Defining Values ,Morals & Ethics

1.Values
Personal Principals and ideas that help establish judgement between right and wrong.
2.Morals
The actual belief that forms a person’s core values ; rules that governs behavior.
3.Ethics
The moral principals that direct a person’s behavior; how people apply their morals.
4. Legal
While psychology's goal is to understand behavior and law's goal is to regulate it, both fields make assumptions
about what causes people to act the way they do.

Morality
• Morality involves judgment or evaluation of action associated with words right and wrong.
• Moral conduct is decided by the society.
• Moral principals form foundation for many ethical guidelines for clinicians.
• Kitchener (1984) identified 4 moral principals.
Ethics
• Ethics is the philosophical discipline that is concerned with human conduct and moral decision making.
-Establishes a criteria for labeling good and bad
-Promotes good and discourages bad action
• Ethical codes are not set in stones. They serve as basic principals upon which, standards of good practice
that should be designed.

Ethical Levels
1. Mandatory Ethics – Describes the ethical functioning levels, at which counselors merely act in
compliance with the established minimum standards.
2. Aspirational Ethics – Describe the highest standards of conduct, to which professional counselors can
aspire. They require the individual to go above and beyond.

Why do we need “Mental Health Legislation”?

• Mental health care has had a long history of neglect.

• Stigma associated with mental disorders leads to discrimination.
• Persons with mental disorders may lack the capacity to make informed decisions.
• Prevalence of mental health problems in the society is increasing.
 Counselling History
• Early treatments for human distress and disturbance, typically consisted of a combination of; biomedical, spiritual,
psychosocial and feminist-indigenous procedures. There’s a tendency for old explanations and treatments of mental
disturbance and distress to be discovered, rediscovered and recycled through the ages.

Things to keep in Mind

• Theories of therapy do not represent immutable truths but perhaps, better regarded as providing tools for practice and
understanding.
• It is not enough merely to accept the ideas and methods associated with any particular approach to therapy. Instead, it is
essential for each counsellor to develop his or her own personal approach, consistent with his or her own life experience,
cultural values and work setting.

One such organization called, The British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapy founded (BACP) in 1977 sets a
code of standards that counsellors abide by and are known as a Code of Ethics in the case of the BACP this is split
into two distinct headings:

1.Ethics
2.Good practice
Ethical bodies have three main functions:
(1) to provide information on counselling and psychotherapy services and set standards which give the general
public confidence in the profession.
(2) a route to complain if they feel dissatisfied with the service they have received from a counsellor.
(3) if the complaint is upheld then a therapist can find themselves receiving a 'sanction’.

•British Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP)

•British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC)
•College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (CORST)
•Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland (COSCA)
•Addiction Professionals (formerly known as SMMGP and FDAP)
•Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
•Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP)
•United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
•The National Counselling Society (NCS)
•British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy ( BACP)
•American Counselling Association ( ACA)

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The American Counseling Association (ACA)
Counselors play a key role in developing individuals and shaping communities. In their role, counselors are
often responsible for cultivating and maintaining relationships, monitoring clients’ well-being, and working
with different cultural values and confidential information. The American Counseling Association (ACA)
understands this and has a code of ethics, updated every 10 years, to help counselors navigate the challenging
and sensitive aspects of their roles.
Clarkson (2001) contends that all members of a professional association subscribe (at least in principle) to their
profession’s Code of Ethics for the sake of protecting the public. The degree to which this ‘protection’ occurs is
based on four factors:

1.Client awareness and knowledge of the Code of Ethics and the complaints procedure
2.The degree to which the client feels they can discuss his or her feelings about a violation with the counselor
3.The fairness of the Codes
4.The client’s ability to manage the Code or gain assistance in negotiation

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What Is the Purpose for the ACA Code of Ethics?
Ethics codes provide professional standards for counselors with the purpose of protecting the dignity and well-
being of clients. The main reasons for the code of ethics include informing professional counselors and
counselors-in-training of their ethical guidelines, professional obligations, and responsibilities to their clients.
This helps counselors decide an appropriate plan of action for their clients and provides the ethical standards by
which complaints and inquiries can be made regarding ACA members.

The five core professional values include:

1.Enhancing human development throughout the life span.
2.Honoring diversity and embracing a multicultural approach in support of the worth, dignity, potential, and
uniqueness of people within their social and cultural contexts.
3.Promoting social justice
4.Safeguarding the integrity of the counselor-client relationship.
5.Practicing in a competent and ethical manner.

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Reasons for Ethical Codes
Help professionalize and protect an association by government and promote
stability within the profession.

Help control internal disagreement.

Protect practitioners from the public.

Protect clients from incompetent counselors especially in malpractice issues. Clients can also use codes to
evaluate questionable treatment from the counselor.

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The Counseling Relationship (Section A)
The purpose of Section A is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on the counseling relationship such as client
welfare, informed consent, and managing multiple relationships.
Counselors must:
•Work hard to create and sustain a relationship with their clients based on trust.
•Obtain informed consent from clients entering a counseling relationship.
•Respect a client’s confidentiality and privacy.
•Explain to clients what the counseling relationship entails (which could include fees, group work, and termination).
•Be cognizant of client’s culture, values, and beliefs.

Confidentiality and Privacy (Section B)

The purpose of Section B is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on the importance of trust, boundaries, and
confidential interactions.
Counselors must:
•Communicate the concept of confidentiality with their clients on an ongoing basis and do so in a culturally sensitive
way.
•Inform clients about the limitations of confidentiality regarding what situations information must be disclosed (e.g., to
protect clients or others from harm).
•Discuss if and how information may be shared with others.
•Understand legal and ethical issues involved in working with clients who cannot provide informed consent (such as
minors or clients with impairment).
•Maintain20XX
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Professional Responsibility (Section C)
The purpose of Section C is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on respecting the practice of counseling.
Counselors must:
•Adhere to the ACA Code of Ethics.
•Practice within one’s boundaries of competence.
•Participate in associations that help improve the profession.
•Practice counseling based on scientific foundations.
•Be mindful when advertising and talking with the media.
•Engage in self-care activities so they can work at their highest capacity.

Relationships with Colleagues, Employees, and Employers (Section D)

The purpose of Section D is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on developing working relationships with
those within and outside of the counseling field.
Counselors must:
•Develop relationships with colleagues from other disciplines and be respectful of those who have different
theoretical approaches.
•Provide consultation services within areas of competence.
•Provide appropriate consultation referrals when requested or necessary.

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Evaluation, Assessment, and Interpretation (Section E)
The purpose of Section E is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on how to ethically use formal and informal
assessments to guide treatment plans and intervention selection.
Counselors must:
•Understand the use of assessments as an important part of information gathering and to assist in conducting
clients’ treatment and evaluation.
•Use educational, mental health, forensic, and career assessments (among others) on which they are trained and
have had comprehensive supervised experience administering and interpreting.
•Diagnose clients and interpret assessments accurately and in a culturally sensitive manner.

Supervision, Training, and Teaching (Section F)

The purpose of Section F is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on how to develop relationships with
supervisees, students, and trainees in ways that support ethical boundaries in a learning environment.
Counseling supervisors must:
•Be trained in supervision methods and techniques before they offer supervision services.
•Be responsible for monitoring supervisees’ clients’ welfare and supervisees’ performance and development
through a variety of supervision modalities, such as regular meetings and live supervision.
•Inform supervisees of their clients’ rights and inform clients with information regarding the supervision process
and its limitation on confidentiality.

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 Research and Publication (Section G)
The purpose of Section G is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on how to ethically conduct human
subjects research and publish and/or present results.

Counselors must:
•Conduct research that is aligned with ethical principles, federal and state laws, host institutional regulations,
and scientific standards of governing research.
•Adhere to confidentiality in their research.
•Be responsible for participants’ welfare throughout the research process.
•Inform individuals of their rights as a research participant through informed consent.
•Plan, conduct, and report research accurately.

Ethics
Ethics refers to the correct rules of conduct necessary when carrying out research. We have a moral responsibility to protect
research participants from harm.
However important the issue under investigation psychologists need to remember that they have a duty to respect the rights
and dignity of research participants.

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Participants must be given information relating to following..

• A statement that participation is voluntary and that refusal to participate will not result in any consequences or any loss of benefits that the
person is otherwise entitled to receive.
• Purpose of the research.
• All foreseeable risks and discomforts to the participant (if there are any). These include not only physical injury but also possible
psychological.
• Procedures involved in the research.
• Benefits of the research to society and possibly to the individual human subject.
• Length of time the subject is expected to participate.
• Person to contact for answers to questions or in the event of injury or emergency.
• Subjects' right to confidentiality and the right to withdraw from the study at any time without any consequences

Informed Consent

• Whenever possible investigators should obtain the consent of participants. In practice, this means it is not sufficient to simply
get potential participants to say “Yes”. They also need to know what it is that they are agreeing to.
• Before the study begins the researcher must outline to the participants what the research is about, and then ask their consent (i.e.
permission) to take part. An adult (18ys +) capable of giving permission to participate in a study can provide consent.
Parents/legal guardians of minors can also provide consent to allow their children to participate in a study.

• In order that consent be ‘informed’, consent forms may need to be accompanied by an information sheet for participants setting
out information about the proposed study (in lay terms) along with details about the investigators and how they can be
contacted.
Debrief

• After the research is over the participant should be able to discuss the procedure and the findings with the
psychologist. They must be given a general idea of what the researcher was investigating and why, and
their part in the research should be explained.
• Participants must be told if they have been deceived and given reasons why. They must be asked if they
have any questions and those questions should be answered honestly and as fully as possible.
• Debriefing should take place as soon as possible and be as full as possible; experimenters should take
reasonable steps to ensure that participants understand debriefing.
• “The purpose of debriefing is to remove any misconceptions and anxieties that the participants have about
the research and to leave them with a sense of dignity, knowledge, and a perception of time not wasted”
(Harris, 1998).
• The aim of the debriefing is not just to provide information, but to help the participant leave the
experimental situation in a similar frame of mind as when he/she entered it (Aronson, 1988).
Protection of Participants

• Researchers must ensure that those taking part in research will not be caused distress. They must be
protected from physical and mental harm. This means you must not embarrass, frighten, offend or harm
participants.

• The researcher must also ensure that if vulnerable groups are to be used (elderly, disabled, children, etc.),
they must receive special care. For example, if studying children, make sure their participation is brief as
they get tired easily and have a limited attention span.
• Researchers are not always accurately able to predict the risks of taking part in a study and in some cases, a
therapeutic debriefing may be necessary if participants have become disturbed during the research (as
happened to some participants in Zimbardo’s prisoners/guards study)
Deception.

• This is where participants are misled or wrongly informed about the aims of the research. Types of deception include (i)
deliberate misleading, e.g. using confederates, staged manipulations in field settings, deceptive instructions; (ii)
deception by omission, e.g., failure to disclose full information about the study, or creating ambiguity.

• The researcher should avoid deceiving participants about the nature of the research unless there is no alternative and even
then this would need to be judged acceptable by an independent expert. However, there are some types of research that
cannot be carried out without at least some element of deception.

• For example, in Milgram’s study of obedience, the participants thought they there giving electric shocks to a learner when
they answered a question wrong. In reality, no shocks were given and the learners were confederates of Milgram.
This is sometimes necessary in order to avoid demand characteristics (i.e. the clues in an experiment which lead participants to
think they know what the researcher is looking for).

• However, participants must be deceived as little as possible, and any deception must not cause distress.

• If you have gained participants’ informed consent by deception, then they will have agreed to take part without actually
knowing what they were consenting to. The true nature of the research should be revealed at the earliest possible opportunity,
or at least during debriefing.
Confidentiality

• Participants, and the data gained from them must be kept anonymous unless they give their full consent. No
names must be used in a lab report.

Withdrawal from a Investigation

• Participants should be able to leave a study at any time if they feel uncomfortable.
• They should also be allowed to withdraw their data. They should be told at the start of the study that they have
the right to withdraw. They should not have pressure placed upon them to continue if they do not want to (a
guideline flouted in Milgram’s research).
• Participants may feel they shouldn’t withdraw as this may ‘spoil’ the study. Many participants are paid or
receive course credits, they may worry they won’t get this if they withdraw Even at the end of the study the
participant has a final opportunity to withdraw the data they have provided for the research.
 Ethical Guidelines relating to the use of Animals

Animals are used in psychology research for number of different reasons. Driscoll and Bateson (1988) suggested animals may be ; convenient
models ( for processes such as learning ,a way to carry out procedures that could not be done ethically on humans .
( eg : isolation and brain surgery ) or be good or interesting examples in their own right (eg :communication in birds ,bats or whales) As a
consequence ,much psychological research is conducted on animals and therefore their welfare needs protecting.
Animals are often protected by law ,but these guidelines specifically consider the effects of research in which animals may be confined, harmed,
stressed, or in pain, so suffering should be minimized.

• Replacement
Researcher should consider replacing animals experiments with alternatives, such as video from previous studies or computer simulations.
• Species and strain
The chosen species and strain should be the one least likely to suffer pain and distress. Other relevant factor include whether the animals were
bred in captivity ,their previous experience of experimentation and the sentence of the species (its ability to think and feel )
• Number of Animals
Only the minimum number of animals needed to produce valid and reliable results should be used . To minimize the number ,
pilots studies ,reliable measures of the dependent variable ,good experimental design and appropriate data analysis should all be used.
Procedures : Pain and Distress
Research causing death ,diseases ,injury ,physiological or psychological distress or discomfort should be
avoided. Where as possible ,design which improves rather than worsen the animals experience should be used. (
eg : studying the effect of early enrichment on development compared to normal rather than early deprivation )
.Alternatively naturally occurring instances may be used ( eg where stress arises naturally in the animals
environment or lifetime )During research ,attention should be paid to the care and veterinary needs and any
costs to the animals should be justified by the scientific benefit of the work.

Housing
Isolation and crowding can cause animals distress . caging conditions should depend on the social behavior of
the species. ( Eg ; isolation will be more distressing for social animals than solitary ones ) Over crowding can
cause distress and aggression ( therefore also physical harm ) This level of stress experienced by individuals
should also be considered ( eg : animals age and gender ) .Between testing ,animals should be housed with
enough space to move freely and with sufficient food and water for their health and well being, both in terms of
their biological and ecological needs. However artificial environment only needs to recreate the aspects of
natural environment that are important to welfare and survival . Eg : warmth space for exercise or somewhere to
hide. Cage cleaning should balance cleanliness against avoiding stress.
Reward ,Deprivation and Aversive stimuli
In planning studies using deprivation the normal feeding or drinking patterns of the animals should be considered
so that their needs can be satisfied ( eg carnivores eat less frequently than herbivores ,young animals need greater
access to food and water ) the use of preferred food should be considered as an alternative to deprivation ( eg ; for
reward in learning studies ) and alternative to aversive stimuli and deprivation should be used where possible.

Anesthesia ,Analgesia and Euthanasia

Animals should be protected from pain , eg : relating to surgery using appropriate anesthesia and analgesia ,and
killed ( euthanized ) is suffering lasting pain.

Evaluating Studies based on ethical guidelines and applying your knowledge of ethical guidelines to novel
research situations.
All research with human participants should be ethical . Researchers should , for example always follow the
guidelines should always be followed.
Distance Counseling, Technology, and Social Media (Section H)
The purpose of Section H is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on how to ethically use technology and social
media within the field of counseling.
Counselors must:
•Be knowledgeable about the laws governing distance counseling and social media.
•Only utilize distance counseling after gaining competence through training and supervised experience in this
specialty area.
•Inform clients about the limits of confidentiality and potential Internet interruptions due to the nature of technology.
•Understand the benefits and drawbacks related to distance counseling
•Utilize a professional presence if they choose to use social media platforms
•Avoid disclosing confidential information through social media.
•Utilize informed consent to explain the boundaries of social media

Distance Counseling, Technology, and Social Media (Section H)

The purpose of Section H is to provide ethical guidelines that focus on how to ethically use technology and social
media within the field of counseling.
Counselors must:
•Be knowledgeable about the laws governing distance counseling and social media.
•Only utilize distance counseling after gaining competence through training and supervised experience in this
specialty area.
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Core Ethical Principles

The moral basis for the practice of counselling can be expressed in different ways. At one level, the ethics of
counselling is grounded in a common-sense appreciation of what is the ‘right’ thing to do. From a more reflective
perspective, it is clear that counselling is informed by a set of core values, such as respect for the person, and belief
in a person’s capacity to develop and learn. These values are reflected in an array of personal virtues, such as
honesty and integrity, that characterize practitioners
who aspire to the highest standards. Finally, the moral basis of practice is also informed by ethical principles,
which are largely similar to the ethical codes found in all health and caring professions. An important statement of
the core ethical principles that inform counselling practice was made by Karen Kitchener (1984), who proposed
that ethical decision-making in any counselling situation should be based on fi ve fundamental moral constructs:

● Autonomy: people are understood as individuals who have the right to freedom
of action and freedom of choice insofar as the pursuit of these freedoms does
not interfere with the freedoms of others.
● Non-maleficence: the injunction to all helpers or healers that they must ‘above all do no harm’.
● Beneficence: the intention to promote human welfare.
● Justice: the fair distribution of resources and services.
● Fidelity: being loyal and reliable, and acting in good faith.

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What are the Ethics in Counseling?
The ethics in counseling are what counselors follow to protect both themselves and their clients. Ethics may
comprise personal moral qualities and key ethical guidelines. Personal moral qualities in counselling often
include:

•Empathy — The ability to understand a client's feelings or thoughts from their point of view.
•Integrity — Being honest with strong moral values.
•Humility — Acknowledgment of one's own weaknesses.
•Resilience — The ability to recover from difficult situations.
•Competence — The ability to perform a duty efficiently.

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BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions.
What are Ethics in Counselling?

Health Assured adhere to the BACP’s ethical framework in counselling. This means we, and all our
counselling staff put clients first, work to professional standards, show respect, build appropriate relationships,
maintain integrity, and demonstrate accountability. It has three main sections:

•A commitment to clients provides a summary of working to professional standards and building an ethical
relationship
•Ethics specifies the values, principles and personal moral qualities that inform our work and underpin
supervision
•Good practice considers the application of our commitments to clients and ethics to our practice
We will be looking specifically at ethics. The BACP’s ethics are based on values, principles and personal
moral qualities that underpin and inform the interpretation and application the other two sections. The ethical
framework outlines the appropriate:

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•Values
•Principles
•Personal moral qualities
The actual framework itself is quite long and complicated.

Why are Ethics Important in Counselling?

Ethics are important in counseling, as they are a means to protect the welfare of the client and counselors by
clearly outlining what is appropriate.
Counsellors and therapists often come across some difficult and sensitive subjects. This leaves the client in a
vulnerable position. It’s expected of a counsellor to act ethically, meaning adhering to what’s known as an
ethical framework.
They have a duty of care for clients, and by nature of the profession, counsellors are to act in the best interest
of their client, promoting client goals, protecting client rights, maximizing good and minimizing harm.

Following a code of ethics means acting honestly as a businessperson, as well as a counsellor.

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What about Ethical Concerns in Counselling?
There are plenty of ethical concerns and ethical dilemmas in counselling. No two people will have the same
set of issues, so counsellors and psychotherapists need to be equipped to deal with literally almost anything
that can be thrown at them, emotionally.
This is one of the many reasons why it’s such a stressful and difficult job.
Some of the potential ethical pitfalls that a counsellor can come across which the ethical framework is
designed to help them navigate include:

1. Setting and Maintaining Boundaries

This is probably the most important ethical concern for a counsellor. It’s necessary to avoid developing
personal relationships with clients, due to privacy, confidentiality, and a duty of care. This isn’t always
possible, and intense emotional connections can develop from either side when difficult subjects are
discussed.
Counsellors should also avoid working with family, friends, or people they know personally. This includes
working with family members of someone they know. These ethical boundaries are in place to allow
everyone a fair, unbiased therapy, where they can rely on confidentiality to express their problems freely.

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Confidentiality
Another important consideration. Every counsellor is responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their
clients. All personal information, and the disclosures made during sessions, need to be kept not only secret
but secure.
There are a few exceptions to this, for instance when a therapist strongly suspects immediate harm to the client
or someone around them. But for the most part what is said in the sessions, stays in the sessions.

Impartiality
Clients can come from every walk of life, be in any situation, and belong to any one of myriad religions,
cultures, and backgrounds. It’s vital for a counsellor to be able to take people at face value and use the same
professionalism regardless of their client.
As well as this, a counsellor is expected to leave their own issues at the door. Personal problems affect us all but
when your job involves dealing with and advising on the issues other people face, your own issues can
introduce biases and prejudices. It’s about separating work from home life.

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Bartering

The practice of counseling for goods or other services, cleaning house, secretarial
service, etc.
This is an accepted practice in some cultures and subcultures.

Even if the helper’s intention is good it has the potential for conflicts.

Case example - An unemployed client offers counselor’s car service. Car’s engine
fails due to chance or inferior work of the client, what will happen to helping
relationship?

Dual Relationships
Dual relationship refers to professional’s assuming two or more roles simultaneously or sequentially with the person
seeking help, such as friendship and business deals. Judgment is likely to be affected, impaired, as the relationship
of counselors and clients in power and status are unequal, thus exploitation may
occur.

Emerged from debates in the 1980s in the nature of client-counselor sexual relations.

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Though some behaviors have potential are not by themselves dual relationships, e.g., accepting an invitation,
accepting a small gift, engaging in non-erotic touch when appropriate during counseling. Such behaviors will be
the boundary
crossing rather than violation boundary crossing is departure from standard practice, while violation is a serious
breach that causes harm to the clients.
Although there is a considerable disagreement on this issue, blending of relationships is not recommended by
most of the professional agencies. Recent codes of ethics (APA, ACA) deal more specifically with setting
appropriate boundaries. However, in small communities helpers are more likely to be involved in multiple
relationships like the local pharmacist, physician, carpenter, or beautician might be the clients. Thus dual
relationships are inevitable.
Counseling is also avoided in superior/subordinate relationships because of unequal status of both.

Studies about time limit for establishing relationships with current and former clients were conducted. In this
reference, Salisbury & Kinnier (1996) surveyed 500 therapists. A minority (33%) of counselors surveyed and
believed that sexual relationships with former clients might be acceptable after 5 years, while the majority (70%)
accepted such a relationship after 2 years. In another study, majority did not hold the opinion of “once a client,
always a client” in nonsexual relations with the former clients.

Although apparently it appears that the rates of sexual relationships are declining with the passage of time,
obtaining accurate data on prevalence of such an issue is difficult.
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Multiple Clients

Marital and family therapy: When the counselor is seeing multiple relatives in a family, s/he should clarify
his/her relationship with each member. S/he should also be clear how to deal with disclosure by a family relative.
For example,
if husband has AIDS, it is essential that the wife is informed about that fact. Similarly, if an adolescent son is
taking drugs and he confides in the counselor, it is pertinent for the counselor to inform the parents about his
drug-taking because
of the likely serious consequences. Some counselors believe that secrets within a family are counterproductive,
while others do believe that the information should be kept private and confidential. The decision really depends
on the gravity of the
situation and the likely consequences of confidentiality.

Group work
When the counselor is working in a group, s/he should clearly inform the group members to respect
confidentiality of each other and to maintain group-ground rules. On the first place, the counselor should select
group members with compatible needs and goals. S/he must also ensure that reasonable precautions are taken to
protect the clients from any physical or psychological trauma from other members of the group

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All BACP members must work in accordance with the Ethical Framework.

It has three main sections:

•Our commitment to clients provides a summary of working to professional standards and building an ethical
relationship
•Ethics specifies the values, principles and personal moral qualities that inform our work and underpin
supervision
•Good practice considers the application of our commitments to clients and ethics to our practice

Our commitment to clients

Clients need to be able to participate freely as they work with practitioners of the counselling professions
towards their desired goals. This requires clients to be able to trust their practitioner with their wellbeing and
sensitive personal information. Therefore, as members or registrants of BACP, we take being trustworthy as a
serious ethical commitment. We have agreed that we will

1. Put clients first by:

a. making clients our primary concern while we are working with them
b. providing an appropriate standard of service to our clients

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2. Work to professional standards by:
a. working within our competence
b. keeping our skills and knowledge up to date
c. collaborating with colleagues to improve the quality of what is being offered to clients
d. ensuring that our wellbeing is sufficient to sustain the quality of the work
e. keeping accurate and appropriate records

3. Show respect by:

a. valuing each client as a unique person
b. protecting client confidentiality and privacy
c. agreeing with clients on how we will work together
d. working in partnership with clients

4. Build an appropriate relationship with clients by:

a. communicating clearly what clients have a right to expect from us
b. communicating any benefits, costs and commitments that clients may reasonably expect
c. respecting the boundaries between our work with clients and what lies outside that work
d. not exploiting or abusing clients
e. listening out for how clients experience our working together

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5. Maintain integrity by:
a. being honest about the work
b. communicating our qualifications, experience and working methods accurately
c. working ethically and with careful consideration of how we fulfil our legal obligations

6. Demonstrate accountability and candour by:

a. being willing to discuss with clients openly and honestly any known risks involved in the work and how best to
work towards our clients’ desired outcomes by communicating any benefits, costs and commitments that
clients may reasonably expect
b. ensuring that clients are promptly informed about anything that has occurred which places the client at risk of
harm or causes harm in our work together, whether or not clients are aware of it, and quickly taking action to limit
or repair any harm as far as possible
c. reviewing our work with clients in supervision
d. monitoring how clients experience our work together and the effects of our work with them.

Ethics
1. Our ethics are based on values, principles and personal moral qualities that underpin and inform the
interpretation and application of Our commitment to clients and Good practice.
Values
2. Values are a useful way of expressing general ethical commitments that underpin the purpose and goals of our
actions.
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3. Our fundamental values include a commitment to:
•respecting human rights and dignity
•alleviating symptoms of personal distress and suffering
•enhancing people’s wellbeing and capabilities
•improving the quality of relationships between people
•increasing personal resilience and effectiveness
•facilitating a sense of self that is meaningful to the person(s) concerned within their personal and cultural
context
•appreciating the variety of human experience and culture
•protecting the safety of clients
•ensuring the integrity of practitioner-client relationships
•enhancing the quality of professional knowledge and its application
•striving for the fair and adequate provision of services

4. Values inform principles. They become more precisely defined and action-orientated when expressed as a
principle.

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Principles
5. Principles direct attention to important ethical responsibilities. Our core principles are:
•Being trustworthy: honoring the trust placed in the practitioner
•Autonomy: respect for the client’s right to be self-governing
•Beneficence: a commitment to promoting the client’s wellbeing
•Non-maleficence: a commitment to avoiding harm to the client
•Justice: the fair and impartial treatment of all clients and the provision of adequate services
•Self-respect: fostering the practitioner’s self-knowledge, integrity and care for self

6. Ethical decisions that are strongly supported by one or more of these principles without any contradiction with
the others may be regarded as well-founded.

Personal moral qualities

7. Personal moral qualities are internalized values that shape how we relate to others and our environment.
They represent a moral energy or drive that may operate unconsciously and unexamined. This moral energy or
drive is ethically more beneficial when consciously examined from time to time and used to motivate our
ethical development or shape how we work towards a good society.

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8. The practitioner’s personal and relational moral qualities are of the utmost importance. Their perceived
presence or absence will have a strong influence on how relationships with clients and colleagues develop and
whether they are of sufficient quality and resilience to support the work.

9. High levels of compatibility between personal and professional moral qualities will usually enhance the
integrity and resilience of any relationship.

10. Key personal qualities to which members and registrants are strongly encouraged to aspire include:

•Candour: openness with clients about anything that places them at risk of harm or causes actual
harm
•Care: benevolent, responsible and competent attentiveness to someone’s needs, wellbeing
and personal agency
•Courage: the capacity to act in spite of known fears, risks and uncertainty
•Diligence: the conscientious deployment of the skills and knowledge needed to achieve a
beneficial outcome
•Empathy: the ability to communicate understanding of another person’s experience from that
person’s perspective
•Fairness: impartial and principled in decisions and actions concerning others in ways that promote equality of
opportunity and maximize the capability of the people concerned
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•Humility: the ability to assess accurately and acknowledge one’s own strengths and weaknesses
•Identity: sense of self in relationship to others that forms the basis of responsibility, resilience and motivation
•Integrity: commitment to being moral in dealings with others, including personal straightforwardness, honesty
and coherence
•Resilience: the capacity to work with the client’s concerns without being personally diminished
•Respect: showing appropriate esteem for people and their understanding of themselves
•Sincerity: a personal commitment to consistency between what is professed and what is done
•Wisdom: possession of sound judgement that informs practice

Good Practice

It sets out what can be expected of all members and registrants of BACP as practitioners providing
therapeutically-informed services, particularly coaching, counselling, pastoral care, psychotherapy and using
counselling skills. This includes being a supervisor, trainer, educator of practitioners, or researcher of any aspect
of the counselling professions. Trainees will fulfil all the commitments to clients within the Ethical
Framework when working with members of the public as their clients. Good practice point 81 sets out the
commitments for working with other trainees to learn new knowledge and skills

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Breaks and Endings

1. We will inform clients about any fixed limits to the duration or number of sessions as part of the contracting
process.
2. We will endeavor to inform clients well in advance of approaching endings and be sensitive to our client’s
expectations and concerns when we are approaching the end of our work together.
3. We will inform clients in advance of any planned breaks in working together, for example, holidays or
medical treatments, and give as much notice as possible.
4. Any unplanned breaks due to illness or other causes will be managed in ways to minimize inconveniencing
clients and, for extended breaks, may include offering to put clients in touch with other practitioners.
5. In the event of death or illness of sufficient severity to prevent the practitioner communicating directly with
clients, we will have appointed someone to communicate with clients and support them in making alternative
arrangements where this is desired. The person undertaking this work will be bound by the confidentiality
agreed between the practitioner and client, and will usually be a trusted colleague, a specially appointed trustee
or a supervisor.

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• To some extent, counselling presents ethical issues that are particularly challenging for practitioners. In professions such
as nursing, medicine and social work, ethical decisions may be linked to life or death issues such as taking a child into
care, or withholding treatment from a patient. However, in these contexts ethical dilemmas can usually be discussed
within a team over a period of time.

• By contrast, ethical issues in counselling can often arise in the moment, and in a situation in which other colleagues cannot
have access to the same amount of information about the client. Also, making the wrong call around an ethical issue can
utterly undermine the counselling relationship. For these reasons, it is essential for any kind of counselling training to take
ethical issues seriously in ways that facilitate trainee awareness and competence around ethical
decision-making.

Examples of Ethical Dilemmas in Embedded Counselling

Grania is a nurse who has been providing counselling for some time to James, a patient who has a long-term problem, and
who has needed to talk about how the illness has affected his image of himself as someone who takes care of others in his
family. He brings in an expensive gift. He knows that this is something that Grania would like. In responding to her patient,
Grania is open about her pleasure in being offered this gift, and also her difficulty as a practitioner bound by health service
rules in being able to accept the gift without consulting her line manager and supervisor. She encourages James to share his
feeling around the gift-giving, and her response. They agree that Grania will consult on the question of the gift, and that they
will discuss it further at their next meeting. In the meantime, Grania is aware that the gift may be an expression of a strong
wish on the part of James to be the caretaker and provider, and reflects on
how and when (and whether) it would be useful to explore that idea with him.
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Ian is a community support worker who has been counselling someone for six months who has a serious medical
condition. He has a similar medical problem himself. At the start of his contact with this person, Ian decided not to
mention his own health problem to the client. However, he is now finding it extremely difficult to carry on with the
counselling, because what the client is talking about reminds him of his own pain and despair, and he keeps wanting to
cry during sessions. Ian imagines that it would be overwhelming for his client if he now began to share his own condition,
and manufactures a rationale for handing the care of this person over to a colleague. The client is mystified about what
has happened, and feels rejected.

Miranda is a youth worker attached to a secondary school. The school has a specialist counsellor, and has a rule that any
child under 16 needs to have parental permission to receive counselling. Miranda has just finished a group workshop for a
class of 15-year-old children on relationship skills. At the end one of the students, Kaya, comes up to her and launches into
the story of her problems. When asked about whether she has considered using the specialist school counsellor, Kaya says
that her parents had not given her permission to see the actual school counsellor, ‘so I chose to speak to you instead’.
Miranda acknowledges the difficult situation that Kaya finds herself in, and talks for a few moments about the reason why
parental approval is necessary. She asks Kaya if she would be willing to tell her what happened when she asked for her
parents’ approval, and whether it would be helpful if Miranda perhaps met with her parents and Kaya together to review
the situation.

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Relational Ethics: Integrating Ethical Principles into Counselling Practice

At the heart of effective counselling is the establishment of a collaborative, trusting relationship between client and
counsellor. In recent years, there has been a growing appreciation that it is helpful for counsellors to be able to interpret
ethical principles within a relational context. As a result Gabriel and Casemore (2009) and others have begun to develop a
framework for understanding relational ethics. The nature of relational ethics is exemplified in a study by Jennings et al.
(2005) in which experienced psychotherapists were interviewed about the values that informed their work with clients. The
themes that emerged for analysis of these interviews illustrate the extent to which a relational ethos permeates the ethical
thinking of these practitioners. They reported that their responsibility to their clients could only be fulfilled if they continued
to maintain and build their knowledge, skills and competence.

Two further values that were particularly important for these practitioners were:
● Relational connection referred to a commitment to relationships with clients, colleagues, family and friends, and members
of the community: ‘to maintain competence and build expertise, they must continually be in relationships with others in the
field, whether in supervision or consultation or purely for collegial support and friendship’ (Jennings et al., 2005: 37).

● Humility referred to an appreciation of their limitations as practitioners and as human beings. This study demonstrates
some
of the ways in which, in practice, adherence to ethical and moral principles depends on an underlying capacity for
connectedness and relationship.

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The ethical principles identified by Kitchener (1984) form the basis for everything that happens in counselling, and
represent a general moral horizon within which all counselling conversations take place. In practice, however, the
application of these principles tends to be focused on a set of key domains:

● working within the law

● negotiating informed consent
● confidentiality
● competence (being aware of your limits as a counsellor)
● taking care around dual relationships
● sensitivity to cultural differences in moral standpoint
● dealing with risk and self-harm
● using touch.

Duty of care refers to situations where there is a risk of harm to the client, or to another person. There are also situations in
which the client themself may be a risk to others. For example, in a counselling session a client may talk about how enraged
they are by someone who has mistreated them to the extent that they intend to hurt them. Finally, a client may report
information that indicates harm being committed by a third party; for example, someone who has sexually abused them, or
someone who comes to work under the influence of drugs or alcohol. There can be ethical dilemmas for counsellors in these
situations around how to respond to the information they have received. For instance, to what extent is an angry client just
letting off steam, or are they actually planning to commit a crime of violence?

For example, while a private-practice psychotherapist or counsellor has some discretion in whether to report a case of sexual
abuse, a social worker, nurse or teacher is always required to report on any suspicion of abuse that they might come across.
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Legal Considerations within your own Practice

What are the legal considerations or specific professional or organizational codes that are most relevant for your own counselling practice? To what extent,
and in what ways, do you need to address these considerations in your everyday work with clients; for example, by explaining to them that if they talk
about certain issues you would be required to take certain types of action? In what ways does the organization provide you with support around these
issues; for example, in the form of supervision, consultation and training?

Negotiating Informed Consent

• When someone is seeking help, before the actual counselling commences it is the responsibility of the counsellor to ensure that the person is sufficiently
informed about what is on offer, and what might happen.

Examples of Conversations around Informed Consent

• Alicia, aged 15, attends a youth club and likes and trusts the community education worker who runs the club. One evening, when the club is quiet, she starts
to talk about her problems at school. The youth worker says that she is very happy to talk
about these issues, but that Alicia needs to know that she is only around one evening each week, and so she cannot guarantee that they could talk every week.
She checks out how Alicia feels about this, and whether she might prefer it if the
youth worker helped her to make an appointment at a local young person’s counselling service.

• His GP suspects that Mike, an unemployed man who has visited regularly with a variety of physical ailments, is bottling up a lot of feelings about how his life
has worked out, but is afraid that other people might see how vulnerable he is. At one
consultation, he suggests to Mike that it might be helpful if they took a bit more time to look at what was going on in his life that might be making him feel bad.
He adds: of course, there could be things that are upsetting to talk about. Maybe you would want to think about whether you want to go into these things right
now. Sometimes it can be better to make an appointment at the end of my afternoon clinic, when the place is quiet and we can have more time. What do you
think? It’s
up to you’.

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Elsa starts to tell her social worker about why she has taken her children out of the family home, and moved in with her
mother. Before Elsa gets into her stride, the social worker intervenes to say: ‘I know you know this, but I’m just reminding
you that if you tell me anything that’s around harm to any of the children, I would have to do something. I don’t have any
choice about that. I’m really happy to talk all this through with you – we’ve got at least an hour if we need it – but any
abuse or harm has to be reported. Is that OK?’

these examples, the person in the role of counsellor is providing the person
seeking help with the information that they need in order to make an autonomous
decision about whether they want to proceed, or not. In these particular examples,
the counsellor was acting on the basis of an assumption that the person already
possessed a reasonably good understanding of counselling, and knew what they
were looking for. There are some occasions where this would not be the case, and a
counsellor might need to take more time to tell a person what was involved in counselling
to the point where that person was capable of making a truly informed choice.

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Setting the scene for Informed Consent

What do you say to prospective clients about what is involved in counselling? When do you say it? Is this information
backed up by written materials? How adequate is this information as a basis for the client to consent to what will follow?
If you have been a client yourself, what kind of consent procedure was conducted? As a result of the information you were
given did you have a sense of actively giving consent for counselling to take place?

Confidentiality
Confidentiality is a central aspect of counselling. The counselling process depends on the client feeling sufficiently safe to
be able to talk openly and honestly about whatever it is that is bothering them. By contrast, if someone believes that what
they say will end up as a topic for gossip, or will be used against them in some way, they are unlikely to engage in much
meaningful self-disclosure. However, confidentiality can never be absolute. Ethical practice requires counsellors to make
use of supervision and consultation as a means of maintaining and ensuring effectiveness.

In addition, in exceptional circumstances the legal system has the right to require counsellors to pass on information that
they have acquired within a counselling relationship.

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There are two main practical ways in which counsellors can ensure that confidentiality is dealt with in an appropriately ethical
manner.
• First, counsellors should always behave with respect, care and tact around client information.
• Being a counsellor involves developing a capacity to store client information in separate ‘boxes’ in one’s mind, and only to
open each of these boxes when required to do so.
• It can be tempting, and sometimes even emotionally necessary to retell vivid or disturbing client stories to friends or
colleagues. This kind of behavior is always risky, because even small or incidental aspects of a story may allow the client to
be identifiable.
• The practice of embedded counselling therefore involves coming to a working agreement with colleagues and managers
around what kinds of information need to be shared and kept on fi le, and what can remain confidential to the counsellor.
For example, in many embedded counselling situations it may make sense for colleagues to know that a client is using a
particular worker as a person to talk to, or even to know that certain issues are being talked about. But it may not be
necessary for them to know the precise content of these talks.
• A second dimension of confidentiality is associated with the client’s understanding of confidentiality, and how the
counsellor negotiates this understanding. The ethical principle of autonomy is particularly relevant here – if the client is
fully informed about the limits of confidentiality, then they are in a position to decide about whether or not to disclose
certain areas of information. It is a mistake to assume that a client will inevitably want everything that they say in
counselling to be treated as confidential. For example, a college student who uses their tutor to explore the impact of a
bereavement may assume that other tutors on the course would be told about this issue and would as a result be sensitive
to their emotional vulnerability at that time

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. Part of the skill of being a counsellor includes being able to choose
the right moment to check out with the client around confidentiality boundaries. If
time is tight, it can seem awkward and unhelpful to defect the client from their troubles
by initiating a discussion of confidentiality. It can be useful in some situations to
have written information about confidentiality, in a leaflet or on a website, to which
the client can be directed. But even if such information is available, it is still necessary
to ask the client if they have read and understood it, and has any questions. Brief
discussions around confidentiality can contribute to a strengthening of the counselling
relationship and counsellor–client ‘alliance’ if the client gains an appreciation
of the professionalism of the counsellor, and a sense of being cared about. These
discussions also have a preventative value – misunderstandings about confidentiality
for perceived breaches that arise later in counselling can be very destructive.

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