standards of competence and knowledge expected for members who prolong to both personally and professionally develop by using direction for support. As I am working within an agency I am expected, as a member of the BACP, to have ongoing timed supervision for my work with a clinical supervisor and with my managerial supervisor. Supervisors, managers and counsellors have a responsibility to maintain and enhance good practice, to protect clients from sad practice (promoting their wellbeing) and for the counsellor to acquire the attitudes, skills and knowledge necessary for each of their roles face lift awarene ss and ensuring the fair treatment of all clients and the funnyness of individual people regarding culture differences, gender or disabilities which involves the principle respect of justice.When considering what action to take the number 1 step I would take would be to explore what the client had told me by clarifying what had been said in order to check out my understanding with the client. It is important to identify that there is a problem and if so I would then work out whose problem it was and in this persona it would be the clients. Yet I would be responsible to her, myself and accountable up the chain of command within the organisation.By setting the contract provided by The YMCA clearly so that it is understood by the client there is less chance of misunderstandings and more chance of boundaries being clear at the onset. The bargain of a contract protects both the client and the counsellor. It proves that each party has concord their responsibilities and boundaries and that they each know where they stand in the counselling process in relation to their obligations to each other. I would need to refer back to the initial contract to remind the client about our agreement that would be in place between us. I would have fitly explained at the time that should harm to self or others be disclosed to me that I would need to breach confidentiality. I would use appropriate language for a sixteen year old to understand and include her in the process. I would respect the principle of respect for autonomy by discussing the necessity of safeguarding her, protecting her and her younger brother and, with her consent, checking whether the child protection officer would be available to precede the room to work it through all together by understanding my job roles and responsibilities and working within my training and experience competently I could deliver a professional level of service that promotes safety and both at the same time being fully aware that she has choices and for well-favoured rights too.Although I could have a conflict of interest in that I would have to breach confidentialityHuman Rights Act 1998Article 8.1Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.Article 8.2There shall be no dissonance by a public authority with the exercise of this right and as such as in accordance with the law and is needed in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others (Bond, 2010158).I would protect myself from litigation as I have a duty to let on the Code of Professional Conduct and the other guidelines issued by the BACP. Not all laws are perfect, the problem is that laws are often generalised and open to some interpretation and thats where they can be exploited. The law re garding sixteen year olds (child versus Gillick competent versus adult) and the obligation of Social Services to look after somebody until 18 years of age is not black and white. Somebody planning to go to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland to end their life is within their own rights and it would be an example of a case where a counsellor could respect the clients dignity.At the first available chance I had I would follow the example of a child protection form, from my safeguarding policy and guidelines provided by the organisation and make very clear, accurate, brief, factual notes of who said what, when it was said, where it was said and the nature of the concern. I would bear in mind that the notes could be read by the client herself and if I was required to write a report for court I would be aware that I have not been trained to write such a report and seek advice.According to Pollecoff, et al. (200258)Counsellors and psychotherapists are in a unique position when asked to gi ve evidenceun kindred other professionals, they do not necessarily keep detailed notes of each session held with a clientProblems can arise regarding client confidentiality in the context of presenting reports or giving evidence.I would file the notes confidentially and each client has a code to be used for anonymity purposes, store for six months, once the case is closed, then they are destroyed.Bond (2010158) suggests The Data Protection Act 1998covers a wide range of requirements to do with record-keeping.I would call my case supervisor and I would explain what has happened, what I did (discussed with line manager and or referral to Child Protection Officer etc.) and ask him if there is anything else I should have do or could do.Working within a multi agency can be useful as it can meet the needs of young people more effectively. Confidentiality procedures are in place and consent must be given by the person concerned and must be present when consented information is shared. The re are exceptional circumstances.At the same time how I present myself and interact with people (language, appearance, actions and interactions) influence impressions. There are informal expectations and continuing with both professional and personal development (supervision).Questions like What does the BACP say about this? are what I need to ask myself in during my evaluation in order to do the right thing and learned how important it is to not do the wrong thing because that could cause cost to more than the client in the room. I hope that I have demonstrated that I understand that there is a need to act within the law at all times but in a way that provides as much support and protection as possible towards the client first and foremost, towards myself and towards the organisational structure and the profession itself. It is not endlessly a case of knowing what to do to as an expert, but it seems to be a case of knowing what to do next and who to go to in order to get the ans wers needed.