Prepare a report outlining the requirements for a counselling service to be set up in an agency of your choice

Understands the need for sound case work management, including clients rights to access records and the principles of referral and report letters

All the counsellors in the agency will need to manage their casework and this will include the keeping of notes on clients. It should be a joint decision between both manager and counsellor on how many clients the counsellor can have. I hope that there will be a balance, in that, the counsellor will not become over burdened with the workload they have and be able to offer a good service to the agencies clients.

As we adhere to the BACP ethical framework all counsellors will be expected to take notes on their sessions and it will be up to each individual counsellor as to what form these notes take and how succinct the notes are. A secure location will be provided by the service for the client's notes for each counsellor. It is most important that the counsellor keep notes on their sessions because of the vulnerabilities of the profession. Notes can be subpoenaed by the courts and the agency cannot afford costly cases.

When taking session notes it is also important for the counsellor to remember that the clients can access their own notes. Therefore, the notes should only contain material that the counsellor does not mind being read by the client. I feel that the notes should be kept with the assumption that they will be read by a third party. It is now part of the law that the clients have access to their own computerised records due to The Data Protection Act 1998. Clients are also entitled to access to written records however, the notes will need to be edited if they contain information pertaining to third parties. It is important for the counsellor not to include in their notes information that maybe detrimental to the clients welfare in case the client wants to view their records.

When dealing with referrals it is important that the counsellor deal with the issue sensitively, a client who has been referred to the agency could be feeling rejected and it is imperative that the counsellor explore these feelings with the client. Obviously, there are cases where the counsellor has no alternative but to refer a client to another agency, in some cases the client will need medical attention. In the case of drug users the client may need to see a doctor to get a methadone prescription, this cannot be done by a counsellor and so a client may need to be referred. In addition, a referral does not necessarily mean the end of the counselling relationship; it is possible that a doctor will handle the medical/physical side of the client and the counsellor handle the mental side. When receiving a referral from another agency the counsellor should try not to have preconceived ideas about the client from notes forwarded from the previous agency.

Report letters maybe required by the client for another agency, or required by another agency about the client e.g. a risk assessment. As with all things, if the counsellor is including information about the client that has been disclosed by the client, the client must first be consulted. If the client is not asked about the contents then the counsellor will be breaking confidentiality with the client. Even if the information has been related from other agencies, it is important to discuss its inclusion with the client before the letter is sent, unless it would be harmful for the client to see the information.

Work with other professionals

Multi-professional working will take place in this agency. The advantages will be that the client will be given the best of everything. In this case, access to a counsellor, a doctor, housing, social services, probation and a drugs/alcohol worker. In this way, any issues the client has will be dealt with by the appropriate specialist. This allows the respective workers to concentrate on their own specialist area, e.g. the counsellor will not have to sort out accommodation but can focus on the client's mental well being. I hope that a team will help the client quicker to achieve their goals and will be more able to share the responsibility of the clients needs than an individual would.

However, with additional staff come other problems. The most obvious is that of confidentiality. Is it possible to keep the separate departments working as a team and sharing information without sharing information that the client may wish kept to certain individuals, and how would this impact on the team? Boundaries will have to be in place to prevent information that is not relevant to other issues from being shared. E.g., a client may confide in a counsellor that they are using drugs but not wish it to be shared with the housing officer because it may affect the client's chance of being housed, also a client who is using may not want the doctor to find out, in case the doctor cuts their prescription down or even stops it. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the client be consulted over the sharing of information. Another problem may arise if the departments disagree over the best way to help the client. A doctor may think that a prescription is the answer and the only thing that is required to sort the client out; whereas the counsellor may believe that, the client needs more long-term help and therapy.

Understands the needs for and the principals of casework evaluation

Casework will need to be evaluated on a regular basis to make sure that both the counsellor is capable of dealing with their workload and that the client is not suffering because the counsellor cannot cope with their clients.

This evaluation will be formally with the manager of the agency but it is expected that the counsellor will be evaluating their casework as an on going process. A counsellor needs to be constantly aware of their fitness to practice and how their own issues can affect the relationship with the client. If home life starts to affect the client then the counsellor will need to discuss this with both the manager and the supervisor. However only the counsellor really knows if their casework is getting to be too much and can evaluate the situation. Therefore it is important that a counsellor is always checking within themselves to be sure that they are ok with their casework.