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Standards of Practice for Counsellors
CCPA has made available an online version of its Standards of Practice as a valuable resource for counsellors. A printed version is also available for a nominal $10 fee ($14 for non-members). The printed version includes the CCPA Code of Ethics as aligned with each standard of practice. To order the printed version, please submit a completed CCPA Publications Order Form.
Approved by
CCPA Board of Directors
December 5, 2008
These Standards of Practice were developed by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association to provide direction and guidelines to enable its members, and other counsellors in Canada, to conduct themselves in a professional manner consistent with the CCPA Code of Ethics. They are also intended to serve the following purposes:
These standards of practice are directed primarily at the professional conduct of counsellors. However, they extend to the personal actions of counsellors when they undermine society's trust and confidence in the integrity of the profession and when there is reasonable doubt about the ability or a counsellor to act in a professionally competent and ethical manner.
Throughout Standards of Practice for Counsellors, there are brief expressions inserted to succinctly capture some core ethical concept, an ethical principle, or concept from case law, and so forth. These insertions are intended to reflect some of the richness and diversity of the historical and contemporary strivings that constitute the ethical and legal grounding for our professional code of conduct.
Many of the standards of practice are generic in nature and do not anticipate every practice situation or address all of the ethical challenges with which counsellors are confronted. Therefore, the development of standards will necessarily remain an ongoing responsibility to which all counsellors can contribute. Despite the value of these standards of practice, the ultimate responsibility for acting ethically depends on the integrity and commitment of each counsellor to do so.
General Responsibility
Counsellors maintain high standards of professional competence by attending to their personal well-being, by participating in continuing professional education, and by supporting the development and delivery of continuing education within the counselling profession.
Counsellors invest time and effort in understanding the CCPA Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, and avoid agreements, work environments, and other circumstances in which they would knowingly have to violate these ethical standards. In settings where policies violate these ethical standards, counsellors work to educate employers about their ethical obligations and work to make positive changes in these settings.
Counsellors should become familiar with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and, depending on their work setting and type of services provided, counsellors may need to be familiar with some, or all, of the following federal and provincial legislation:
Respect for Rights
Counsellors understand and respect the rights and freedoms of those with whom they work and others who may be disenfranchised by poverty, structural injustice, war, and other inhumane discriminatory practices. Counsellors convey respect for human dignity, principles of equity and social justice, and speak out or take other appropriate actions against practices, policies, laws, and regulations that directly or indirectly bring harm to others or violate their human rights.
Counsellors refrain from providing professional information to individuals who have expressed an intention to use it to violate the human rights of others.
Counsellors practice in a manner congruent with the overarching principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Canada is a signatory.
Counsellors respect due process and follow procedures based on the principles of social justice and principles of equity in all their professional activities, such as those associated with counselling, consultation, evaluation, adjudication, peer reviews and other types of review.
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Fiduciary Relationship A fiduciary relationship is one founded on trust or confidence relied on by one person in the integrity and fidelity of another. A fiduciary has a duty to act primarily for the client's benefit in matters connected with the undertaking and not for their own personal interest. Black's Law Dictionary (2004) |
Boundaries of Competence
Counsellors restrict their counselling services to those areas within the boundaries of their competence by virtue of verifiable education, training, supervised experience, and other appropriate professional experience.
Counsellors who wish to extend their professional services ensure competence in any additional areas of expertise through extra verifiable education or training in this area and provide service only after they have secured adequate supervision from supervisors with demonstrative expertise in the practice area. Supervisors should have a high level of expertise in the area that is certified by an independent process such as: certification, registration, or licensing.
When counsellors are faced with clients whose needs exceed the counsellors' boundaries of competence, they make appropriate referrals for their clients. Counsellors provide appropriate contact and support for their clients during any transitional period associated with referring them to other sources of professional help.
Since consultation with the other professional is often necessary in order to provide the best services for clients, helpers may agree to collaborate with each contributing professional.
Professional Impairment
Counsellors should take steps to appropriately limit their professional responsibilities when their physical, mental or personal circumstances are such that they have diminished capacity to provide competent services to all or to particular clients. Counsellors in such situations may seek consultation and supervision and may need to limit, suspend, or terminate their professional services.
Supervision and Consultation
All counsellors should obtain supervision and/or consultation for their counselling practices; this is particularly true with respect to doubts or uncertainties which may arise during their professional work.
In school settings, counsellors should arrange regular supervision and/or consultation with other counsellors in their school or in their school district or region. Counsellors in other agencies/institutions and/or in private practice should organise their supervision with other qualified (certified or licensed) counselling professionals.
Counsellors have an obligation to be appropriately accountable to their employers for their professional work. Supervision of counsellors should be conducted by someone other than a person who is responsible for evaluating their work (such as a person in a line management position). If such a situation cannot be avoided, then the counsellor should also have access to independent opportunities for supervision and/or consultations.
When counsellors seek professional consultation, they make every effort to do so in ways which will protect the identity of the client. If the client's identity cannot be protected, then the client's informed consent must be sought before the consultation. When consulting, counsellors make every effort to ensure that the identity of the client will not create any dual relationship dilemmas for the person with whom they consult.
Secretarial/clerical assistants, supervisees, and all others who work with counsellors' confidential records have a responsibility similar to that of the counsellors with respect to confidentiality. Counsellors must take all necessary steps to guarantee that client confidentiality is respected and maintained by others with whom they work and consult.
Representation of Professional Qualifications
Counsellors should display their CCC certificate and/or any other professional regulatory certificate at a prominent location at their work site and place their Code of Ethics in the waiting room at their work site, or display it in any other manner that would allow it to be readily seen by consumers of their professional services.
Counsellors shall not use CCPA membership and/or any other professional membership as a designation on business cards, door plates, in advertisements, directories, nor use it in any other way intended to advertise their professional service. Rather, the designation CCC can be used as the only CCPA designation for such purposes. This distinction is required because membership admission does not evaluate a member's qualifications to practice counselling, whereas the certification process does. Where provincial certification/licensure exists, counsellors may also use these designations to advertise their professional service.
When counsellors are involved in public activities, including the making of public statements, they do so in such a way that clarifies whether they are acting as private citizens, as members of a particular association, or as representatives of the counselling profession.
Counsellors shall not misrepresent nor falsely enhance their professional qualifications, experience or performance. When counsellors become aware of misuse or misrepresentation of their work, they take reasonable steps to correct or minimize the misuse or misrepresentation.
Counsellors avoid making public statements that are false, deceptive, or misleading. They also avoid other statements that could easily be misunderstood by virtue of what they say about their professional qualifications and services or by what they omit to say about them.
Responsibility to Counsellors and Other Professionals Related to Unethical Behaviour
When counsellors have reasonable grounds to believe that another counsellor is acting unethically, they have an obligation to take appropriate action. First, if it is appropriate to do so, they should approach the counsellor in an effort to address the concern. The following guidelines are suggested to assist counsellors when they have such concerns:
Responsibility to Clients
Counsellors act in the best interests of their clients and when they have reasonable grounds to believe their client has an ethical complaint about the conduct of a CCPA member, they provide the client with a copy of the CCPA Procedures for Processing Complaints of Ethical Violations or direct them to the appropriate page on the CCPA website.
Clients will have varying degrees of understanding of their role in the ethical complaints procedure. Counsellors should answer any questions clients might have and explain the procedures and the processes involved for clients so that they clearly understand.
Clients should understand that a CCPA member may break confidentiality to defend themselves to the Ethics Committee. Where appropriate, counsellors can support clients through the complaints process.
Counsellors do not condone or engage in sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, sexual solicitation, unnecessary touching or patting, compromising invitations, the unwelcome telling of sexually explicit jokes, the display of sexually explicit materials, suggestive sexual comments and other verbal and physical behaviour directed towards a person by an individual who knows or ought reasonably to know that such behaviour is unwanted, offensive, or contributes to an unpleasant or hostile working environment.
Sensitivity to Diversity
Counsellors should strive to grow in their understanding of diversity within Canada's pluralistic society. This understanding should receive attention in counsellor education programs and be part of continuing education experiences. Such understanding should be based on knowledge of diversity and of the ways in which differences based on ways in which ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and so forth, can affect attitudes, values and behaviour.
Counsellors should strive to understand the diversity within the communities in which they work and in which their clients reside.
Extension of Ethical Responsibilities
When counsellors are confronted with demands from an organization with which they are affiliated or from an employer
that is in conflict with the CCPA Code of Ethics, they take steps to clarify the nature of the conflict, assert their commitment to the Code, and to the extent possible, work to resolve the conflict that will allow adherence to their Code of Ethics (See also C2).
Counsellors cooperate in ethics investigations of complaints made against them and with the appropriate related proceedings. Failure to cooperate may be considered in itself an ethical violation. However, mounting an appropriate defense against an ethical complaint and taking full advantage of the opportunities afforded in an adjudication process to do so, does not constitute non-cooperation.
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A malpractice claim must meet the following conditions:
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Primary Responsibility
The fact that this ethical article is first in this "counselling relationships" section underscores the need for counsellors to be mindful of their primarily obligation to help clients. Counsellors enter into a collaborative dialogue with their clients to ensure understanding of counselling plans intended to address goals that are part of their therapeutic alliance. Counsellors inform their clients of the purpose and the nature of any counselling, evaluation, training or education service so that clients can exercise informed choice with respect to participation.
Counselling plans and progress are reviewed with clients to determine their continued appropriateness and efficacy.
The counsellors' primary responsibility incorporates most aspects of CCPA's six ethical principles:
Confidentiality
Counsellors have a fundamental ethical responsibility to take every reasonable precaution to respect and to safeguard their clients' right to confidentiality, and to protect from inappropriate disclosure, any information generated within the counselling relationship. This responsibility extends to disclosing whether or not a particular individual is in fact a client.
This general requirement for counsellors to keep all information confidential is not absolute since disclosure may be required in any of the following circumstances:
Counsellors should discuss confidentiality with their clients and any third party payers prior to beginning counselling and discuss limits throughout the counselling process with clients, as necessary. They also inform clients of the limits of confidentiality and inform them of any foreseeable circumstances in which information may have to be disclosed.
Secretarial/clerical assistants, supervisees, treatment teams, and all others who work with a counsellor have a responsibility similar to that of the counsellor with respect to confidentiality. Counsellors must take all necessary steps to guarantee that client confidentiality is respected and maintained by others with whom they work and consult.
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Confidentiality belongs to the client, not the counsellor. |
Children and Confidentiality
Counsellors who work with children have the difficult task of protecting the minor's right to privacy while at the same time respecting the parent's or guardian's right to information. Counsellors can be assisted in such dilemmas by the following considerations:
When counsellors believe that a disclosure of a child's counselling information is not in the child's best interests, the following actions may be helpful:
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In Canada, judges typically apply the Wigmore conditions in determining if confidentially obtained information should be disclosed during a legal proceeding. These are:
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Duty to Warn
Counsellors have a duty to use reasonable care when they become aware of their client's intention or potential to place others in clear or imminent danger. In these circumstances, they give threatened persons such warnings as are essential to avert foreseeable dangers.
Under this ethical obligation, counsellors should take protective action when clients pose a danger to themselves or to others. Once counsellors have reasonable grounds to believe that there is such imminent danger, they use the least intrusive steps to prevent harm. With respect to suicidal clients, counsellors' interventions may include such steps as:
When counsellors believe that their clients might harm an identifiable person, they should take steps to warn the individual of the potential danger. Depending on the particular circumstances, counsellors may be justified in taking any number of steps, including:
Counsellors should consult with colleagues when making such decisions and may need to seek legal assistance.
Counsellors may be justified in breaching confidence with clients who are HIV positive and whose behaviour is putting others at risk. However, counsellors should make every effort to encourage such clients to take responsibility for informing their sexual or needle-sharing partners of their HIV status. With the client's informed permission, counsellors should contact the client's physician, and seek the consultative assistance of another counsellor, and legal assistance may be needed.
When dealing with clients who may harm themselves or others, counsellors are guided by the following actions
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"The protective privilege ends when the public peril begins." Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 1974 |
Informed Consent
Informed consent is essential to counsellors' respect for the clients' rights to self-determination. Consent must be given voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently.
Voluntarily means that consent to participate in counselling, assessment, research or any other professional services provided by counsellors must be given freely without pressure, coercion, or without powerful incentives to do so.
Knowingly means that counsellors fully disclose relevant information to clients so that they are briefed as to what it is they are being asked to give their consent. This includes disclosing the type of information which may have to be reported to a third party. Information must be given to clients in a manner which is sensitive to their cultural and linguistic needs.
Intelligently means that clients have the ability to comprehend the conditions for consent sufficiently to make an informed decision. Counsellors should not equate silence with consent.
Counsellors should respect the right of a client to change his or her mind and to withdraw informed consent.
Counsellors should respect a client's expressed desire to consult others with respect to informed consent decisions.
If a written consent form is not appropriate because of considerations relating to culture, literacy, disability, or for any other legitimate reason, counsellors should record the oral response to the informed consent process and document the reasons for it not being written.
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When counsellors are persuaded that they must breach confidentiality without the benefit of informed consent, they may be protected from liability under the Doctrine of Qualified Immunity. This Doctrine requires that the following conditions be met:
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Touch in Counselling
Counsellors should always be thoughtfully aware of any boundary crossings in their counselling and be alert to its potential for both client benefit and harm. Such vigilance is particularly required when there is physical contact between a counsellor and client.
Although human touch can be a normalizing and nurturing experience, during counselling it must be considered with attention to the counsellor's intentions, the client's perspective, and such factors as: age and gender differences, and the client's cultural and personal experiences with touch.
The following guidelines may assist counsellors in viewing touch from a therapeutic and client perspective:
When touch is integral to any therapeutic approach or technique, clients are briefed on its nature and intended purpose prior to the therapeutic touch and given appropriate control over it.
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Mature Minor However, there is a sufficient body of common law in Canada which is fairly clear in stating that regardless of age, a minor is capable of consenting or refusing consent to medical treatment if he or she is able to appreciate the nature and purpose of the treatment and the consequences of giving or refusing consent. Peter Browne, lawyer, 2002 |
Children and Persons with Diminished Capacity
A small number of adults with developmental disabilities, critical illnesses, serious injury, or other disabling conditions may be declared by a court to be legally incompetent. Each province/ territory has legislation which provides for the conditions and procedures for such a determination. Counsellors should seek informed consent for individuals declared incompetent from their legal guardians
The parents and guardians of younger children have the legal authority to give consent on their behalf. However, the parental right to give consent diminishes and may even terminate as the child grows older and acquires sufficient understanding and intelligence to fully comprehend the conditions for informed consent. Counsellors should be vigilant to keep themselves informed of their statutory obligations with respect to the rights of children, including their right to privacy and self-determination commensurate with their ability and with regard to their best interests.
Clients may be required by a third party, such as by a court order, to receive counselling and/or to be assessed by a counsellor. Under such circumstances, counsellors should clarify their obligations, inform clients of the type of information expected by the third party and identify the consequences, if any, of non-compliance.
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With respect to the changing legal environment in Canada, there are the following changes: "A shift from paternalistic to rights-based principles of education and treatment." "Recognition that the young, the mentally ill and the elderly, who are competent, can make their own health and care decisions, independent of others." R. Soloman |
Maintenance of Records
Counsellors shall maintain counselling records with not less than the following information:
Counsellors do not leave records on their desks, computer screens, in computer files, or in any area or medium where they can be read by others without appropriate permission to do so.
Record keeping in schools is typically regulated by school board policies. These policies may derive from provincial ministries of education, and may have been developed to conform to the requirements of provincial freedom of information and privacy laws, and personal health information acts. Counselling notes should not be kept in a student's school record and should be maintained in a secure file in the counsellor's office. However, some information acquired by counsellors such as the results of psychoeducational assessments, may be placed in the student record when it has been used to inform programming decisions for the student. It is then presented in a manner to minimize misunderstandings by others. School counsellors should work to ensure clear school policies and procedures on such matters and participate in their formulation whenever possible.
Counsellors shall be familiar with any local laws and workplace policies related to record maintenance, security, and preservation. When there are conflicts between institutional rules and/or workplace policies and practices and the CCPA Code of Ethics and these Standards of Practice, counsellors use their education and skills to identify and resolve the relevant concerns in a manner which conforms both to law and to ethical professional practice. When necessary, they may contact their provincial counselling association and/or the CCPA Ethics Committee for assistance.
Records may be written, recorded, computerized or maintained in any other medium so long as their utility, confidentiality, security, and preservation are assured, and they cannot be alterable without being detected.
Counsellors shall ensure the security and preservation of client records for which they have maintenance responsibility, and the records of those they supervise, for a period of seven years after the last date of service provided, and for seven years after the age of majority for children. Additionally, counsellors take responsibility for adhering to any local policy regarding retention of records that may exceed this time limit.
Counsellors shall ensure that there is provision for the preservation of their counselling records after their death or upon retirement. In some work environments there may be ethically and legally appropriate provisions for the retention of records. In private practice in particular, records may be transferred to another counsellor and clients appropriately notified or clients may take possession of their records.
When counsellors dispose of records, they shall do so in a manner that preserves confidentiality and that follows any local regulation or policy. However, counsellors never destroy records or counselling notes after they receive a subpoena or have reason to expect receiving one. This action could be judged to be an obstruction of justice and it could result in being held in contempt of court.
Counsellors keep information contained in counselling records confidential, but they never keep secret records.
Counsellors countersign notes only when required to do so by policy or regulation. When counsellors merely review another person's note, the co-signatory should read: "John Smith's student counsellor/entry reviewed by Jane Doe". Counsellors should only co-sign notes without qualifications if they have fully participated in the activity being reported.
Counsellors working with a multi-disciplinary team where a common recording system is used, always exercise appropriate caution when placing information in such records. They take steps to ensure that their reports and recommendations are understood by colleagues of other disciplines. In particular, if there is a risk that professional observations, test scores and other personal information might be misunderstood, potentially causing harm to clients, then such information should not be entered in the common record. Also, counsellors participate in such collaborative record keeping only when they are assured that the standards of confidentiality, security, and preservation are maintained
Secretarial/clerical assistants, supervisees, and all others who work with a counsellor's confidential records have a responsibility similar to that of the counsellor with respect to confidentiality. Counsellors must take all necessary steps to guarantee that client confidentiality is respected and maintained by others with whom they work and consult.
Some guidelines for record-keeping for counsellors include:
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The right of the accused to make a dull answer and defense is a core principle of fundamental justice, but it does not automatically entitle the accused to gain access to information contained in the private records of complainants and witnesses... R. v. Mills, Supreme Court of Canada, 1999 |
Access to Records
Clients normally have a right of full access to their counselling records. However, the counsellor has the responsibility to ensure that any such access is managed in a timely and orderly manner.
Whenever possible, counsellors should retain the original counselling records but, on request, clients and others with informed consent, should receive a good quality copy of the relevant content.
If records are disclosed, any third-party information should be withheld, unless prior permission has been granted, or until informed consent has been obtained directly from those sources.
Parents or other legal guardians have a right of access, upon formal request, to their minor child's counselling record. However, this is not an absolute right and any such request should be managed on a ‘need to know' basis and on a judgement as to what is in the best interest of the child considering the nature of the information, the age of the minor, and his/her capacity to give informed consent.
School counsellors should make every effort to ensure that there is a school-based procedure in place to adjudicate any requests from parents or guardians for access to counselling records.
There may be the following exceptions to clients' full access to their records:
In any case, counsellors should be aware that any denial of a valid request for disclosure may be challenged and ultimately adjudicated in court and/or by an arbitrator whose authority could be established under a provincial freedom of information and privacy legislation.
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In other words, the rights of students should be approached presumptively from the perspective of full Charter protection, but qualified by the idea that some issues inherent to children and their care and education require some limits that otherwise would not pertain for adults. These limits have to do with relative competencies of mature and socially aware children, and not with any arbitrary "age defined" limits, or, for that matter, intuitively based assumptions of education professionals. Stuart Whitley, Q.C |
Dual and Multiple Relationships
Dual or multiple relationships exist when counsellors, simultaneously or sequentially, have one or more relationships with a client additional to the counselling relationship. Counsellors recognize that such multiple relationships have the potential to negatively affect their objectivity and to compromise the quality of their professional services. They understand that this potential for harm increases as the expectations for these multiple roles diverge. The power and status differential between the counsellor and client can be affected when dual or multiple relationships exist.
Counsellors, whenever possible, avoid entering into social, financial, business, or other relationships with current or former clients that are likely to place the counsellor and/or client in a conflict of interest and/or compromise the counselling relationship.
Counsellors make every effort to avoid entering into counselling relationships with individuals with whom they have had a previous relationship which could impair professional judgement or have the inherent potential for client exploitation.
Counsellors do not use information obtained while counselling clients, or their relationship with clients, to obtain advantage or material benefits. Nor do counsellors behave in any way which would be an exploitation of clients.
Counsellors should avoid accepting gifts of more than token value from their clients and do not influence their clients to make contributions to organizations or causes in which the counsellor may have a personal interest.
In rural communities, and in certain other workplace circumstances, it may be impossible or unreasonable for counsellors to avoid social or other non-counselling contact with clients, students, supervisees, or research participants. Counsellors should manage such circumstances with care to avoid confusion on behalf of such individuals and to avoid conflicts of interest.
As a routine, counsellors should discuss with their clients the manner in which they intend to respond to them should they meet outside their counselling workplace, and their intention to avoid behaviour in such circumstances that could have the potential to embarrass clients or inadvertently call attention to their status as a client and/or to their counselling issues.
When a counsellor becomes aware that a multiple relationship exists with a client, or when a conflict of interest occurs, the counsellor shall take steps to resolve the situation in the best interest of the client and in a manner consistent with the ethical principles of the CCPA Code Ethics.
When counsellors become aware that they may be expected or required to perform potentially conflicting roles, such as when one person involved in group, marital, or family counselling seeks private time with the counsellor, and/or when an anticipated request to be a court witness compromises counselling, then the counsellor undertakes to clarify roles, including withdrawing from roles when appropriate.
When counsellors work with individuals who have a relationship with each other, such as parents and children, or adult partners, they take initiative to identify who the clients are and the expected roles for the relationship with each, and clarify the expected use of any information that may be generated.
Counsellors should consult when they are uncertain about the appropriateness of dual or multiple relationships with a client. They should remember that if such a relationship is justified that it should, if it were to become necessary, stand up to the scrutiny of peer review.
Respecting Diversity
Counsellors strive to deepen their understanding of their own worldview and to appreciate how their cultural and other life experiences have influenced their values, beliefs and behaviours, including any stereotypical and prejudicial attitudes.
Counsellors seek out educational, training, and other experiences that will increase their competency to work with clients from cultural and other life experiences different from their own
Counsellors strive to understand how such factors as gender, ethnicity, culture and socio-economic circumstances may influence personal development, career choices, help-seeking behaviours, and attitudes and beliefs about mental health problems and help-intended interventions.
Counsellors strive to understand and respect the helping practices of indigenous peoples and the help-giving systems and resources of minority communities.
Counsellors are aware of the barriers that may hinder members of minority groups from seeking or gaining access to mental health services.
Counsellors are sensitive to and acknowledge their clients' religious and spiritual beliefs and they incorporate such beliefs into their counselling discourse with clients.
Counsellors are aware of and sensitive to cultural biases that may be inherent in certain assessment tools and procedures and particularly those associated with certain counselling practices.
The geopolitical location of their practice may require counsellors to devote additional time and effort to increasing their knowledge in order to respond appropriately to the particular needs of their clientele.
Consulting with Other Professionals
Counsellors make an effort to consult only with professionals they believe to be knowledgeable and trustworthy.
When consulting regarding their clients, counsellors protect their clients' identity, if possible, and limit the sharing of information only to the degree necessary to facilitate the consultation.
When counsellors have to disclose the identity of a client about whom they are consulting, they obtain from the client written and time-limited informed consent.
Counsellors avoid consulting with one another about a client if they have reason to believe or to suspect that the person may have a prior or current relationship to the client, either directly or indirectly, such that disclosing the client's identity will place that other person in a conflict of interest or in a problematic dual relationship.
When counsellors consult in the interests of their clients, they remain accountable for any decisions they may take based on such consultations.
Relationships with Former Clients
When clients end their counselling sessions, counsellors remain accountable for ensuring that any future non-counselling relationship, including friendship, social, financial, or business, are free of any power differentials or other encumbrances. Counsellors are cautious when entering any such relationship with former clients and assess whether or not the issues and relational dynamics present during the counselling have been fully resolved and properly terminated.
Counsellors do not use knowledge from a prior counselling relationship to re-establish contact, and intentions for a post-termination relationship must not originate in the counselling relationship. Counsellors should always seek consultation on such a matter and have the burden to ensure the ethical appropriateness of any such relationships.
Sexual Intimacies with Clients
CCPA and all allied professional organizations, have an ethical prohibition against sexual involvement with clients. Sexualizing the counsellor-client relationship is always inappropriate regardless of the client's behaviour, or any counselling ideology or personal belief system that might be invoked to justify such behaviour. This prohibition also means that counsellors refrain from counselling individuals with whom they have been sexually intimate, and it extends to former clients unless certain specific conditions are met.
Counsellors are prohibited from being sexually intimate with former clients even after the three year period following counselling termination unless:
Counsellors who establish intimate relationships with former clients three years after counselling termination have the responsibility to demonstrate that there was no exploitation and no advantage taken because of the prior counselling relationship. In such circumstances, counsellors should always seek consultation and have the burden to ensure that no such exploitation influences occur.
Counsellors understand that a client's response to touch and references to sexual issues can be influenced by gender, cultural and religious background, and personal sexual history, including any traumatic sexual experiences.
The following guidelines assist counsellors in avoiding boundary violations with respect to intimate and sexual matters in their counselling:
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In other words, the rights of students should be approached presumptively from the perspective of full Charter protection, but qualified by the idea that some issues inherent to children and their care and education require some limits that otherwise would not pertain for adults. These limits have to do with relative competencies of mature and socially aware children, and not with any arbitrary "age defined" limits, or, for that matter, intuitively based assumptions of education professionals. Stuart Whitley, Q.C |
Multiple Clients: Couple, Family and Group Counselling
Counsellors realize the unique ethical challenges associated with multi-persons counselling, such as with couples, family, and group counselling. For example, individuals continue to have their own rights and responsibilities, including their right of access to the counselling records generated by these counselling services.
Clients should understand and consent to the limits on confidentiality before participating in such services. When clients from group, couples, or family counselling are seen by the counsellor on an individual basis, apart from joint sessions, these sessions should be treated as confidential unless there is consent that communication may be shared with the other partner, group or family members.
When counsellors begin multi-persons counselling, they clarify goals, the nature of the particular type of counselling service and address issues of informed consent and the unique limits on confidentiality. Counsellors explain and advocate for the principles and practice of confidentiality but, in the final analysis, they can only guarantee their own commitment to it.
When engaged in multi-persons counselling, counsellors make every effort to avoid or minimize having private, confidential contact with individuals concurrent with their membership in couples, family or group counselling. Such efforts can minimize the potential for side taking, client secret sharing, triangulation and other challenges associated with individual access to the counsellor. Counsellors must not enter multiple counselling relationships where their effectiveness and objectivity could be compromised.
Counsellors may decline to accept a client for couples or family counselling if the individual counselling relationship has progressed to the point where the counsellor will likely be biased in favour of the client, or will risk being seen by others as being so.
Multiple Helpers
Collaboration and consultation with other professionals is often needed to best serve the needs of clients. Some common professional partners are:
Drawing on the expertise, perspectives, and values of other professional helpers enhances services for clients and provides opportunities for "wraparound" service for particularly vulnerable clients.
As indicated in this ethical article, it is vital that counsellors working with the same client discuss issues related to multiple helpers. When a client has more than one counsellor, it is each counsellor's responsibility to discuss this issue with the client and the other helper(s). The helpers may agree to collaborate in the interest of the client with each contributing their expertise to address different or complementary aspects of the client's needs. If one of the counsellors does not want another counsellor working with a particular client, the client may have to choose with which counsellor to discontinue service.
Group Work
In addition to the responsibilities listed in ethical article B15, counsellors who engage in group work must, prior to beginning the first session, ensure that all group members understand and agree to additional aspects of group counselling work. Counsellors discuss aspects of group work to:
Computer UseThe increase in the use of technology in counselling, particularly the use of telecounselling and Internet counselling, has caused counselling associations around the world to establish a number of standards of practice for this mode of service. The National Board of Counselor Certification (NBCC) emphasizes a number of key standards of practice, including:
The Internet counsellor's website should also provide links to the CCPA website to facilitate consumer protection. Safeguarding the client in areas related to confidentiality, informed consent, and any potential harmful effects take on an important role when the client is not receiving services in person. Counsellors are vigilant in considering and addressing potential risks associated with technology access and operation, such as unauthorized recording of group sessions through the use of ancillary devices and platforms such as webcams, blogs, podcasts, or uploaded videos.
Further information related to the unique considerations related to the delivery of Internet counselling are discussed in the next section.
Delivery of Services by Telephone, Teleconferencing and Internet
Counsellors recognize that their commitment to adhere to their CCPA Code of Ethics is not diminished when they use electronic and other communication technologies to provide counselling and other professional services.
Counsellors who provide services by these means strive to remain current with the emerging capacity of various communication technologies to further enhance communicative security and with changes to professional standards intended to inform their practices
Counsellors recognize that all the communication technologies create, or can create, records or recordings that must be handled carefully to avoid breaches of confidentiality. These recordings may constitute a verbatim component of their confidential counselling record different from that generated for face-to-face counselling.
Counsellors restrict telephone conversations with clients and telephone counselling to locations in which they can ensure client confidentiality. They also take steps to protect client confidentiality when receiving and sending messages by voice mail and fax machines.
Counsellors are aware, when engaged in telephone or video-mediated communication, that they can be recorded by the client and that there is the potential for recording and monitoring by unauthorized persons.
Counsellors take steps to ensure that they are providing Internet counselling services to clients only in jurisdictions in which they are in compliance with any regulatory requirements that may exist in that location.
Counsellors provide Internet counselling only through secure web sites and with e-mail communications that use appropriate encryption designed to prevent breaches of confidentiality and to avoid access by unauthorized persons.
Counsellors may provide information about their Internet counselling services from secure or insecure sites when information is restricted to such general matters as the nature of their Internet services, types of client issues that might be addressed in this way, third party resources, referral information, standards of practice for these services, and so forth.
Counsellors use an appropriate in-take process to determine client readiness for Internet counselling, and provide each Internet counselling client with orientation and coaching with respect to such matters as:
Counsellors use features such as word, number, or graphic codes when they wish to verify client identity.
Counsellors brief Internet clients on protocols to follow when there are technology failures or other interruptions in Internet services including alternative means of contact such as by providing telephone contact numbers.
Counsellors collaborate with their Internet counselling clients to identify appropriate local professionals who might be of assistance during an emergency and to determine local crisis hotlines and other emergency resources.
Counsellors are aware when providing Internet counselling services that it is not yet clear as to whether regulatory bodies and the law view the focus of such services as occurring in the jurisdiction of the counsellor, the client, or both and which laws govern the Internet counsellor with respect to reporting abuse, age of majority, and so forth.
Referrals
Counsellors make an effort to become knowledgeable about community resources and to establish and maintain relationships with mental health and other professionals in their community sufficient to make informed client referrals when appropriate.
When counsellors pay for, receive monies from, or divide fees with another professional, except in an employer-employee relationship, the remuneration to each person is for services rendered (e.g., counselling, assessment, consultation) and is never a financial benefit for the referral itself.
Termination of Counselling
Counsellors must strive to protect the best interests of clients when services to clients have to be interrupted or prematurely terminated.
Counsellors anticipate the termination phase in their counselling relationship and they provide timely opportunities for their clients to deal with the end of counselling and associated issues of loss or separation.
When counsellors decide that they have to prematurely terminate a counselling relationship, they make every effort to avoid client abandonment by giving sufficient notice to the client, if at all possible, discussing with the client the reasons for the decision, assisting with the search for another counsellor, and providing emergency contact information.
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The natural termination of counselling is not the end. It is the beginning. It offers an opportunity for the counsellor and the client to appreciate accomplishments and to acknowledge the role of the client in his/her own process of change which will continue even after counselling has discontinued. When premature termination of counselling occurs, there is an opportunity for the counsellor to help clients to understand next steps, whether they are related to transitioning to a different counsellor, therapy, or setting; accepting the natural consequences of their own actions; or some other life circumstance. |
General Responsibility
When counsellors are requested by a third party to provide a service to an individual, organization, or other entity, they undertake at the outset to clarify the nature of the role expected, the relationship with each party, the possible uses of any information acquired, and any limits to confidentiality. Specifically, consultants and counsellors need to:
Undiminished Responsibility and Liability Incorporation
At this time in 2008, most Canadian provinces do not have legislation that allows counsellors to incorporate. Members of CCPA who wish to establish private practice agencies, whether incorporated or not, and those members who work at such agencies, should:
Accurate Advertising
Counsellors need to promote honesty and accuracy in their advertising and in their public statements. Counsellors do not make deceptive statements regarding their:
In addition to the careful attention to accuracy in advertising, the counsellor should adhere to additional standards related to advertising:
Consultative Relationships
Consultative relationships are voluntary and the goals, aspects of the relationship, typical practices, and the limits of confidentiality should be discussed. Consultants must pay particular attention to the following factors influencing consultative relationships:
Informed Consent
Counsellors should provide verbal and written information on the obligations, responsibilities and rights of both counsellors and consultees. This information should include:
Respect for Privacy
Counsellors respect the privacy of clients by limiting any discussion of client information obtained from a consulting relationship to individuals who have clear and current involvement with the case. Any data, whether written or oral, is restricted to the purpose of the consultation. Every effort is made to protect client identity and to avoid undue invasion of privacy. Counsellors should:
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Confidentiality is an ethical concept and it imposes a professional responsibility not to disclose information obtained in a counselling relationship unless there are exceptional circumstances including being required by law. Privileged Communication, on the other hand, is a legal concept and it protects against forced disclosure in any circumstance including legal proceedings. The only privileged communication in Canadian Law is between a lawyer and a client. |
Conflict of Interest
Conflicts of interest can arise when there are hidden agendas or dual relationships. Consultation occurs only on a voluntary basis, and the goals of the consultation must be fully understood by all parties concerned. The potential problems of conflicts of interest can be avoided with careful explanations of the goals, informed consent, confidentiality limitations and uses of information. Counsellors do not engage in consultations when there is a duality of relationships or when prior possession of information could lead to a conflict of interest.
Counsellors refrain from recruiting or accepting as clients in their private practice individuals for whom they may have professional obligations at places where they are employed.
Sponsorship and Recruitment
Many members of the public do not fully understand issues related to sponsorship and recruitment. Counsellors should make every attempt to avoid misunderstandings:
Private Practice Records
Counselling records, client names, and other personal client information should not be provided or included in the sale of a professional practice unless there is informed consent from clients to do so.
Services at the Request of Third Parties
When counsellors are requested by a third party to provide a service to an individual, organization, or other entity, they undertake at the outset to clarify:
Fees and Billing Arrangements
Counsellors make every effort to assist potential clients and those receiving services in understanding fee structures and billing arrangements.
General Orientation
Counsellors evaluate and assess clients using a variety of measures on an ongoing basis. When counsellors include formal assessment instruments as part of client services, they provide information about the purposes of the assessment prior to test administration. This professional practice allows clients and counsellors the opportunity to discuss options freely, to support informed decision making and later, to orient the client to the evaluation and assessment results, the meaning of which can then be placed in proper prospective along with other relevant information.
Counsellors take this responsibility to inform clients about the purpose of any evaluation and assessment procedures and the meaning of evaluation and assessment results in a language and at a language level that the client understands.
Counsellors also ensure that any testing used for counselling purposes generates information which is relevant to assist clients in self-understanding, and in making personal, educational, and career decisions. Counsellors use assessments that are:
Counsellors focus on respecting the rights of clients and their best interests when they use, interpret, and develop evaluation and assessment instruments and procedures.
Counsellors share with clients, in client-appropriate language, the test results and interpretation, and any information about the degree of confidence which can be placed in them. They ensure clients understand the context of results in connection to other assessment measures such as:
Evaluation and Assessment Competence
Counsellors who administer, interpret, and use the results of evaluation and assessment instruments and procedures do so only when they have the relevant and appropriate education, training, and supervised experience. This applies to all testing, and particularly to projective tests and tests of personality, neuropsychological functioning, and individual tests of intelligence.
Counsellors follow established psychometric and evaluative procedures when adapting, developing, distributing, or using evaluation and assessment instruments and procedures.
Counsellors accept responsibility for conducting formal mental health status and custody evaluations only when they have expertise in those areas of evaluation and only when they are prepared to appear as a witness, should they be required to do so.
Counsellors provide evaluation and assessment services to individuals whose differences of age, disabling condition, language and culture are within their competence to do so by virtue of appropriate education, or supervised experience.
Counsellors report the strengths and limitations of test results in cases where the validity and reliability of a test instrument is not established for particular clients (such as certain minority populations, particular age groups, and specific linguistic or cultural groups).
Administrative and Supervisory Conditions
Counsellors ensure adequate supervision of the administration of tests and other assessment instruments and procedures except when they are specially designed and clearly intended for self-administration.
Counsellors refrain from using evaluation and assessment instruments and procedures that may reasonably have the potential to produce harmful or invalid results due to situations such as
Counsellors permit persons whom they supervise to use only evaluation and assessment instruments and procedures for which they are competent, and such persons have a similar obligation to practice within their area of competence. However, in training environments, students with the prerequisite preparation and with close supervision may administer instruments as part of their progression to full competence.
Counsellors avoid duality of relationships when they agree to conduct independent evaluations or assessments. For example, counsellors refrain from conducting custody evaluations when they have a prior or current relationship with the children and/or their guardians.
Use of Technology
Counsellors recognize that their ethical responsibilities for counselling remain intact when using technology, and that there are additional risks associated with the use of technology in the administration, scoring, interpretation, and evaluation of test instruments.
Ultimately, it is the counsellor who is responsible for the selection, administration, scoring and interpretation of test instruments, whether or not technology is used. To address the unique risks associated with the use of technology, it is important that counsellors:
Whenever automated, web-linked or external test scoring and interpretation services are used to determine results of a test instrument, counsellors only use reputable companies and programs that ensure client confidentiality and that provide evidence of valid and reliable scoring and interpretation procedures. Counsellors also retain responsibility for professionally assessing the electronic evaluations to detect any results that seem inadequate or erroneous.
Appropriateness of Evaluation and Assessment
Counsellors should review any available information on the reliability, validity, and the reference group, for any assessment instruments or procedures as part of determining their appropriateness for use with an individual or group.
Counsellors take steps to ensure that tests, when used, are relevant and appropriate to assessment and decision making processes, and that they are not used to support or to defend recommendations, evaluations, and other decisions that should be based on other criteria.
Counsellors use multiple sources of information rather than relying on a single measure when assessing clients' abilities, skills, and general attributes.
Counsellors accurately describe all criteria used in an evaluation process and are prepared to provide the rationale for selecting any and all of the criteria.
Counsellors use evaluation and assessment instruments and procedures to classify individuals into various groups, such as therapeutic or educational programs, only when they can demonstrate that the instruments and procedures used have the capacity to reliably support such differential selections.
Counsellors recognize that substantial alterations to assessment instruments or adaptations to procedures in terms of administration, language, or content may invalidate them, and before using an altered or adapted instrument, they must be confident that no such invalidation has occurred.
Sensitivity to Diversity When Assessing and Evaluating
Each standardized assessment and evaluation test instrument has a specific focus and typically uses norms that are based on large populations. Counsellors must be cautious when judging and interpreting the performance or test results of minority group members and any other persons not represented in the group on which the evaluation and assessment instruments and procedures were standardized.
For instance, counsellors ensure that when an assessment instrument or procedure is translated from one language to another, its reliability and validity for the intended purpose in the new language group is established
Counsellors must also take into account the potential effects of such unique factors as:
Counsellors typically use more than one method of assessing and evaluating all clients. When clients belong to a minority group or clients who require sensitivity to their diversity, it is essential to consider multiple assessment methods.
When counsellors use assessment instruments and procedures to assist with decisions related to work assignment, career advancement, eligibility for school programs or training opportunities, and so forth, they must be confident of the appropriateness and differential power of the instruments and procedures to contribute to such decisions.
Reporting Evaluation and Assessment Results
A major role of counsellors following the administration of an assessment and evaluation instrument, is to report on results in a meaningful way for clients. Counsellors take care in their language use and select a language level that facilitates a discussion of findings. Counsellors take steps to ensure that score profiles, test report forms, including computerized reports and materials, are clear and provide appropriate interpretations based on known information.
When counsellors provide interpretations of sub-scores, score differences, or score profiles, they should provide sufficient information to justify such interpretations.
When counsellors use computerized scoring and/or interpretations of assessment results, they retain undiminished responsibility for the accuracy of the scoring and the appropriateness of the interpretations.
Counsellors accept responsibility for the accuracy of their statements with respect to evaluation and assessment information, and they avoid knowingly contributing to unwarranted assumptions about such information and about the use and potential of assessment instruments and procedures.
Release of Evaluation and Assessment Data
Counsellors adhere to provincial and federal law when releasing evaluation and assessment data to other professionals, the courts, external agencies, and clients. Additionally, counsellors follow policies and procedures within their employment setting when determining to whom data may be released.
Prior to the administration of an assessment and evaluation test instrument, counsellors arrange for a release to be signed by the client that includes to whom data may be released and whether third party disclosure of results is acceptable.
Clearly, counsellors may choose to not release test data. Some situations that may precipitate this choice are:
Counsellors do release test data:
At all times, counsellors consider the best interests of the client whenever releasing data, and make every attempt to ensure clear understanding of information and its implications.
Integrity of Evaluation and Assessment Instruments
Counsellors take every precaution to ensure that the integrity of evaluation and assessment instruments is maintained. Some common strategies to safeguard psychological tests and other assessment instruments are listed below.
Clients who have familiarity with test items or who have been coached on test items or techniques have an unfair advantage that affects the validity and reliability of test results. Counsellors take ethical steps to protect test security and do not release to test-takers, parents, or to others, test items, scoring protocols, or any other testing material.
Tests administered through the Internet are particularly vulnerable to breaches of integrity. Additional precautions should be taken to ensure that tests conducted over the Internet have maintained their reliability and validity.
Security Maintenance
Manuals, protocols, test instruments, questions, manipulatives and other assessment and evaluation materials are kept in a secure and private location. Counsellors ensure the integrity and security of all counselling-related materials and files consistent with legal and contractual obligations.
Counsellors seek permission from copyright holders, authors and publishers when citing, reproducing, modifying or adapting materials. Similarly, they do not violate copyright laws by photocopying or otherwise duplicating assessment and evaluation instruments.
Tests administered through the Internet and self-administered tests require additional security measures. Unless otherwise stipulated by the test creator, clients should not be given test instruments to complete at home.
While counsellors may consult with other professionals and discuss specific test items and results in order to examine implications for the client, they protect the security of assessment and evaluation instruments by discussing matters with professionals who are bound by their own ethical guidelines.
Researcher Responsibility
Counsellors who undertake research responsibilities ensure that they abide by all legislation, regulation, policies, and procedures that relate to ethical principles and professional standards governing research with human subjects and reporting on research.
Counsellors, when planning, conducting, and reporting on their research are guided by a commitment to the following ethical principles:
Counsellors who conduct qualitative research studies recognize the power imbalance between the researcher and the subject(s) and take special precautions to protect participants.
Although the power imbalance is minimized, the researcher is viewed by participants as knowledgeable about the research process including methods used, sampling, data collection, analysis of interviews, and the dissemination of the final product.
Counsellor researchers pay particular attention to the self-other relationship through the following practices:
Participants frequently make known more about themselves than they would in quantitative studies. Informed consent is ongoing and renegotiated throughout the research process including: time of access in the data collection stage, and potentially through the analysis stage, as well as in the publication of findings. Particular attention is paid to:
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The more adept we are at creating a sense of connection and engagement, the more we need to be attentive to issues of power, influence, coercion, and manipulation. And, we need to be attentive to crossing the boundary from pursing inquiry to providing therapy. Haverkamp, 2005, p. 152 |
Subject Welfare
Counsellors must carefully assess all anticipated risks for potential participants in their research studies. Such risks could include: physical, psychological (i.e., increased anxiety), social, and economic factors. Counsellors act to minimize any such consequences for those who participate in their research projects.
Some helpful questions for counsellors to ask themselves are:
Informed Consent and Recruitment of Research Participants
Counsellor researchers should undertake a risk assessment of their competence to embark on the research and ensure that sufficient consultations have taken place about potential ethical issues prior to and throughout the research process.
Counsellors must submit their research proposals that involve human subjects to institutional or organizational review boards, and initiate such research only after approval is granted and in a manner consistent with the approved research protocols.
In research that requires an extended researcher-participant relationship or in the case of research that involves the disclosure of sensitive or disturbing information, the principal researcher and research associates seek out ongoing supervision.
Voluntary Participation
Counsellor researchers invite individuals to participate without manipulation, undue influence, or coercion. They consider carefully any impediments or potential challenges that may accompany participation from the perspective of the subjects prior to approaching individuals for study. Guidelines for counsellors to inform and support subjects in freely choosing to participate are:
Some research, such as archival research, studies based on Statistics Canada data, and the like, do not require informed consent, and the availability of anonymous data can make it impractical to do so. However, in making such a decision, counsellors ensure that they respect all relevant regulations and fulfill any institutional or agency requirements.
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An ethic of research involving human subjects should include two essential components: (1) the selection and achievement of morally acceptable ends, and (2) the morally acceptable means to those ends. Ethics Code for Research, Memorial University |
Research and Counsellor Education
Counsellor educators understand the status and power differential between themselves and their students. They avoid, whenever possible, any dual relationship with students who participate in their research projects. Any duality of relationships should be recognized, acknowledged, and managed in a manner that clarifies the various roles and responsibilities and avoids any disadvantage to students.
When students in counsellor education programs agree to participate as research associates or assistants to research projects managed by counsellor educators, the primary researcher should:
Counsellor educators avoid relating student grades to research participation unless there are clear and equivalent alternatives which are fully explained and just as readily available.
Research and Confidentiality
Information obtained about participants in the course of conducting research must be kept confidential. The following guidelines will enable counsellors to manage their research so as to minimize any threats to confidentiality.
Use of Confidential Information for Didactic or Other Purposes
Counsellor researchers take appropriate actions to prevent their data from being released in any form that allows for participants' identities to be known. The use of pseudonyms does not guarantee anonymity. Postal codes and other geographic markers applied to case records can be used to identify individuals. Researchers should ask themselves:
Some strategies to protect subject identities include:
In the case of participants who desire to have their identities known, the researcher has the responsibility to present all the potential drawbacks in removing anonymity; however, the researcher cannot be held responsible for participants who choose to disclose their identities.
Clinical case studies that are used as a means of developing practice-related knowledge and education for counsellors present particular ethical challenges. "[T]he rich detail that makes case reports so useful also makes them subject to complex questions about the ethics of publishing or otherwise disseminating them" (Gavey & Braun, 1997, p. 399). The client-therapist relationship demands conscientious attention to the rights of the client to consent, confidentiality, and anonymity.
Seeking consent to document a case after an individual has entered counselling requires the counsellor to undertake a thorough risk assessment that asks the questions, How free is the client to refuse in these circumstances? What are the benefits to the client? How will I monitor the impact of a dual relationship?
Some reasonable steps in seeking consent for the use of case studies include:
Further Research
Data presented in raw form for other researcher to re-analyze or verify must present the data in such a manner as to protect the anonymity of participants.
While counsellor researchers have an obligation to assist others by providing them with original data so that studies may be replicated or research verified, they also have legal rights pertaining to intellectual property.
When counsellors release original data to researchers, they take responsibility for verifying the qualifications and intentions of the researcher requesting the data.
Research Sponsors
Counsellor researchers offer general feedback on the progress of research to sponsors if requested, however the confidentiality of subjects is maintained at all times.
Upon completion of the study, researchers provide a summary of findings and conclusions to the sponsor. Sponsors are acknowledged in all publications and presentations.
Reviewers
Counsellors who act as reviewers of research proposals, manuscripts, books, awards, and the like, adhere to the expectations regarding confidentiality and respect the proprietary rights of those whose work or submissions are being reviewed.
Reviews are carried out in a timely manner.
Reviewers endeavour to only review materials that are within their areas of expertise.
Reporting Results
Counsellors have an obligation to present their research findings in an accurate manner and in a language with sufficient disclosure to minimize misunderstanding.
Counsellors provide sufficient information about their research to enable those who might wish to replicate their study to do so.
Counsellors, when disseminating the results of research on sensitive issues, take steps to minimize misinterpretation or to avoid inappropriate exploitation by those with a political agenda.
Counsellors have the courage and obligation to present their research findings even when they are incompatible with their own beliefs, or when they may run counter to institutional, social, or programmatic practices, or to prevailing interest and ideologies.
If, upon publication, counsellors determine that errors have been made in their published research, steps are taken to correct such errors, for example, in a correction erratum.
Research Contributions
Counsellor researchers often collaborate in conducting research and in publishing results of research. When there are multiple authors, counsellors ensure that due credit is given to all individuals who contributed to the research.
Some methods of acknowledging contributions include:
Authorship issues can arise at any time during the process of conducting research and publishing findings. Some helpful strategies to resolve issues related to appropriate authorship are:
Submission for Publication
Counsellors submit a manuscript for publication to one journal at a time. Identical or essentially identical manuscripts that have been previously published in whole or in substantial part must be submitted with acknowledgement to and the permission of the previous publication in which they were published.
In situations where more than one author is involved in the creation of a manuscript, each author is responsible for maintaining communication with the other author(s) to ensure ethical submission of the manuscript.
General Responsibility
This article is a broad statement imploring counsellor educators to respect the people whom they educate, train, and supervise, and to adhere to all the articles and standards outlined in the CCPA Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Counsellor educators must constantly work towards improved self-understanding in order to eliminate blind spots, and to minimize needs for personal control and power.
Some of the general responsibilities and issues for counsellor educators and heads of counselling departments include:
Boundaries of Competence
Counsellor educators should be competent teachers as well as successful practitioners who can demonstrate their counselling skills and give examples of counselling effectiveness. Furthermore, counsellor educators should limit their involvement to areas of competency. These areas of competency include:
Ethical Orientation
Counsellor educators have the responsibility of making counselling students aware of their ethical responsibilities as expressed in the CCPA Code of Ethics. Additionally, the six principles (beneficence, fidelity, autonomy, nonmaleficence, justice and social interest) on which the Code is based should be examined and understood, and the processes of ethical decision making should be studied and practiced. As well, issues surrounding multiple relationships should be discussed and understood.
Specifically, it is the responsibility of counsellor educators to:
Clarification of Roles and Responsibilities
Before the counsellor education of students begins, counsellor educators, trainers and supervisors should state clearly to students their respective responsibilities and obligations. This should include taking action to address issues such as:
Welfare of Clients
Counsellor educators must at all times keep in mind that they are ultimately responsible for the actions of their supervisees, and the welfare of clients must be a main concern. As supervisors, counsellor educators are in a good position to model not only appropriate counselling, but also ethical, legal and professional standards of practice. To ensure the welfare of clients, counsellor educators should provide:
Program Orientation
Department and counselling program chairpersons and counsellor educators responsible for the counselling program must orient future and current students to the nature of the counselling program. Counsellor educators provide prospective students with information on:
Relational Boundaries
Clear instructions should be provided on the boundaries among cooperating counsellors at placement sites, counselling supervisors, and course instructors. Dual relationships should be avoided. Such relationships can take many forms, including personal relationships with students, and becoming emotionally or sexually involved, combining the role of counsellor educator and counsellor, and combining the role of supervisor and counsellor. These types of relationships can impair judgement and have the potential for conflicts of interest.
Other areas where dual relationships can result in exploitation or biased judgement include:
On the other hand, counsellor educators must be aware of the importance of beneficial interactions with students. These might include visiting a student in a hospital or offering support during stressful times.
Obligation to Inform
Counsellor educators, trainers, and supervisors should inform students, trainees and supervisees of exceptions to confidentiality. These exceptions occur when:
Students, trainees and supervisees should recognize that there are limits to confidentiality in the process of supervision. These include:
Self-Development and Self-Awareness
Opportunities should be provided for students to relate their professional practice to relevant counselling theory, and to participate in reflective activities intended to promote personal development, insight and self-awareness as individuals in a helping profession. Such activities could include participation in:
Dealing with Personal Issues
Counsellor educators do not counsel counsellors-in-training. When counsellors-in-training have personal issues that would benefit from counselling, counsellor educators and supervisors should provide these trainees with acceptable counsellor resources.
Some potential dual relationships are not clearly unethical. For example, in smaller counsellor education programs, counselling supervisors may be advisors, teachers and supervisors. If this situation can not be avoided, great care must be taken by counsellor educators to explain the expectations and responsibilities for each role.
Self-Growth Activities
Counsellor education programs delineate the nature and type of self-growth activities in their admissions and counselling program materials. Self-growth activities provide students with opportunities to examine themselves in relation to the counselling profession and should provide insight on their counselling and work with clients and others.
Levels of self-disclosure should not be linked to evaluation and grades. As well, students should be told that some disclosures might require counsellor educators or supervisors to act on ethical obligations.
A few examples of self-growth activities are:
Counsellors may receive formal notice from a court to provide information. Such notices are either subpoenas or court orders. A subpoena is a legal command to provide information or to give testimony at a hearing or trial. Sometimes it can require both testimony and disclosure of specific documents. This is called subpoenas duos tecum. Lawyers have to make an application to the court in order to obtain subpoenas and they must specify clearly the information being requested and why they deem it relevant to the particular case. Subpoenas are sometimes part of a 'discovery' search for information which may prove helpful to a hearing or trial. Court orders are orders issued by a judge presiding at a hearing or trial. Such orders must be responded to right away. A challenge to a court order would require an appeal to a higher court and this would obviously require legal assistance.
In Canada, unlike the United States, there is no counsellor-client privilege. There is virtually no information generated within counselling relationships which is outside the reach of the courts. However, judges are typically sensitive to counsellors' ethical responsibilities to protect their clients' confidentiality, and do not require a breach confidentiality unless there are compelling reasons to do so. Judges often apply the Wigmore criteria to enable them to adjudicate whether the breaching of confidentiality is warrant in a particular instance.
The following guidelines, although not legal advice, may prove helpful should counsellors receive a subpoena or court order.
Through consultation with the individual issuing the subpoena or court order, it is sometimes possible to have a summary of a client record accepted rather than the complete record. In any case, copies of records are usually acceptable rather than the originals.
Sometimes there are requests for informational disclosure which may have significant negative consequences. For example, court disclosure of test items, psychometric protocol, and other testing data may seriously affect the validity of a test and its integrity as a psychometric instrument. This is the type of request to which counsellors may decide to resist compliance but, nevertheless, they will need to make a formal response indicating the rationale for any concerns. It is appropriate to seek legal counsel in advancing any such objections the court. There are a number of court decisions in Canada which support the withholding of such psychometric information. However, lawyers are best equipped to assist in presenting such legally based arguments. Sometimes through negotiations with the requestor of the subpoena, a counsellor's concerns about the disclosure of certain information will be respected and more restricted boundaries set for the request.
There may be compelling reasons for counsellors, in response to a particular subpoena, to file a motion to have it cancelled or modified. This will require the assistance of a lawyer. Also, counsellors may seek the guidance of the court on a particular subpoena. For example, with respect to a demand for certain psychometric information, counsellors could argue that a disclosure would adversely affect third party interests such as those of test publishers and the public who wish to preserve the validity and integrity of certain psychometric instruments. This too, could result in a more restricted disclosure than initially requested. Sometimes subpoenas are very broad in order to maximize access to information without much sensitivity to the nature of the information being requested.
In the final analysis, unless there is the likely event of a subpoena or court order being completely withdrawn, counsellors must comply in a timely manner with the original or modified subpoena or order, with or without the client's consent, or face the prospect of being found in contempt of court.
Child custody evaluations can be a high-risk practice area because they typically occur within an adversarial circumstance in which there is an increased probability that one or more parties will be dissatisfied by an evaluation report. Custody evaluations are typically used in legal disputes around a child's access, care and relationship with biological, foster and adoptive parent(s), and/or with any legal guardian. Counsellors are advised to consider the following before engaging in this practice area, and when conducting these evaluations:
Before engaging in this practice area, members are reminded of their ethical obligations, as expressed in articles A3 Boundaries of Competence and A4 Supervision and Consultation of the CCPA Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, to have the knowledge, skills and supervised practice necessary for the competent conduct of custody assessments.
Always give priority to the best interests of the child in all custody evaluations.
Ensure that no prior or current relationship with the children and the adults primarily involved in the custody evaluation remains, other than the role of evaluator.
Counsellors must provide objective and impartial assessments that must not be compromised by the perspective of the individuals or agency requesting the evaluation or those paying for it. Ideally, custody evaluations should be court-ordered, or mutually agreed upon by participants.
Secure a signed agreement before beginning the evaluation which clarifies such aspects as:
Counsellors should obtain informed consent from the adults involved and from older children to the extent possible. This should include informing participants as to who will receive the report and the associated limits to confidentiality.
When counsellors, during the course of their custody evaluations, have reasonable grounds to suspect child abuse, they must fulfill their statutory obligations to report it to the appropriate authorities.
Counsellors should keep complete records of the evaluation process.
Counsellors should restrict comments and recommendations to those that can be substantiated by the sources of data obtained and the integration of all available information.
Other considerations include:
Copyright © 2011 by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. All rights reserved.
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