Ethics in Counselling

I intend to show an understanding of the ethical framework for good practice in counselling, relating it to practice and also my own beliefs and opinions, how this influences the counselling relationship, I will also show the need for protection of self and client.

The importance of having a good ethical framework to work to is essential, it help’s to give guidance to counsellors as well as providing protection for the counsellor and client, the BACP ethical framework considers values, principals and personal morals, covering all three and offering understanding how these can be put to good practice, using empathy is just one that comes to mind, the use of empathy in the counselling relationship an important thing, this shows that you have listened to the client and that you can truly empathise with their situation even if you have not had the experience yourself, showing you can see it from their perspective. Fidelity or being trustworthy, trust is placed with the counsellor not to divulge things that are said by a client so in other words keeping confidentiality, it’s important that during the course of counselling the counsellor keeps to this, by keeping records in a locked cabinet, records on a computer should be kept password protect, when referring a client only specific details can be passed on and this has to be cleared with by the client first, there are times when confidentiality may have to be breached and this is something a counsellor should be aware of and therefore when starting sessions with a client it should be explained when setting boundaries and also in a written contract this is for the safety of both the client and the counsellor, sometimes a client may have the evolvement of other agency’s such as their doctor or social worker, this can sometimes affect the relationship between the client and counsellor as the client may feel a lack in trust possibly feeling the counsellor may disclose things they have said to these other agency’s, I say