Ethical Practice in Counselling

This assignment delves into the importance of ethical practice in counselling, focusing on the BACP framework. It examines how ethical considerations promote fairness and combat discrimination. The report emphasizes the role of knowledge in navigating ethical dilemmas and benefits practitioners can derive from adhering to ethical guidelines. Additionally, it reflects on the personal and moral qualities fostered by the BACP framework, ultimately enhancing a counsellor's ability to provide effective support to clients.

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN
COUNSELLING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1 BACP Ethical framework introduction and principles...............................................................1
P2 BACP ethical framework towards counselling practice and how it promotes fairness, anti
discriminatory..................................................................................................................................3
P3 Importance of knowledge in ethical and professional issues within counselling practice.........4
P4 Reflect upon counsellors personal and moral qualities..............................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
BACP is British association for counselling and psychotherapy which is an association
provides counselling practice to practitioners. It is an ethical framework to improve practitioners
counselling practice towards clients. In this introduction the overview of BACP and its principals
are given and well explained. Identification of ethical code which promote the fairness and anti
discriminatory is also mentioned and explained with the uses of counselling practice. Ethical and
professional issues are also introduces with the impact of knowledge upon them and how can it
relate with knowledge activities. The characteristics of a counsellor and the impact of BACP
ethical framework upon the personal and moral qualities of a counsellor. How this framework
help him to improve or develop his personal abilities and skills as well as moral qualities. A short
view on the uses of framework for a counsellor at his own clinic is also described.
P1 BACP Ethical framework introduction and principles
BACP Ethical framework
BACP Ethical framework is used for good practice in counselling and psychotherapy and
it is published by the British association. BACP is the biggest professional firm which help for
counselling and psychotherapy in the UK. It has a registered charity and company limited
guarantee in Wales and England.
BACP stand for – British association for counselling and psychotherapy 2001 to 2013.
The revised and original version of Ethical framework is written and composed by Professor Tim
Bond and the conduct process is by Grainne Griffin. BACP includes social diversity, inclusive
and equality of treatment without any kind of discrimination. It opposes the treatment of
psychotherapy in terms of conversion or reparation (Blazek, Smith, Lemešová, and Hricová,
2015). It is a therapy based on the assumption which, homosexuality is a mental disorder or the
premise that patient should change her/his sexuality.
Principles
Principles are related directly to the ethical responsibilities. Ethical decisions are strongly
supported by the principles without contradiction from any other.
Being trustworthy
Being trustworthy is honouring the trust place in the practitioner. This principle helps to
understand and solve the fundamental of ethical issues. This principle is adopted by the
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practitioners according to the trust placed in them, ensure the expectations of clients to strive,
which has reasonable prospects for meeting their promises and agreements, regarding as a
confidentiality and obligation occurring from the trust of clients also restrict disclosure of
confidential contents about client to approach the purpose of disclosed.
Autonomy
This principle underlines the importance of improving the ability of clients such as self
directing and all aspects of life within the therapy. Practitioners who adopt these clients'
autonomy ensure the information and advertising accuracy given in offered advance services.
This also emphasise the voluntary participation value in which services being offered (Davis,
2014).
Beneficence
This principle means promoting the clients interest and well being based on professional
assessments. It focuses on working strictly within one's limit of competence and giving them
services from the experience and training. It ensures the objective of clients interest is achieved
and consider the importance of systematic research which inform practices. It is an obligation
which run continuously with ongoing supervision to evaluate the provided quality services and
commitment towards practising update by professional development.
Non maleficence
It includes the financial, sexual avoiding, emotional, avoiding incompetence or any client
exploitation. It will not provide service if not able to do or unfit, any personal problem or
intoxication. There is an ethical responsibility of practitioners to strive any kind of harm caused
for a client even if the harm is not avoidable (Crighton, and Towl, 2015).
Justice
Justice is the impartial and fair treatment for the clients and also the provision for
providing satisfied services with respecting their human dignity and rights. Justice attention
towards consideration of any legal obligation and requirements. The service distribution in
justice requires the ability of determination for services and provision of clients and allocation of
services.
Self respect
Self respect foster the practitioner knowledge and care for himself. This principle applies
all the above points appropriately as entitlements for practitioners. This will include therapy or
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counselling, opportunities and personal development which is required. The principle of self
respect improve the self engagement in life activities and relations.
P2 BACP ethical framework towards counselling practice and how it promotes
fairness, anti discriminatory
The British association for counselling and psychotherapy works for advancing good
practice and sustaining. The consideration of counselling and psychotherapy in which diversity
of settings and variations in needs of clients services also delivered carefully. The counselling
practice is informed by the BACP in which good services and process are delivered to clients for
meeting their needs. The fundamental values of counselling and psychotherapy includes, respect
towards human dignity and rights, assuring the clients safety, ensuring the relation between
practitioners and clients, raising the quality knowledge of professionals and applications, foster
the human self sense which is meaningful for them, increasing the effectiveness of personal,
appreciation of human culture and experience, looking up to the services of counselling and
psychotherapy (Winter, 2015). These ethical framework inform the counselling practice for
practitioners to enhance the ability and relation of clients and improve their self knowledge
which help them to maintain their positive thinking (Webster, 2014).
Anti discriminatory
Anti discriminatory practice aims towards the negative effect of discrimination upon
clients/patients in all its forms. Practitioners should not seen or involved in discriminatory or
insulting any individual person or group including friends and colleagues. The BACP have
policies which provide guidelines to practitioners on anti discriminatory. It should underpin all
the professional activities. Anti discriminatory practice includes:
Client respect:
Counsellors towards their clients are responsible for humanity and uniqueness for every
individual. The counsellor must be sensitive towards the nature and culture context for world
view clients, for ensuring the taken central such as family, individual, or community
respectively.
Client autonomy:
Counsellors has liability towards his clients to promote their ability and strengths to make
them able to take decisions with own beliefs, contexts and values.
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Counsellor awareness:
Counsellors are responsible for managing the different problems in earlier stage such as
language, culture difference, mentality etc. They are also responsible for addressing their own
stereotyping, attitudes, behaviours and prejudices. They have to give individual consideration in
ways which, these can be affect counsellors relationship and response influencing.
Fairness
Counsellors are motivated and encouraged to improve their own abilities and personal
qualities for better counselling towards their clients and meaningful communication to solve their
problems. Fairness is a part of counsellors qualities in which, consistence utilization of suitable
criteria to inform the actions and discussion for consultant. This quality helps him to
communicate well with his clients and take action for the final results (Kuria, Muola, Kithuka,
and Mwania, 2015).
P3 Importance of knowledge in ethical and professional issues within counselling
practice
Ethical issues
Ethical issues in practice of counselling includes dual relationship, development and
improvement, confidentiality, professional competence, decision making, multicultural
counselling, client rights, issues of supervision and disclosure statement. For all these issues
knowledge is a solution to take over the problems occurring while ethical issues. Knowledge can
improve the ability of discussions, understanding the relationships and make effective decision
maker. Ethics is a way to become the best practitioner as possible. Knowledge improves the
ethical practice (mandatory) to deal with minimum level of professional practice. Knowledge
gives an approach to practitioners for doing their best for clients and stay out of troubles.
Knowledge helps to meet practitioners own needs and also expand self awareness to
recognize the areas of vulnerability and prejudices. Knowledge helps them to monitoring,
supervising, therapy and personal needs to create producing growths. There are number of
resources which provide information and guidance to counsellors as they strive to manage clients
in a legal and ethical manner.
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Professional issues
Professional issues in counselling practice such as professional challenges, legal and
historic aspects, professional obligations, decision making etc. knowledge is a power of a
professional counsellor which emphasis his ability towards clients to take them good suggestions
or decisions. They can provide relevant and good operative decisions also experience knowledge
to their clients and practitioners (Harris, and Birnbaum, 2015). It covers the professional identity
and legal issues for sufficient depth training and counselling. Knowledge empowers the
counsellor to face legal and ethical issues while counselling. It helps them to understand the
different clients, their purposes, culture, thinking and personality in effective manner.
P4 Reflect upon counsellors personal and moral qualities
The impact of framework upon counsellor to his own personal and moral qualities
considered important to provide services and improving good personal qualities. Counsellor can
improve his counselling with improving personal and moral qualities also use these skills to his
own clinic for better services and satisfaction for clients.
Integrity:
This moral quality make a counsellor straightforward and honest while dealing with
others or at personal clinic also ensure the integrity of clients and practitioners relationship.
Resilience:
This is a special inner quality of a counsellor to work with capacity and solve the clients
problems without getting diminished or stressed personally (Low, 2015).
Respect:
This framework makes a counsellor respective person towards clients and for him or
others beliefs, their privacy and dignity for work.
Humanity:
`The counsellor become a human being full of qualities and aspects which is required. He
understands other personally and maintain a relationship.
Competence:
The knowledge and experience makes a counsellor competitive which help him to work
at own clinic and at workplace with competing others.
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Empathy:
The framework helps him to understand communication of other persons and make
effective image towards him.
Wisdom:
This will make him more possessive towards sound judgements which help him to inform
his practice and work.
Courage:
The BACP ethical framework encourage him towards the capacity to act in spite of fears,
uncertainty and risks from which he can survive from bad decision making.
Sincerity:
Sincerity is a consistency between professed and work done evaluation. The framework
improves this quality of counsellor to evaluate the processing work and done work to understand
the strengths and weakness.
Fairness
Counsellors are motivated and encouraged to improve their own abilities and personal
qualities for better counselling towards their clients and meaningful communication to solve their
problems. Fairness is a part of counsellors qualities in which, consistence utilization of suitable
criteria to inform the actions and discussion for consultant (Shebib, 2013). This quality helps him
to communicate well with his clients and take action for the final results.
Such kind of things describe the importance of framework in personal and moral qualities
of a counsellor. This can be also use to his own clinic where he can manage his clients with
proper counselling and take them at a good decisions which will be made by them. This BACP
ethical framework improves the counsellors personal abilities as well as qualities from which he
can operate his clients at clinic or work place effectively and efficiently.
Conclusion
In this report we have included the information, principles and characteristics of BACP,
which stands for British association of counselling and psychotherapy. The BACP describes the
importance of counselling for practitioners. This report also covers the learning outcomes of
BACP framework. We have included the identification of ethical practice and how its help to
improve the fairness and anti discriminatory practice for a counselling practitioner. The report
involves the importance of knowledge to overcome the ethical and professional issue occurred in
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counselling process and its benefits. The final part includes the reflection of BACP ethical
framework upon personal and moral qualities of a counsellor. The reflection or uses of this
framework improve and develop the personal abilities and moral qualities of a counsellor, which
also help him to give counselling to his clients from home or any other personal clinic. The final
conclusion of this report analyse the framework and characteristics of practitioners to understand
the value of counselling.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Blazek, M., Smith, F.M., Lemešová, M. and Hricová, P., 2015. Ethics of care across professional
and every day positionalities: The (un) expected impacts of participatory video with
young female carers in Slovakia. Geoforum, 61, pp.45-55.
Davis, A.W., 2014. Ethical issues for psychologists using communication technology: An
Australian perspective on service provision flexibility. Professional Psychology:
Research and Practice, 45(5), p.303.
Winter, L.A., 2015. The presence of social justice principles within professional and ethical
guidelines in international psychology. Psychotherapy and Politics International, 13(1),
pp.55-66.
Kuria, M.W., Muola, M., Kithuka, J.M. and Mwania, J.M., 2015. Relationship between teachers
counsellor’hours of exposure to training in guidance and counselling and professionalism
in service delivery in public secondary schools in Nairobi, Kenya. International Journal of
Education and Research, 3(9).
Harris, B. and Birnbaum, R., 2015. Ethical and legal implications on the use of technology in
counselling. Clinical Social Work Journal, 43(2), pp.133-141.
Shebib, B., 2013. Choices: Interviewing and counselling skills for Canadians. Pearson Education
Canada.
Low, P.K., 2015. Stakeholders’ perceptions of school counselling in Singapore. Journal of
Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 25(2), pp.200-216.
Webster, M., 2014. A vision for social work leadership: Critical conceptual elements. In Social
Workers Registration Board Conference 2013: Protecting the Public, Enhancing the
Profession. Social Workers Registration Board.
Crighton, D.A. and Towl, G.J., 2015. Forensic psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
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