BACP Ethical Framework Focus
Ethical framework focus Criteria 1.1.1 and 1.1.2
Considering a way to ethically monitor what I do with clients is a really interesting area for me. I said to my supervisor very early on in our working relationship that there was no way for her to know if any work was actually taking place in the room, because there was no practical way to observe my practice. Although this was part in jest, I am genuinely intrigued that there is so much work going on around individuals’ welfare, with no real way of ensuring it is healthy, productive, professional and appropriate. My supervisor told me that, if work was not occurring, then this would be clear in supervision, and my retention of clients. I have kept this in mind if my thoughts have ever wandered since. I think, for me, there is a level of confidence, I can only hope this comes as a result of a level of competence. Within OnTrak it has been mentioned by my supervisor and senior staff that I am successful at retaining what can often be a very sporadic client group. I think that the young people I work with must be getting something from the process, or they simply would not return!
OnTrak work to ensure clients are aware of the Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy from their initial assessment. It is covered (along with the agencies specific policies) during a client’s assessment with a senior practitioner. The core components are then covered by myself at the first session and then covered as and when necessary. An example of this would be a client who missed a session and, at the next session, told me he had done so because he was not entirely sure of the confidentiality boundaries around criminal activity. He had missed the session because he ‘knew I would make him talk about it’, after subsequent discussion we worked to clarify this to mean he would want to talk about it on some level, and knew I would encourage this as an empathic result. By restating the confidentiality
Considering a way to ethically monitor what I do with clients is a really interesting area for me. I said to my supervisor very early on in our working relationship that there was no way for her to know if any work was actually taking place in the room, because there was no practical way to observe my practice. Although this was part in jest, I am genuinely intrigued that there is so much work going on around individuals’ welfare, with no real way of ensuring it is healthy, productive, professional and appropriate. My supervisor told me that, if work was not occurring, then this would be clear in supervision, and my retention of clients. I have kept this in mind if my thoughts have ever wandered since. I think, for me, there is a level of confidence, I can only hope this comes as a result of a level of competence. Within OnTrak it has been mentioned by my supervisor and senior staff that I am successful at retaining what can often be a very sporadic client group. I think that the young people I work with must be getting something from the process, or they simply would not return!
OnTrak work to ensure clients are aware of the Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy from their initial assessment. It is covered (along with the agencies specific policies) during a client’s assessment with a senior practitioner. The core components are then covered by myself at the first session and then covered as and when necessary. An example of this would be a client who missed a session and, at the next session, told me he had done so because he was not entirely sure of the confidentiality boundaries around criminal activity. He had missed the session because he ‘knew I would make him talk about it’, after subsequent discussion we worked to clarify this to mean he would want to talk about it on some level, and knew I would encourage this as an empathic result. By restating the confidentiality