Six major ethical principles of the BACP are; self-respect, individual autonomy, beneficence (benefiting the client), non-maleficence (not harming the client), justice (fair distribution of services within the society) and fidelity (honouring promises and underpinning trust). These can be viewed for underpinning the practice of counsellors and superior practitioners.
“Ethical principles are well suited to examining the justification for particular decisions and actions. However, reliance on principles alone may detract from the importance of the practitioner’s personal qualities and their ethical significance in the counselling or therapeutic relationship” (BACP, 2007)
Values inform principles and they are important to the counsellor to expressing their commitment to ethics. The values of counsellors include; respecting human rights and dignity, ensuring the integrity of professional relationships, enhancing the quality of professional knowledge and its application, alleviating personal distress and suffering, fostering a sense of self that is meaningful to the client, increasing personal effectiveness, enhancing the quality of relationships between people and appreciating the variety of human experience and culture.
A counsellor’s personal moral qualities are really important to clients and they are usually described as virtues or good personal qualities. Personal moral qualities are empathy, sincerity, integrity, resilience, respect, fairness, wisdom, courage, humility and competence. However not all counsellors or practitioners will posses these qualities because they are to do with the person themselves and their personal values.
In conclusion one can see that the three elements of the ethical framework of the BACP are ways for the counsellor to express their commitment but it does not invalidate other approaches.
“Ethical principles are well suited to examining the justification for particular decisions and actions. However, reliance on principles alone may detract from the importance of the practitioner’s personal qualities and their ethical significance in the counselling or therapeutic relationship. The provision of culturally sensitive and appropriate services is also a fundamental ethical concern. Cultural factors are often more easily understood and responded to in terms of values. Therefore, professional values are becoming an increasingly significant way of expressing ethical commitment.” (BACP, 2007)
References
BACP (2007) Ethical Framework, [online] [accessed 31/05/07]
Nelson-Jones, R (2002) Essential Counselling and Therapy Skills, The Skilled Client Model, SAGE publications, London.
O’Farrell, U (1999) First Steps in Counselling, second edition, Veritas Publications, Dublin.
