Counselling Skills – Level Two

Week 14 – Counselling, Ethics and the Law.

Objectives• Receive back drafts for CBT assessment.• Improve your Harvard Referencing (OR sharing

experiences/outcomes from creative exercise in week 13).

• Identify places/organisations where counselling takes place.

• Define “ethical dilemmas” and identify a range of ethical dilemmas which a practising counsellor may face.

• Record the various checks and supports which operate in counselling situations – “Who Else is in the Room?”

• Examine the role of the BACP Ethical Framework and the Law, in counselling

• Identify when and how it can be helpful (or necessary) to make referrals in counselling.

• Complete a short written quiz on the counselling environment and ethics.

• Organize your portfolio sing the index provided.

Referencing - Why Bother?

• It reminds you where you found information• It demonstrates your ability to use a range of sources in

your work.• It allows your tutor to locate those sources and check

relevance and understanding.• It acknowledges the work of others.• Using the work of others without acknowledging your

source is called “plagiarism” – an offence with potentially serious consequences.

• Why Harvard? It is used throughout the world and in most British universities.

When and what should be referenced?

When?When you have directly quoted

from someone else’s work. That is when you have used the same words as them, using speech marks. “-----”.

When you have paraphrased or summarized another source (used your own words)

When you have relied heavily on another source.

When you are recommending another source.

What?• Books• E.books• Journals • Web-sites • Television Programmes• Interviews • Radio Programmes• Pictures• Videos• Diagrams

How should we reference?

• There are two elements to the type of Harvard Referencing used in The Adult College.

• Part one: referencing within the text.• Part two: the bibliography or reference list.

The reference within the text should include enough information to direct the reader to the full reference in the bibliography or reference list.

Referencing a “direct quote” from a book.

In the text:

Use speech marks.

Include:• The authors name• Year of publication• Page number

In the Bibliography:

• Include:• Author’s surname + initial• Year published (in

brackets)• Title in italics• Edition (unless first

edition)• Place of publication:• Publisher

Referencing a direct quote from a web-site

In the text:• The author(s) name (or

organisation)• Year of publication (or

current year if unavailable)

In the bibliography:• Author(s) name and initial

(or organisation)• Year of publication, or date

last updated (in brackets).• Title of the website article

in ‘single inverted commas’

• URL (i.e. web address http//www. ...)

• Date accessed [in square brackets].

Indirect Quotes, Paraphrasing, Summarizing and Secondary Referencing

• Indirect quotes – using your own words to present what someone else has said. This can be done by paraphrasing or summarizing.

• Secondary Referencing: when the author of a book/website refers to or quotes another author.

Help!

• Referencing is complicated and it takes time to learn. • What matters is that you acknowledge the sources you

use and that you try!• Recommended: Edge Hill University Guide to Harvard

Referencing – available on-line.• The Adult College sometimes run courses on study

skills, essay writing etc. If you intend to progress onto level three, then these courses are recommended.

Where does counselling take place?

Schools, prisons, hospitals, workplace, private practise, client’s homes, on-line, by telephone, family centres...

Make a list and put it in your portfolio.

Ethical Dilemmas

• What is an ethical dilemma?

• What kinds of ethical dilemmas might a counsellor face?

The Dilemmas

• You discover that your client is a colleague of your best friend and that they have recently started to go to the local gym together. You and your client have both been invited to your friend’s 30th birthday party.

• You find your client sexually attractive and realise that you are flirting with him/her

• Your client tells you that he/she is going to commit suicide.• Someone close to you dies. You are currently working with

six different clients.• A disabled client asks if it would be possible to see you in

their home because it is easier for them.• A client tells you that, some years ago, they committed a

serious crime and have never been caught.• Your client phones you at any time and expects you to talk

and to listen for long periods.

The Counselling Environment Who/what else is in the room?

Law

Employing Organisation

Supervisors

Line manager or Team.

BACP (or other professional organisation)

BACP Ethical Framework

Contract between counsellor and client

Counsellors own professional/personal limitations

• In making decisions counsellors need also to be aware of relevant legislation. Counsellors are not above the law.

• Legislation or government initiatives affecting users of counselling skills often relate to issues of, confidentiality

or health and safety or equality.

The Law

Examples include:

• The Prevention of Terrorism Act (Temporary Provisions) 1989 (section 18)

• The Drug Traffic Act1994 (Section53)• The Road Traffic Act1994 (section 172)• The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Section 12)• The Criminal Procedures and Investigations Act 1996• The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (section 20).

New legislation is produced all of the time. Legislation relating to contracts, protection of children and vulnerable adults (ECM), access and equality may also be relevant in a counselling situation

British Association For Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)

“BACP seeks to be the leading professional body for counselling and psychotherapy and an automatic reference point for anyone seeking information on counselling and psychotherapy in the United Kingdom”.

Contents of BACP Ethical Framework

1. Ethics for counselling and psychotherapy

- Values of counselling and psychotherapy

- Ethical principles of counselling and psychotherapy

- Personal moral qualities.

2. Guidance on good practice in counselling and psychotherapy

3. Professional conduct procedure

Supervision

• Case Work (or clinical) supervision

• Management Supervision.

When might a counsellor choose to refer a client to someone or somewhere else?.

• professional limits• organisational• personal limits• the client’s limits/choice• the client needs a different kind of help• communication problems• conflict of interest

N.B. When a referral is indicated or required, then it is essential that the counsellor consider the appropriateness of the referral and the feelings of the client involved – it should be handled carefully, professionally and as positively as possible, with the welfare of the client uppermost in the counsellor’s mind.

Working with ethical dilemmas

• Choose an ethical dilemma from the list above.• Consider your dilemma in the light of what you have

learned in the session today• Complete the short assessment task