Ethics_in_Counselling

Ethical frameworks are in place in counselling agencies and with private counsellors to protect both the client and the counsellor. My knowledge of the BACP ethical framework is that it compounds the values, principles and personal moral qualities of counselling and of the counsellors that practice alongside it. In a nutshell it is there to ensure that all clients receive the highest standard of counselling possible in a way that promotes their well-being. The ethical framework insists that all counsellors respect their client’s human rights and dignity at all times, and works equally with all clients regardless of their background or culture or anything that they deem diverse between them. In acknowledging any diversity and putting it aside the ethical guideline of building a genuine professional relationship is then easier to adhere to, and the integrity of the relationship can be maintained. The counsellor’s role is to ensure that the clients wellbeing always comes first and that where possible all the clients feelings of despair and suffering are reduced or inevitably stopped, if the counsellor feels that any form of appropriate self-disclosure will benefit or build the client up, then fostering and inputting that sense of self is vital. The counsellor must always work with the client to help them to build and maintain positive, appropriate relationships with others and this is aided by the ethic of helping the client to understand themselves better and therefore use this sense of self meaningfully with the people they may have issues with. It is also an ethical requirement that all counsellors have adequate training and maintain this throughout their professional lives through training courses and supervisions e.t.c. counsellors must always remain loyal to the client and respectful of their professional position, contracts at the beginning of the professional relationships that explain confidentiality demonstrate this. It is vital that the client is always encouraged to be autonomous and even if the counsellor can see a course of action for the client they have to try to give them the tools to figure it out for themselves. A client should never be forced into a way of thinking as it is their right to be self-governing. The counsellor must always act in the best interests of the client, as said throughout, but there are some cases where the client is unable to be self-governing and trying to force them to figure out there issues is not in their best interests. An example of this is a person with learning difficulties may not have the ability to be autonomous and therefore the counsellor has to revaluate what would be the best for this client. Any exploitation of clients is forbidden whether this is sexual emotional or any other form. The counsellor has a commitment to avoiding any form of harm to the client and therefore must also report any suspicions of malpractice or incompetence. All clients must be treated fairly and respectfully and there must be no form of anti-discriminatory practice whatsoever. This also covers what could be deemed as legal and ethical obligations in respect of would reporting something do more harm than good, for example if someone is self-harming but not dangerously, would it benefit the client if you broke their trust and reported it, or would it be better to maintain confidentiality and try to work through it with them. This also includes the fact that everyone should have access to counselling regardless of financial situation or mobility e.t.c. A counsellor must always respect themselves and adopt all of the above mentioned principles. This includes any counselling that they feel that they need and an ethical responsibility to have regular supervision. Counsellors must have the ability to see issues from the clients point of view and they must be able to convey this to the client, they must never break trust in the respect that they do not keep to what they have said, all of the clients actions must be matched to their words. Honesty is the key to a good counselling relationship and it is vital that the counsellor maintains honesty and integrity and does not lull the client into a false sense of security. Counsellors have to build up a resilience to clients issues and take nothing personally, wherever possible and if resilience is down then it is the counsellors ethical role to seek appropriate guidance through supervision or whatever they deem ethically appropriate. By being self-aware and accepting any weaknesses, knowing your limits and addressing them the counsellor can improve their practice as they can by acknowledging any strength. Through training and life experiences a counsellor should be able to be non-judgemental and self-aware enough to guarantee that the decisions that they make are in theirs and the client’s best interest, and this self awareness should alleviate any fear of personal feelings or thoughts and give them the courage to challenge any uncertainties. This framework is vital to good practise and without it there would be massive potential for malpractise and people would practise to benefit themselves and not the clients. This could be a very dangerous way of practising as the main aim of counselling is to work towards the best outcome for a client. It protects both client and counsellor from and legal cases and gives the counsellor a sort of “bible” to refer to if they feel that they or the counsellor are being compromised. It is the backbone of the profession that aids in important decision making. The ethical framework though is a guideline and although it is vital that the values and principles are followed to ensure good practice there will at times be conflicts between principles and some may have to be compromised in favour of another. It is down to a counsellors sound judgement through training and supervisions to decide ethically what is the best course of action and what is in the clients best interests.