Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling & Psychotherapy

Transcription

1 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy

2 This Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig ad Psychotherapy is published by the British Associatio for Cousellig ad Psychotherapy, BACP House, 15 St Joh's Busiess Park, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, LE17 4HB. t: f: e: bacp@bacp.co.uk w: BACP is the largest professioal orgaisatio for cousellig ad psychotherapy i the UK, is a compay limited by guaratee i Eglad ad Wales, ad a registered charity, British Associatio for Cousellig & Psychotherapy 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, First published 1 April Revised editio published 1 April Revised editio published 1 Jauary Revised editio published 1 February The origial ad revised versios of the Ethical Framework have bee writte by Professor Tim Bod ad the Professioal Coduct Procedures by Gráie Griffi with the assistace of the people listed below. The Ethics for Cousellig ad Psychotherapy ad Guidace o Good Practice i Cousellig ad Psychotherapy was steered by the Uified Code Workig Party of BACP: Professor Tim Bod (Coveor), Roger Casemore, Ala Jamieso, Susie Ledrum, Val Potter. The Professioal Coduct Procedure ad Heads of Complait were writte by Gráie Griffi i cosultatio with Professor Tim Bod, Ala Jamieso ad Joh O'Dowd. A idepedet pael of cosultats reviewed the origial versio icludig: Professor Breda Almod, Professor Richard Ashcroft, Professor Alastair Campbell, Roger Casemore ad Julie Stoe. This publicatio is copyright uder the Bere Covetio ad the Uiversal Copyright Covetio. All rights reserved. No part of this publicatio may be produced or trasmitted i ay form or by ay meas, icludig photocopyig, microfilmig, ad recordig, without the writte permissio of the copyright holder, applicatio for which should be addressed to the Chief Executive at BACP. Such writte permissio must always be obtaied before ay part of this publicatio is stored i a retrieval system of ay ature, or electroically. ISBN: ISBN: 13: Price: 7, p&p free. Copies may be obtaied from the Book Orders Departmet at BACP i Lutterworth at the address give above. Cheques should be made payable to BACP. The text is also dowloadable from the BACP website, Desiger: Paul Revell

3 Cotets Ethics for cousellig ad psychotherapy Values of cousellig ad psychotherapy Ethical priciples of cousellig ad psychotherapy Persoal moral qualities Guidace o good practice i cousellig ad psychotherapy Providig a good stadard of practice ad care Workig with colleagues Probity i professioal practice Care of self as a practitioer Professioal Coduct Procedure Itroductio Makig a complait The formal Professioal Coduct Procedure The Professioal Coduct Hearig Sactio Formal Appeals Procedure Appeal Hearig Publicatio Effective Date Heads of Complait 18

4 Ethics for cousellig ad psychotherapy This statemet, Ethics for Cousellig ad Psychotherapy, uifies ad replaces all the earlier codes for cousellors, traiers ad supervisors. It is iteded to guide the practice of cousellig ad psychotherapy by all members of the British Associatio for Cousellig ad Psychotherapy (BACP) ad iform the practice of closely related roles that are delivered i associatio with cousellig ad psychotherapy or as part of the ifrastructure to deliver these services. Beig ethically midful ad willig to be accoutable for the ethical basis of practice are essetial requiremets of membership of this Associatio. I this statemet the term 'practitioer' is used geerically to refer to ayoe with resposibility for the provisio of cousellig or psychotherapy-related services. 'Practitioer' icludes ayoe udertakig the role(s) of cousellor, psychotherapist, traiers ad educators for these roles, providers of coachig ad metorig i associatio with cousellig ad psychotherapy, supervisors, ad practitioer researchers. Members of this Associatio who are providers of services usig cousellig skills, embedded cousellors, maagers ad researchers of therapeutic services, are required to be accoutable i accordace with the Ethical Framework i ways appropriate to their role ad to commuicate appropriately the basis of their ethical accoutability ad expectatios. The term 'cliet' is used as a geeric term to refer to the recipiet of ay of these services. The cliet may be a idividual, couple, family, group, orgaisatio or other specifiable social uit. Alterative ames may be substituted for 'practitioer' ad 'cliet' i the practice settig, accordig to custom ad cotext. This statemet marks a importat developmet i approach to ethics withi the Associatio. Oe of the characteristics of cotemporary society is the coexistece of differet approaches to ethics. This statemet reflects this ethical diversity ad supports practitioers beig resposive to differeces i cliet abilities, eeds ad culture ad takig accout of variatios betwee settigs ad service specialisatios by cosiderig: Values Priciples Persoal moral qualities This selectio of ways of expressig ethical commitmets does ot seek to ivalidate other approaches. The presetatio of differet ways of approachig ethics alogside each other i this statemet is iteded to draw attetio to the limitatios of relyig too heavily o ay sigle ethical approach. Ethical priciples are well suited to examiig the justificatio for particular decisios ad actios. However, reliace o priciples aloe may detract from the importace of the practitioer's persoal qualities ad their ethical sigificace i the cousellig or therapeutic relatioship. The provisio of cotextually sesitive ad appropriate services is also a fudametal ethical cocer. Variatios i cliet eeds ad cultural diversity differeces are ofte more easily uderstood ad respoded to i terms of values. Therefore, professioal values are becomig a icreasigly sigificat way of expressig ethical commitmet. Values of cousellig ad psychotherapy The fudametal values of cousellig ad psychotherapy iclude a commitmet to: Respectig huma rights ad digity Protectig the safety of cliets Esurig the itegrity of practitioer-cliet relatioships Ehacig the quality of professioal kowledge ad its applicatio Alleviatig persoal distress ad sufferig Fosterig a sese of self that is meaigful to the perso(s) cocered Icreasig persoal effectiveess Ehacig the quality of relatioships betwee people Appreciatig the variety of huma experiece ad culture Strivig for the fair ad adequate provisio of cousellig ad psychotherapy services Values iform priciples. They represet a importat way of expressig a geeral ethical commitmet that becomes more precisely defied ad actio-orietated whe expressed as a priciple. 02 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010

5 Ethical priciples of cousellig ad psychotherapy Priciples direct attetio to importat ethical resposibilities. Each priciple is described below ad is followed by examples of good practice that have bee developed i respose to that priciple. Ethical decisios that are strogly supported by oe or more of these priciples without ay cotradictio from others may be regarded as reasoably well fouded. However, practitioers will ecouter circumstaces i which it is impossible to recocile all the applicable priciples ad choosig betwee priciples may be required. A decisio or course of actio does ot ecessarily become uethical merely because it is cotetious or other practitioers would have reached differet coclusios i similar circumstaces. A practitioer's obligatio is to cosider all the relevat circumstaces with as much care as is reasoably possible ad to be appropriately accoutable for decisios made. Beig trustworthy: hoourig the trust placed i the practitioer (also referred to as fidelity) Beig trustworthy is regarded as fudametal to uderstadig ad resolvig ethical issues. Practitioers who adopt this priciple: act i accordace with the trust placed i them; strive to esure that cliets' expectatios are oes that have reasoable prospects of beig met; hoour their agreemets ad promises; regard cofidetiality as a obligatio arisig from the cliet's trust; restrict ay disclosure of cofidetial iformatio about cliets to furtherig the purposes for which it was origially disclosed. Autoomy: respect for the cliet's right to be self-goverig This priciple emphasises the importace of developig a cliet's ability to be self-directig withi therapy ad all aspects of life. Practitioers who respect their cliets' autoomy: esure accuracy i ay advertisig or iformatio give i advace of services offered; seek freely give ad adequately iformed coset; emphasise the value of volutary participatio i the services beig offered; egage i explicit cotractig i advace of ay commitmet by the cliet; protect privacy; protect cofidetiality; ormally make ay disclosures of cofidetial iformatio coditioal o the coset of the perso cocered; ad iform the cliet i advace of foreseeable coflicts of iterest or as soo as possible after such coflicts become apparet. The priciple of autoomy opposes the maipulatio of cliets agaist their will, eve for beeficial social eds. Beeficece: a commitmet to promotig the cliet's well-beig The priciple of beeficece meas actig i the best iterests of the cliet based o professioal assessmet. It directs attetio to workig strictly withi oe's limits of competece ad providig services o the basis of adequate traiig or experiece. Esurig that the cliet's best iterests are achieved requires systematic moitorig of practice ad outcomes by the best available meas. It is cosidered importat that research ad systematic reflectio iform practice. There is a obligatio to use regular ad o-goig supervisio to ehace the quality of the services provided ad to commit to updatig practice by cotiuig professioal developmet. A obligatio to act i the best iterests of a cliet may become paramout whe workig with cliets whose capacity for autoomy is dimiished because of immaturity, lack of uderstadig, extreme distress, serious disturbace or other sigificat persoal costraits. No-maleficece: a commitmet to avoidig harm to the cliet No-maleficece ivolves: avoidig sexual, fiacial, emotioal or ay other form of cliet exploitatio; avoidig icompetece or malpractice; ot providig services whe ufit to do so due to illess, persoal circumstaces or itoxicatio. The practitioer has a ethical resposibility to strive to mitigate ay harm caused to a cliet eve whe the harm is uavoidable or uiteded. Holdig appropriate isurace may assist i restitutio. Practitioers have persoal ad professioal resposibility to challege, where appropriate, the icompetece or malpractice of others; ad to cotribute to ay ivestigatio ad/ or adjudicatio cocerig professioal practice which falls below that of a reasoably competet practitioer ad/or risks brigig discredit upo the professio. Justice: the fair ad impartial treatmet of all cliets ad the provisio of adequate services The priciple of justice requires beig just ad fair to all cliets ad respectig their huma rights ad digity. It directs attetio to cosiderig coscietiously ay legal requiremets ad obligatios, ad remaiig alert to potetial coflicts betwee legal ad ethical obligatios. Justice i the distributio of services requires the ability to determie impartially the provisio of services for cliets ad the allocatio of services betwee cliets. A commitmet to fairess requires the ability to appreciate differeces betwee people ad to be committed to equality of opportuity, ad avoidig discrimiatio agaist people or groups cotrary to their legitimate persoal or social characteristics. Practitioers have a duty to strive to esure a fair provisio of cousellig ad psychotherapy services, accessible ad appropriate to the eeds of potetial cliets. BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy 03

6 Self-respect: fosterig the practitioer's self-kowledge ad care for self The priciple of self-respect meas that the practitioer appropriately applies all the above priciples as etitlemets for self. This icludes seekig cousellig or therapy ad other opportuities for persoal developmet as required. There is a ethical resposibility to use supervisio for appropriate persoal ad professioal support ad developmet, ad to seek traiig ad other opportuities for cotiuig professioal developmet. Guardig agaist fiacial liabilities arisig from work udertake usually requires obtaiig appropriate isurace. The priciple of self-respect ecourages active egagemet i life-ehacig activities ad relatioships that are idepedet of relatioships i cousellig or psychotherapy. Persoal moral qualities The practitioer's persoal moral qualities are of the utmost importace to cliets. May of the persoal qualities cosidered importat i the provisio of services have a ethical or moral compoet ad are therefore cosidered as virtues or good persoal qualities. It is iappropriate to prescribe that all practitioers possess these qualities, sice it is fudametal that these persoal qualities are deeply rooted i the perso cocered ad developed out of persoal commitmet rather tha the requiremet of a exteral authority. Persoal qualities to which cousellors ad psychotherapists are strogly ecouraged to aspire iclude: Empathy: Sicerity: Itegrity: Resiliece: Respect: Humility: Competece: Fairess: Wisdom: Courage: the ability to commuicate uderstadig of aother perso's experiece from that perso's perspective. a persoal commitmet to cosistecy betwee what is professed ad what is doe. commitmet to beig moral i dealigs with others, persoal straightforwardess, hoesty ad coherece. the capacity to work with the cliet's cocers without beig persoally dimiished. showig appropriate esteem to others ad their uderstadig of themselves. the ability to assess accurately ad ackowledge oe's ow stregths ad weakesses. the effective deploymet of the skills ad kowledge eeded to do what is required. the cosistet applicatio of appropriate criteria to iform decisios ad actios. possessio of soud judgemet that iforms practice. the capacity to act i spite of kow fears, risks ad ucertaity. Coclusio The challege of workig ethically meas that practitioers will ievitably ecouter situatios where there are competig obligatios. I such situatios it is temptig to retreat from all ethical aalysis i order to escape a sese of what may appear to be uresolvable ethical tesio. These ethics are iteded to be of assistace i such circumstaces by directig attetio to the variety of ethical factors that may eed to be take ito cosideratio ad to alterative ways of approachig ethics that may prove more useful. No statemet of ethics ca totally alleviate the difficulty of makig professioal judgemets i circumstaces that may be costatly chagig ad full of ucertaities. By acceptig this statemet of ethics, members of the British Associatio for Cousellig ad Psychotherapy are committig themselves to egagig with the challege of strivig to be ethical, eve whe doig so ivolves makig difficult decisios or actig courageously. 04 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010

7 Guidace o good practice i cousellig ad psychotherapy The British Associatio for Cousellig ad Psychotherapy is committed to sustaiig ad advacig good practice. This guidace o the essetial elemets of good practice has bee writte to take ito accout the chagig circumstaces i which cousellig ad psychotherapy are ow beig delivered, i particular: chages i the rage of issues ad levels of eed preseted by cliets the growth i levels of expertise available from practitioers with the expasio i the availability of traiig ad cosultative support/supervisio the accumulated experiece of this Associatio from its foudig i 1977 after may years as a Stadig Coferece. Variatios i cliet eeds ad the diversity of settigs withi which cousellig ad psychotherapy services are delivered have also bee carefully cosidered. Cliets vary i their requiremets i order to commuicate effectively ad to gai access to services. Ethically aware services strive to meet these eeds ad to avoid excludig someoe from receivig a service or lowerig the quality of that service solely o the grouds of a cliet's learig difficulty or physical disability. Services may be provided by the idepedet practitioer workig aloe, oe or more practitioers workig to provide a service withi a agecy or large orgaisatio, specialists workig i multidiscipliary teams, ad by specialist teams of cousellors ad psychotherapists. Most work is udertake face to face but there are also a growig umber of telephoe ad olie services. Some practitioers are movig betwee these differet settigs ad modes of delivery durig the course of their work ad are therefore required to cosider what costitutes good practice i differet settigs. All practitioers ecouter the challege of respodig to the diversity of their cliets ad fidig ways of workig effectively with them. This statemet therefore respods to the complexity of deliverig cousellig ad psychotherapy services i cotemporary society by directig attetio to sigificat issues that practitioers ought to cosider ad resolve i the specific circumstaces of their work. The terms 'practitioer' ad 'cliet' are used i the same way as defied i Ethics for cousellig ad psychotherapy (see page 2). Practitioers' behaviour may vary from these guidelies provided the variatio is ethically justifiable; the cliet is supportive of the variatio; it is demostrably to the beefit of the cliet; ad that practitioers are willig to be appropriately accoutable to people affected, ad this Associatio for their practice ad the reputatio of therapy i geeral. Providig a good stadard of practice ad care All cliets are etitled to good stadards of practice ad care from their practitioers i cousellig ad psychotherapy. Good stadards of practice ad care require professioal competece; good relatioships with cliets ad colleagues; ad commitmet to beig ethically midful through observace of professioal ethics. Good quality of care 1. Good quality of care requires competetly delivered services that meet the cliet's eeds by practitioers who are appropriately supported ad accoutable. 2. Practitioers should give careful cosideratio to the limitatios of their traiig ad experiece ad work withi these limits, takig advatage of available professioal support. If work with cliets requires the provisio of additioal services operatig i parallel with cousellig or psychotherapy, the availability of such services ought to be take ito accout, as their absece may costitute a sigificat limitatio. 3. Good practice ivolves clarifyig ad agreeig the rights ad resposibilities of both the practitioer ad cliet at appropriate poits i their workig relatioship. 4. Dual relatioships arise whe the practitioer has two or more kids of relatioship cocurretly with a cliet, for example cliet ad traiee, acquaitace ad cliet, colleague ad supervisee. The existece of a dual relatioship with a cliet is seldom eutral ad ca have a powerful beeficial or detrimetal impact that may ot always be easily foreseeable. For these reasos practitioers are required to cosider the implicatios of eterig ito dual relatioships with cliets, to avoid eterig ito relatioships that are likely to be detrimetal to cliets, ad to be readily accoutable to cliets ad colleagues for ay dual relatioships that occur. BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy 05

8 5. Practitioers are advised to keep appropriate records of their work with cliets uless there are good ad sufficiet reasos for ot keepig ay records. All records should be accurate, respectful of cliets ad colleagues ad protected from uauthorised disclosure. Ay records should be kept securely ad adequately protected from uauthorised itrusio or disclosure. Practitioers should take ito accout their resposibilities ad their cliets' rights uder data protectio legislatio ad ay other legal requiremets. 6. Cliets are etitled to competetly delivered services that are periodically reviewed by the practitioer. These reviews may be coducted, whe appropriate, i cosultatio with cliets, supervisors, maagers or other practitioers with relevat expertise. Maitaiig competet practice 7. All cousellors, psychotherapists, traiers ad supervisors are required to have regular ad o-goig formal supervisio/cosultative support for their work i accordace with professioal requiremets. Maagers, researchers ad providers of cousellig skills are strogly ecouraged to review their eed for professioal ad persoal support ad to obtai appropriate services for themselves. 8. Regularly moitorig ad reviewig oe's work is essetial to maitaiig good practice. It is importat to be ope to, ad coscietious i cosiderig, feedback from colleagues, appraisals ad assessmets. Respodig costructively to feedback helps to advace practice. 9. A commitmet to good practice requires practitioers to keep up to date with the latest kowledge ad respod to chagig circumstaces. They should cosider carefully their ow eed for cotiuig professioal developmet ad egage i appropriate educatioal activities. 10. Practitioers should be aware of ad uderstad ay legal requiremets cocerig their work, cosider these coscietiously ad be legally ad professioally accoutable for their practice. Keepig trust 11. The practice of cousellig ad psychotherapy depeds o gaiig ad hoourig the trust of cliets. Keepig trust requires: attetiveess to the quality of listeig ad respect offered to cliets culturally appropriate ways of commuicatig that are courteous ad clear respect for privacy ad digity careful attetio to cliet coset ad cofidetiality 12. Cliets should be adequately iformed about the ature of the services beig offered. Practitioers should obtai adequately iformed coset from their cliets ad respect a cliet's right to choose whether to cotiue or withdraw. 13. Practitioers should esure that services are ormally delivered o the basis of the cliet's explicit coset. Reliace o implicit coset is more vulerable to misuderstadigs ad is best avoided uless there are soud reasos for doig so. Overridig a cliet's kow wishes or coset is a serious matter that requires adequate ad reasoed justificatio. Practitioers should be prepared to be readily accoutable to cliets, colleagues ad this Associatio if they override a cliet's kow wishes. 14. Situatios i which cliets pose a risk of causig serious harm to themselves or others are particularly challegig for the practitioer. These are situatios i which the practitioer should be alert to the possibility of coflictig resposibilities betwee those cocerig their cliet, other people who may be sigificatly affected, ad society geerally. Resolvig coflictig resposibilities may require due cosideratio of the cotext i which the service is beig provided. Cosultatio with a supervisor or experieced practitioer is strogly recommeded, wheever this would ot cause udue delay. I all cases, the aim should be to esure for the cliet a good quality of care that is as respectful of the cliet's capacity for self-determiatio ad their trust as circumstaces permit. 15. Workig with youg people requires specific ethical awareess ad competece. The practitioer is required to cosider ad assess the balace betwee youg people's depedece o adults ad carers ad their progressive developmet towards actig idepedetly. Workig with childre ad youg people requires careful cosideratio of issues cocerig their capacity to give coset to receivig ay service idepedetly of someoe with paretal resposibilities ad the maagemet of cofideces disclosed by cliets. 16. Practitioers should ormally be willig to respod to their cliet's requests for iformatio about the way that they are workig ad ay assessmet that they may have made. This professioal requiremet may ot apply if it is cosidered that impartig this iformatio would be detrimetal to the cliet or icosistet with the cousellig or psychotherapeutic approach previously agreed with the cliet. Cliets may have legal rights to this iformatio ad these eed to be take ito accout. 06 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010

9 17. Practitioers must ot abuse their cliet's trust i order to gai sexual, emotioal, fiacial or ay other kid of persoal advatage. Sexual relatios with cliets are prohibited. 'Sexual relatios' iclude itercourse, ay other type of sexual activity or sexualised behaviour. Practitioers should thik carefully about, ad exercise cosiderable cautio before, eterig ito persoal or busiess relatioships with former cliets ad should expect to be professioally accoutable if the relatioship becomes detrimetal to the cliet or the stadig of the professio. 18. Practitioers should ot allow their professioal relatioships with cliets to be prejudiced by ay persoal views they may hold about lifestyle, age, geder, disability, geder reassigmet, race, sexual orietatio, pregacy ad materity, religio or belief, marriage ad civil partership. 19. Practitioers should be clear about ay commitmet to be available to cliets ad colleagues ad hoour these commitmets. Respectig privacy ad cofidetiality 20. Respectig cliets' privacy ad cofidetiality are fudametal requiremets for keepig trust ad respectig cliet autoomy. The professioal maagemet of cofidetiality cocers the protectio of persoally idetifiable ad sesitive iformatio from uauthorised disclosure. Disclosure may be authorised by cliet coset or the law. Ay disclosures of cliet cofideces should be udertake i ways that best protect the cliet's trust ad respect cliet autoomy. 21. Commuicatios made o the basis of cliet coset do ot costitute a breach of cofidetiality. Cliet coset is the ethically preferred way of resolvig ay dilemmas over cofidetiality. 22. Exceptioal circumstaces may prevet the practitioer from seekig cliet coset to a breach of cofidece due to the urgecy ad seriousess of the situatio, for example, prevetig the cliet causig serious harm to self or others. I such circumstaces the practitioer has a ethical resposibility to act i ways which balace the cliet's right to cofidetiality agaist the eed to commuicate with others. Practitioers should expect to be ethically accoutable for ay breach of cofidetiality. 23. Cofidetial iformatio about cliets may be shared withi teams where the cliet has coseted or kowigly accepted a service o this basis; the iformatio ca be adequately protected from uauthorised further disclosures; ad the disclosure ehaces the quality of service available to cliets or improves service delivery. 24 Practitioers should be willig to be accoutable to their cliets ad to their professio for their maagemet of cofidetiality i geeral ad particularly for ay disclosures made without their cliet's coset. Good records of existig policy ad practice ad of situatios where the practitioer has breached cofidetiality without cliet coset, greatly assist ethical accoutability. I some situatios the law forbids the practitioer iformig the cliet that cofidetial iformatio has bee passed to the authorities, oetheless the practitioer remais ethically accoutable to colleagues ad the professio. Teachig ad traiig 25. All practitioers are ecouraged to share their professioal kowledge ad practice for the beefit of their cliets ad to promote awareess of cousellig ad psychotherapy i the public through providig iformatio ad educatio. 26. Practitioers who provide formal educatio ad traiig should acquire the skills, attitudes ad kowledge required to be competet teachers ad facilitators of learig i their subject. 27. Practitioers are required to be fair, accurate ad hoest i their assessmets of their studets. 28. Prior coset is required from cliets if they are to be observed, recorded or if their persoally idetifiable disclosures are to be used for traiig purposes. 29. All traiig i cousellig ad psychotherapy should model stadards ad practice cosistet with those expected of practitioers i the role for which the traiig is beig provided. 30. All traiers ad educators i cousellig ad psychotherapy have a resposibility to protect the stadards of the professio. Traiers are resposible for takig reasoable steps to prevet cliets beig exposed to risk or harm by traiees. 31. Where iformatio is held by more tha oe perso ivolved i the assessmet of a traiee, it should ormally be shared to produce the fairest possible evaluatio of the perso cocered. Ay cofidetiality agreemets betwee traiers ad traiees ought to be established i ways that permit the appropriate sharig of iformatio for assessmet ad the protectio of cliets. Supervisig ad maagig 32. Practitioers are resposible for clarifyig who holds resposibility for the work with the cliet. 33. There is a geeral obligatio for all cousellors, psychotherapists, supervisors ad traiers to receive supervisio/cosultative support idepedetly of ay maagerial relatioships. BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy 07

10 34. Supervisors ad maagers have a resposibility to maitai ad ehace good practice by practitioers, to protect cliets from poor practice ad to acquire the attitudes, skills ad kowledge required by their role. 35. Supervisors ad maagers may form a triagular relatioship with a cousellor or psychotherapist, particularly where services are beig provided withi a agecy. All parties to this relatioship have a resposibility to clarify their expectatios of each other ad, i particular, the steps that ought to be take to address ay cocers over cliet safety. The role of a idepedet supervisor is widely cosidered to be desirable i promotig good practice but, to be most effective, requires clarity i how such a role relates to lie maagemet ad the divisio of tasks ad resposibilities betwee a supervisor ad ay lie maager. Researchig 36. The Associatio is committed to fosterig research that will iform ad develop practice. All practitioers are ecouraged to support research udertake o behalf of the professio ad to participate actively i research work. 37. All research should be udertake with rigorous attetiveess to the quality ad itegrity both of the research itself ad of the dissemiatio of the results of the research. 38. The rights of all research participats should be carefully cosidered ad protected. The miimum rights iclude the right to freely give ad iformed coset, ad the right to withdraw at ay poit. A cliet's etitlemet to receivig a service should ot be affected by their willigess or refusal to participate i research. 39. The research methods used should comply with the stadards of good practice i cousellig ad psychotherapy ad must ot adversely affect cliets. Fitess to practise 40. Practitioers have a resposibility to moitor ad maitai their fitess to practise at a level that eables them to provide a effective service. If their effectiveess becomes impaired for ay reaso, icludig health or persoal circumstaces, they should seek the advice of their supervisor, experieced colleagues or lie maager ad, if ecessary, withdraw from practice util their fitess to practise returs. Suitable arragemets should be made for cliets who are adversely affected. If thigs go wrog with ow cliets 41. Practitioers should respod promptly ad appropriately to ay complait received from their cliets. A appropriate respose i agecy-based services would take accout of ay agecy policy ad procedures. 42. Practitioers should edeavour to remedy ay harm they may have caused to their cliets ad to prevet ay further harm. A apology may be the appropriate respose. 43. Practitioers should discuss, with their supervisor, maager or other experieced practitioer(s), the circumstaces i which they may have harmed a cliet i order to esure that the appropriate steps have bee take to mitigate ay harm ad to prevet ay repetitio. 44. Practitioers are strogly ecouraged to esure that their work is adequately covered by isurace for professioal idemity ad liability. 45. If practitioers cosider that they have acted i accordace with good practice but their cliet is ot satisfied that this is the case, they may wish to use idepedet dispute resolutio, for example: seekig a secod professioal opiio, mediatio, or cociliatio where this is both appropriate ad practical. 46. Cliets should be iformed about the existece of the Professioal Coduct Procedure of this Associatio ad ay other applicable complaits or discipliary procedures. If requested to do so, practitioers should iform their cliets about how they may obtai further iformatio cocerig these procedures. Resposibilities to all cliets 47. Practitioers have a resposibility to protect cliets whe they have good reaso for believig that other practitioers are placig them at risk of harm. 48. They should raise their cocers with the practitioer cocered i the first istace, uless it is iappropriate to do so. If the matter caot be resolved, they should review the grouds for their cocer ad the evidece available to them ad, whe appropriate, raise their cocers with the practitioer's maager, agecy or professioal body. 49. If they are ucertai what to do, their cocers should be discussed with a experieced colleague, a supervisor or raised with this Associatio. 08 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010

11 50. All members of this Associatio share a resposibility to take part i its professioal coduct procedures whether as the perso complaied agaist or as the provider of relevat iformatio. Workig with colleagues The icreasig availability of cousellig ad psychotherapy meas that most practitioers have other practitioers workig i their locality, or may be workig closely with colleagues withi specialised or multidiscipliary teams. The quality of the iteractios betwee practitioers ca ehace or udermie the claim that cousellig ad psychotherapy eable cliets to icrease their isight ad expertise i persoal relatioships. This is particularly true for practitioers who work i agecies or teams. Workig i teams 51. Professioal relatioships should be coducted i a spirit of mutual respect. Practitioers should edeavour to attai good workig relatioships ad systems of commuicatio that ehace services to cliets at all times. 52. Practitioers should treat all colleagues fairly ad foster equality opportuity. 53. They should ot allow their professioal relatioships with colleagues to be prejudiced by their ow persoal views about a colleague's lifestyle, age, geder, disability, geder reassigmet, race, sexual orietatio, pregacy ad materity, religio or belief, marriage ad civil partership. It is uacceptable ad uethical to discrimiate agaist colleagues o ay of these grouds. 54. Practitioers must ot udermie a colleague's relatioships with cliets by makig ujustified or usustaiable commets. 55. All commuicatios betwee colleagues about cliets should be o a professioal basis ad thus purposeful, respectful ad cosistet with the maagemet of cofideces as declared to cliets. Awareess of cotext 56. The practitioer is resposible for learig about ad takig accout of the differet protocols, covetios ad customs that ca pertai to differet workig cotexts ad cultures. Makig ad receivig referrals 57. All routie referrals to colleagues ad other services should be discussed with the cliet i advace ad the cliet's coset obtaied both to makig the referral ad also to disclosig iformatio to accompay the referral. Reasoable care should be take to esure that: the recipiet of the referral is able to provide the required service; ay cofidetial iformatio disclosed durig the referral process will be adequately protected; the referral will be likely to beefit the cliet. 58. Prior to acceptig a referral the practitioer should give careful cosideratio to: the appropriateess of the referral; the likelihood that the referral will be beeficial to the cliet; the adequacy of the cliet's coset for the referral. If the referrer is professioally required to retai overall resposibility for the work with the cliet, it is cosidered to be professioally appropriate to provide the referrer with brief progress reports. Such reports should be made i cosultatio with cliets ad ot ormally agaist their explicit wishes. Probity i professioal practice Esurig the probity of practice is importat both to those who are directly affected but also to the stadig of the professio as a whole. Providig cliets with adequate iformatio 59. Practitioers are resposible for clarifyig the terms o which their services are beig offered i advace of the cliet icurrig ay fiacial obligatio or other reasoably foreseeable costs or liabilities. 60. All iformatio about services should be hoest, accurate, avoid ujustifiable claims, ad be cosistet with maitaiig the good stadig of the professio. 61. Particular care should be take over the itegrity of presetig qualificatios, accreditatio ad professioal stadig. BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy 09

12 Fiacial arragemets 62. Practitioers are required to be hoest, straightforward ad accoutable i all fiacial matters cocerig their cliets ad other professioal relatioships. Coflicts of iterest 63. Coflicts of iterest are best avoided, provided they ca be reasoably foresee i the first istace ad preveted from arisig. I decidig how to respod to coflicts of iterest, the protectio of the cliet's iterests ad maitaiig trust i the practitioer should be paramout. Care of self as a practitioer Attedig to the practitioer's well-beig is essetial to sustaiig good practice. 64. Practitioers have a resposibility to themselves to esure that their work does ot become detrimetal to their health or well-beig by esurig that the way that they udertake their work is as safe as possible ad that they seek appropriate professioal support ad services as the eed arises. 65. Practitioers are etitled to be treated with proper cosideratio ad respect that is cosistet with this Guidace. 10 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010

13 Professioal Coduct Procedure It is the resposibility of all Members ad Complaiats to esure that they fully uderstad the Professioal Coduct Procedure ad the associated protocols. This procedure forms a essetial part of BACP's commitmet to the protectio of the public. Members are required to iform ay cliet who idicates that they have a complait or grievace about the existece of this procedure ad ay other applicable complaits or discipliary procedures. If requested to do so, practitioers should iform their cliets about how they may obtai further iformatio cocerig these procedures. Further iformatio may be obtaied by cotactig the Professioal Coduct Departmet at BACP directly; alteratively, all documetatio is available o the BACP website at Itroductio Aim The aim of the Professioal Coduct Procedure is to provide complaiats with a ope ad trasparet route of remedy where complaits are made agaist members of this Associatio. I processig such complaits, the Associatio aims to protect members of the public, the ame ad reputatio of BACP ad the professios referred to withi the Ethical Framework. Brigig a complait A complait ca be brought by either: a) b) c) d) a member of the public who has sought or received a service provided by a member of the Associatio; or a curret member of the Associatio who may brig complaits for services sought or received directly from aother member; or who has witessed poor practice delivered by aother member; or o behalf of aother where their writte permissio has bee obtaied ad where that perso is uable to brig the complait o their ow behalf (explaatio is required i writig as to the ature of the iability); or a legal guardia or other appropriately authorised adult o behalf of a mior ad/or a adult lackig legal capacity for services sought or received; or a third party who ca demostrate sufficiet iterest ad who has bee directly affected by the actios of the practitioer, subject to the protocol o third party complaits. Complaits agaist o-members The Associatio caot deal with complaits agaist idividuals or orgaisatios that were ot members of the Associatio at the time of the alleged miscoduct ad/or are ot curret members of the Associatio. Complaits agaist members A complait made agaist a member ad brought withi the timescale detailed below, may cover the etirety of the professioal relatioship i so far as the member cocered was a member of the Associatio at the time of the alleged professioal miscoduct. Timescale A complait must be submitted either: a) b) c) withi three years of the edig of the professioal relatioship; or withi three years of the date whe the Complaiat reasoably became aware of the alleged professioal miscoduct. The Complaiat must provide a writte explaatio as to whe/how they became aware ad this will be cosidered by the Pre-Hearig Assessmet Pael which will decide if the explaatio give is good ad/or sufficiet; or withi a reasoable time of the alleged professioal miscoduct. The Associatio will ot cosider ay complaits where the substative matters have previously bee cosidered by the Associatio uder these procedures, uless there is overwhelmig ad compellig ew evidece which suggests that the case should be recosidered. 1.6 Records All records will be kept for a period of seve years. The Associatio reserves the right to recosider complaits previously submitted whe similar/other complaits subsequetly arise that give good reaso to suggest that the practitioer's cotiuig membership should be cosidered uder Article 4.6 of the Memoradum & Articles of Associatio. BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy 11

14 Where the outcome of a complait has resulted i withdrawal of membership of the Associatio, all records will be kept uless ad/or util such time as the perso cocered has successfully re-applied for membership of the Associatio. Such records will be cosidered i ay re-applicatio for membership of the Associatio. 1.7 Admiistratio The admiistratio of the Professioal Coduct Procedure will follow the protocols laid dow ad as ameded from time to time by the Associatio. These will be admiistered by the Head of Professioal Coduct. There is beefit i furtherig the charitable aims of the Associatio by carryig out audits ad/ or research ito complaits. The data from complaits will be processed for the purposes of research ad statistical aalysis. Where this work is carried out, either by BACP or a third party, uder strict protocols of cofidetiality, the cofidetiality of the parties cocered will be respected ad ay published research ad/or aalysis will ot cotai ay persoally idetifiable iformatio. 1.8 Expeses The Associatio is ot resposible for travel or ay other expeses icurred either by the Complaiat or the Member Complaied Agaist or ay support perso/represetative i coectio with ay stage of the complait. The Associatio caot order oe party i a complait to pay aother party's costs. However, where a witess is called by the Chair of the Pael, BACP will reimburse reasoable travel expeses upo the productio of valid receipts ad completio of a expese claim form Dual accoutability The Associatio may decide to hear a complait agaist a member whe aother orgaisatio is ivolved i a similar process arisig out of the same substative matters. Where iformatio is received for cosideratio uder the Professioal Coduct Procedure ad where it is kow that the member cocered is also a member of aother professioal body, the Associatio reserves the right to formally otify ay other orgaisatio of the issues beig cosidered. Resolutio Before submittig a complait to BACP, the Complaiat is expected to attempt to resolve the issue with the idividual or orgaisatioal Member Complaied Agaist ad details of ay attempt at resolutio should be icluded with the complait. If local resolutio is ot possible/ feasible or is cosidered iappropriate i the particular circumstaces of the case, the Complaiat will be required to provide a writte explaatio as to why this is the case. Complaits ad fidigs The Associatio reserves the right to otify other professioal bodies ad/or agecies about complaits ad to distribute ay fidigs upheld agaist a member, where it cosiders it right ad just to do so i all circumstaces. Makig A Complait The complait The complait must satisfy the followig coditios: a) b) The Complaiat must provide a detailed accout of the practice givig rise to the complait, together with details of dates whe the evet(s) occurred. Referece may be made to the stadards of practice outlied i the Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig ad Psychotherapy ad/or the relevat Codes of Ethics ad Practice i force at the time, together with all supportig evidece as appropriate. Referece may also be made to the Ethical guidelies for researchig cousellig ad psychotherapy, as appropriate. The idividual or orgaisatioal Member Complaied Agaist is amed ad is a curret member of the Associatio ad was a member of the Associatio at the time the alleged breach occurred. c) It is i writig, dated, siged ad received by the Head of Professioal Coduct. A complait ot satisfyig the above coditios will ot be accepted or processed uder these procedures. 12 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010

15 Notificatio The Member Complaied Agaist will be otified that a complait has bee received, give a copy of that complait ad details of the procedure to be followed. The Member Complaied Agaist is ot required to respod at this stage, but will be give a opportuity at a later stage if the complait is accepted uder the formal Professioal Coduct Procedure (as set out i sectio 3). Receipt of a complait The complait will be submitted to a Pre-Hearig Assessmet Pael, whereupo the Pael will decide: a) b) c) d) whether to accept the complait to be dealt with at a Professioal Coduct Hearig, refer it back for further iformatio/clarificatio or reject it. The Pael has discretio to iterview the Complaiat ad/or Member Complaied Agaist if deemed appropriate; if further iformatio/clarificatio is requested, upo receipt of same, the complait will be re-submitted to the Pre-Hearig Assessmet Pael which will decide whether to accept it or reject it; oce the complait is accepted, the Complaiat ad Member Complaied Agaist will be formally otified of this decisio i writig. The Head of Professioal Coduct will the start the formal Professioal Coduct Procedure (as set out i sectio 3); if the complait is ot accepted by the Pre-Hearig Assessmet Pael, the Complaiat ad Member Complaied Agaist will be formally otified of this decisio i writig. 2.4 Appeal followig decisio of the Pre-Hearig Assessmet Pael The Complaiat may appeal agaist the decisio of the Pre-Hearig Assessmet Pael. A appeal must be received by the Head of Professioal Coduct withi 14 days of otificatio of the Pael's decisio. The Complaiat ca appeal o the followig grouds: a) the decisio was made agaist the weight of evidece; b) there is ew evidece that was ot available at the time of the Pre-Hearig Assessmet Pael (subject to the coditios laid dow i the relevat protocol). The itetio to appeal must be accompaied by the evidece to support the submissio. The groud(s) of appeal, together with the origial submissios ad ay ew evidece cosidered by the Pre-Hearig Assessmet Pael, will be cosidered by a idepedet Appeal Assessor. The Appeal Assessor's decisio will be fial The Formal Professioal Coduct Procedure Acceptace of complait The Complaiat ad Member Complaied Agaist will be otified i writig that the complait will proceed to a Professioal Coduct Hearig. Respodig to a formal complait The Member Complaied Agaist will be otified of the acceptace of the complait ad will have 28 days to respod to it, havig previously bee supplied with a copy of the complait. The Member Complaied Agaist will also be furished with ay further iformatio submitted by the Complaiat ad cosidered by the Pre-Hearig Assessmet Pael. Ay respose to the complait must be forwarded to the Head of Professioal Coduct. Evidece All evidece submitted for the purpose of the Professioal Coduct Hearig, by either the Complaiat or the Member Complaied Agaist, shall be available to the parties ivolved i the complait. The Head of Professioal Coduct will distribute to the parties copies of all submissios made. Coduct It is the duty of the parties takig part i the Professioal Coduct Procedure to comply with the implemetatio of the Professioal Coduct Procedure. Such persos shall comply with the relevat protocols as laid dow by the Associatio. Ay failure to comply may result i the termiatio of the Professioal Coduct Procedure or withdrawal of membership uder Article 4.6 of the Memoradum ad Articles of Associatio. BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy 13

16 Lapsed membership Failure to reew membership by a Member Complaied Agaist durig the course of a complait will ot ormally termiate the Professioal Coduct Procedure. A member's resigatio from membership of the Associatio will ot ormally termiate or ivalidate the processig ad/or hearig of a complait by the Associatio. The Professioal Coduct Hearig Veue Professioal Coduct Hearigs will be held at a eutral veue withi the viciity of the Associatio's headquarters, other tha i exceptioal circumstaces. Professioal Coduct Pael The Head of Professioal Coduct will appoit a idepedetly costituted pael of ot less tha three persos, icludig lay represetatio, to hear the complait. Declaratio of iterest Members of the Professioal Coduct Pael have a duty to declare ay iterest which may be cosidered by the Head of Professioal Coduct to affect their impartiality, or likely to be thought so to do. Purpose The purpose of the Professioal Coduct Hearig is for the Professioal Coduct Pael to examie all the writte ad oral evidece preseted by both parties ad decide whether the complait is proved or ot. If proved, the Pael will decide whether or ot ay sactio should be imposed. Presece of a represetative/support perso Whe appearig at the Professioal Coduct Hearig, the Complaiat ad Member Complaied Agaist may each be accompaied by a represetative who may support ad/or speak o behalf of the party cocered. Such details of a represetative/support perso must be received by the Head of Professioal Coduct ot less tha 28 days prior to the date fixed for the Professioal Coduct Hearig. Additioal evidece Writte evidece ad/or submissios ad witess statemets must be submitted i advace by the Complaiat ad the Member Complaied Agaist. Such papers must be received by the Head of Professioal Coduct ot less tha 28 days prior to the date fixed for the Professioal Coduct Hearig. Such papers will be circulated to the Professioal Coduct Pael, the Complaiat ad the Member Complaied Agaist, withi a reasoable period prior to the Hearig. The Chair of the Professioal Coduct Pael may take advice o these papers ad/or procedural matters from the Head of Professioal Coduct or such relevat perso as may be deemed appropriate. New evidece The Chair of the Professioal Coduct Pael will determie whether or ot ew evidece will be accepted o the day of the Hearig. The decisio will be based o the coditios laid dow i the relevat protocol. The Chair of the Professioal Coduct Pael may take advice o such matters from the Head of Professioal Coduct. Attedace by witesses A witess ca oly be called if the witess has supplied a writte statemet cotaied withi the parties' submissios to BACP. Parties wishig to call witesses must otify the Head of Professioal Coduct of the ames ad details of such witesses ot less tha 28 days prior to the date fixed for the Hearig. The Chair of the Pael will oly permit the attedace of a witess if the Pael cosiders their writte statemet requires further clarificatio. The Professioal Coduct Pael, Complaiat ad Member Complaied Agaist may call witesses to atted the Hearig. The Chair of the Pael has discretio to refuse attedace by a witess if it is reasoably believed that such attedace is ot relevat ad/or will ot add ay weight to the issue(s) beig cosidered. Witesses may be questioed by the Pael ad by either party coected with the case. 14 Ethical Framework for Good Practice i Cousellig & Psychotherapy BACP 2001, 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010