{"id":1088,"date":"2013-01-23T16:13:21","date_gmt":"2013-01-23T16:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/counsellingtu.onpressidium.com\/?page_id=1088"},"modified":"2021-10-18T17:37:19","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T16:37:19","slug":"ethics-in-counselling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/counsellingtutor.com\/professional-practice-for-counsellors\/ethics-in-counselling\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethics in Counselling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Understanding the Ethics in Counselling<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\"understandin\n\t

In this section we explore ethics in counselling.<\/p>\n

The word ‘ethics’ comes from the Greek word ‘ethos,<\/em>‘ which means character and is concerned with exploring the concepts of right and wrong .<\/p>\n\t

At the time of writing this, counselling is not regulated by the UK government. <\/em>No single ethical body oversees counselling and psychotherapy in the UK.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t

<\/div>\n\t

The reason for this is that counselling is to some extent a ‘diverse’ profession and due to the differing perspectives and approaches in counselling and psychotherapy, therapists have tended to choose ethical bodies which align themselves to the modality of therapy they practice, and the training courses they have undertaken.<\/p>\n

Membership is voluntary although employers would expect that counsellors they employ would be members of an ethical body, students who are in practice should also be members.<\/p>\n

One such organisation,\u00a0The British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapy founded (BACP)\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>in 1977 (like most ethical bodies)<\/i>\u00a0<\/i>sets a code of standards<\/strong>\u00a0that counsellors abide by and are known as a\u00a0Code of Ethics<\/strong>\u00a0in the case of theBACP<\/strong>\u00a0this is split into\u00a0two distinct headings:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Ethics<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Good practice<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t

    Ethical bodies have three main functions:<\/h3>\n\t

    (1)<\/strong>\u00a0to provide information on counselling and psychotherapy services and set standards which give the general public confidence in the profession.<\/p>\n

    (2)<\/strong>\u00a0a route to complain if they feel dissatisfied with the service they have received from a counsellor.<\/p>\n

    (3)\u00a0<\/strong>if the complaint is upheld then a therapist can find themselves receiving a ‘sanction’.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Ethical\n\t

    A sanction<\/strong>\u00a0can be a directive to\u00a0<\/a>undertake more training, submit a report to an ethical committee explaining how they have altered their practice so the same problem doesn’t arise again.<\/p>\n

    In extreme cases, counsellors can be ‘struck off ‘ which means their membership of the organisation is terminated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Ethical bodies also provide\u00a0support to counsellors and psychotherapists in\u00a0form of well-researched information,\u00a0<\/strong>continued professional development,<\/strong>\u00a0training courses, and a\u00a0collective voice<\/strong>\u00a0when dealing with the government of the day and any legislation they propose.<\/p>\n

    They also set down the limits of confidentiality<\/strong>\u00a0which can differ from say that of a doctor. For instance, at the time of writing this guide if a Doctor treats a patient who has a knife or a gunshot wound they would be ethically obliged to report this to the police, a counsellor or psychotherapist is under no ethical obligation to do this.<\/p>\n

    The legal obligations of your counsellor are covered in the section\u00a0‘Counselling & The Law”<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Although the BACP is perhaps the most well known from the public’s point of view, there are a number of ethical bodies that issue codes of practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy\u00a0 in the UK these are:<\/p>\n