Creating a Counselling Skills Professional Framework

ETHICAL FRAMEWORK, LIMITS OF PROFICIENCY AND THE LIMITATIONS ON COUNSELLORS COMPARED TO OTHER PROFESSIONS THAT USE COUNSELLING SKILLS.

In the relationship between counsellor and client the need for confidentiality is vital as it is not only the bases that the relationship is built on and it is a legal obligation.

I understand counselling to be a helping practice that differs from other helping activities, such as teaching for example. Counselling requires professional training and is specifically contracted or explicitly agreed. It has a theoretical base and uses specific methods within an ethical framework. The relationship between the counsellor and the client is built upon mutual expectation and is central to the process of the client under-going significant change in their lives.

To have good ethical practice within counselling it is important that there are boundaries and contracts in place that are agreed to and understood by both the counsellor and the client.

Firstly it’s important to distinguish between using counselling skills and being a counsellor. From my own research I think the distinction revolves

Carl Rogers, Born in Chicago in 1902 as the 4th of 6 children in a strict Fundamentalist Christian household.

The terms "counselor" and "therapist" are often used interchangeably to describe a pro who works with clients on relationship, personal and mental health issues.

Becoming a professional counselor, requires a willingness from the incumbent to embark on a lifelong journey of self-discovery, reflection, practice, and investigation into the art and science of human behavior. The practitioner must constantly reflect upon his or her own cultural background, past and present experiences, family history, as well as predispositions and perceptions about the world and all its inhabitants.

A client tells the counselor that they will cause harm to themselves and others, but the counselor doesn’t disclose the information to anyone. Counselors have a duty to protect and disclose any information that will cause the client to harm themselves and

Counseling can be used to address psycho-social as well as performance issues while mentoring does not seek to resolve any underlying psychological problems. It assumes a person does not require a psycho-social intervention.

While it is, perhaps, easier to ensure a counselor has the appropriate education there is still room for a greater understanding of the particular, rare qualities that delineate the profession.

The formation of dual relationships is taken into consideration as a boundary issue (Carney & McCarren 2012, p.11). Boundaries or boundary crossing is just a method to provide an explanation for the career of what social people can and cannot do consistently with the guidelines and policies concerning the appropriate well-being of themselves, customers, profession and the agency in rural areas. Bounds can be crossed by simply involving your personal life with a client. Although it could possibly be helping the client it can produce mixed results, therefore making it a fine line.

respect that the counsellor has for the client and his problems, even though the counsellor may

Many ethical dilemmas arise in this situation. Confidentiality, client consent, client welfare, and extending counseling boundaries are the main ethical codes that surface in this specific situation.

The first factor is the most significant and characteristic of counselling psychology. Evidence has shown that specific techniques do not contribute as much as a genuine therapeutic relationship (see, for example, Roth and Fonagy, 1996; Hubble et alM 1999; Cooper, 2008). Rogers (1951) in forming his humanistic therapy approach suggested that in order for therapy to facilitate and promote changes a genuine therapeutic relationship should include the dispositions of empathy, acceptance and congruence.