Many professions have their own principles and requirements, the implementation of which is mandatory for specialists. In a number of countries of the world there are codes of ethics for a consultant. There are certain principles of consultant behavior, following which not only ensures the ethics of professional activity, but also is the key to the success of the advisory impact.
Let's bring general principles psychological counseling, identified by various authors (Yu. E. Aleshina, P. P. Gornostai, S. V. Vaskovskaya, A. N. Mokhovikov, etc.):
1. Friendly and non-judgmental attitude towards the client
Goodwill is realized with an attentive and sensitive attitude towards the client. It is opposed both to the excessive noble and active (sometimes imposed) activity of the consultant, and to the primitive, but generous sympathy, empathy. Integrity is one of the most difficult principles to implement. In our opinion, the consultant spends about 17 years for its full implementation in the process. Non-estimation does not mean indifference, it implies “attentive” neutrality and a calm attitude to the reported facts. In addition, always struggling with the temptation to evaluate another by your own standards and life standards, you should remind yourself - "depending on what to compare with ...". Truly, "Judge not, lest you be judged."
2. Orientation to the norms and values of the client
In the process of counseling, it is important for a psychologist to determine what this or that event means not for him (the consultant), but for the client. Only the client himself can be competent in his life, the psychologist cannot live, think, act for him. But care should be taken to understand what this or that fact of life means for the one who asked for help. Only by integrating into this internal dialogue of a person with himself, you can start moving out of the impasse. The consultant's skill in this case is to give a person the opportunity to tell the truth about himself.
3. Prohibition to give advice
This is a widely known and promoted principle, allegedly based on the fact that one cannot take responsibility for someone else's life. All this is true, but however, we propose to look at this principle differently. Firstly, a person often comes precisely for advice, he is ready to “surrender” his freedom in exchange for a clear instruction on the right actions; secondly, the situation is very common when a psychologist (for example, a school or child psychologist) gives advice, sometimes calling them recommendations, etc. In our opinion, it is appropriate to state the following here.
Give advice if you know them. Often a psychologist would be happy to give advice, but he does not know it.
A person has the right to listen to advice and act in his own way. (That is, yes, if they were also taken).
Some life concepts (love, attention, happiness, etc.) in the ordinary minds of people have very different interpretations. Therefore, even very good advice can be embodied in the wording "who understands how".
For example, a psychologist advised a mother who sought help to sort out her relationship with her teenage son. She returned home and gave a brainwashing to the child, while reinforcing her cries and lectures with what the psychologist told her to do so. A case comes to mind when a teacher advised a good boy Zhenya, a 2nd grade student who graduated academic year with one B, come home and think about what prevents him from studying. He came, thought and decided that the reason was that he played a lot and spent a lot of time watching TV watching cartoons. The child decided to act courageously: to give up both toys and cartoons. He took and threw both toys and a TV set from the balcony of the 8th floor... The operation to get rid of the vices was successful, but this was hardly what the teacher had in mind.
Advice should be in demand, timely (what's the use of waving fists after a fight or giving advice "hand in hand") and appropriate. The skill and art of the counseling psychologist is to give the right advice to the right person at the right time in the right way.
4. Respect for the individual, anonymity and confidentiality
A person has the right to anonymity of treatment and not disclosure of his innermost thoughts. Respect for the personality of a person should be observed unquestioningly, regardless of age, nationality, religion, gender, profession, etc.
5. Separation of personal and professional relationships
This principle is due to both the procedural aspects of the consultative process and the results. Procedurally, it is easier to get into contact and get out of contact if there are no emotional “couplings” with the client. Effectively, it is also better not to have contacts outside of the consultative interaction with the client, because it is already known from medical practice that they do not operate on “friends”.
6. Activation of the client, taking responsibility for what is happening
A person turns to counseling in situations of life troubles. But this is his life, and only he can be competent in it. Figuratively speaking, the psychologist does not drag the client out of the impasse, he does not leave the client alone in the impasse, but the client himself walks. Sometimes there are clients with a passive position, eager to be brought up for them, act, decide, etc., they are even ready to pay high for it, but so that the psychologist would relieve them of all worries and be sure to achieve a high-quality result. In the process of counseling, mutual activity and responsibility - the client and the consultant - are needed to achieve a positive result.
7. Do No Harm
The principle of widely known, popular, but not specific. Hardly anyone organizes their own professional activity, seeking to harm someone (this is no longer part of psychology, but part of law enforcement agencies). It is known that the easiest way to do no harm is to do nothing. As a rule, this principle (“Do no harm!”) Is regularly proclaimed by those who do not know how to teach beginners what to do in practical psychology and what is impossible. Just in case, it is proclaimed: “Do no harm!”, thereby removing responsibility from the person who transmits knowledge. The latter can always say that he warned. This principle, of course, should be brought to every psychologist in order to remind him of responsibility, but in practice and especially in supervision it is worth supplementing it with clear comments on what can be done in counseling and what should never be done.
The consultant, like other professionals, has ethical responsibilities and obligations. First of all, he is responsible to the client. However, the client and the consultant are not in a vacuum, but in a system of various relationships, so the consultant is responsible to the client's family members, to the organization in which he works, to the public in general, and, finally, to his profession. This responsibility determines the special importance of ethical principles in psychological counseling and psychotherapy. That is why codes of professional ethics are being created in all countries that regulate the professional activities of a psychotherapist and a consultant psychologist.
However, it is not so easy for a consultant to unconditionally follow the rules of ethics for fairly objective reasons. The main ones were pointed out by George and Cristiani (1990):
1. It is difficult to maintain standards of established behavior in a wide variety of counseling situations, because each counseling contact is unique.
2. Most consultants practice in certain institutions (clinics, centers, schools, private services, etc.). Value Orientation of these organizations may not fully coincide with the ethical requirements for a consultant. In such cases, the consultant faces a difficult choice.
3. A consultant often finds himself in ethically contradictory situations when, adhering to the requirements of one norm, he violates another. Thus, in case of any choice, the code of ethics is not respected.
In general, ethical dilemmas, to a much greater extent than direct violations of the code of ethics, help to understand the limitations of ethical codes in solving problems that arise in counseling. Take, for example, the preamble to the newest code of ethics (1990) from the American Psychological Association:
"Psychologists respect and value the dignity of the individual and strive to ensure and protect basic human rights. They are required to accumulate knowledge of human behavior, people's understanding of each other, self-understanding and apply this knowledge to ensure the welfare of society."
However, in working with, for example, clients who have suicidal intentions, it is difficult to fully adhere to these principles. If you try to ensure the safety of the client, it is difficult not to violate his autonomy, the right to free self-determination, and therefore not encroach on his personal dignity and values. On the other hand, if nothing is done and the autonomy of the client is protected, there will be a threat to his well-being and even life. In this example, the principle of beneficence is given precedence over the principle of individual autonomy (Beauchamp and Childress, 1983).
The inconsistency of ethical problems makes it necessary to periodically change ethical codes. The American Psychological Association, which has perhaps the most structured approach to ethical issues, has revised its code of professional ethics three times over the past thirty years. Amendments naturally reflect changes in society, but still, as a rule, are due to the difficulty of complying with ethical standards (more on this when analyzing the privacy issue). The first requirement for a consultant is made already at the beginning of the consultation process. The client's decision to enter into a "consulting contract" should be quite conscious, therefore the consultant is obliged during the first meeting to provide the client with as much information as possible about the consultation process:
about the main goals of counseling;
About your qualifications
about payment for consultation;
about the approximate duration of the consultation:
about the advisability of counseling;
about the risk of temporary deterioration of the condition in the process of counseling;
about the boundaries of confidentiality.
The consultant is obliged to correctly assess the level and limits of his professional competence. He should not instill in the client hope for help that he is unable to provide. In counseling, the use of insufficiently mastered diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is unacceptable. Consultative meetings with clients should never be used to test any counseling methods or techniques. If the consultant feels in some cases that he is not competent enough, he is obliged to consult with more experienced colleagues and improve under their guidance.
The consultant is obliged to provide, as already mentioned, comprehensive information about the conditions of consultation. It is very important to coordinate with the client in advance the possibility of audio and video recording of consultative conversations and observation by a third party through a one-way vision mirror. It is unacceptable to use such procedures without the consent of the client. These procedures may be important to the counselor for pedagogical and research purposes, and also useful to the client in assessing the dynamics of his problems and the effectiveness of counseling. Sometimes the authority that controls the qualifications of a consultant requires detailed information about a particular case. The resistance of some insecure counselors to procedures for observing or recording conversations, ostensibly to maintain confidentiality and protect the client, actually expresses their own anxiety and discomfort. A major source of ethical dilemmas in counseling is the issue of confidentiality. It is a litmus test of the consultant's responsibility to the client. Counseling is not possible if the client does not trust the consultant. The issue of confidentiality should be discussed during the first meeting with the client.
George and Cristiani (1990) distinguish two levels of privacy. The first level refers to the limit of professional use of customer information. It is the responsibility of each consultant to use client information for professional purposes only. The consultant is not entitled to disseminate information about the client with other intentions. This also applies to the fact that someone is undergoing a course of psycho-correction. Customer information (consultant records, individual cards customers) must be stored in places inaccessible to unauthorized persons.
The consultant, while ensuring secrecy, must acquaint the client with the circumstances in which professional secrecy is not respected. Confidentiality, as will be discussed below, cannot be elevated to an absolute principle. Most often we have to talk about its boundaries. Schneider (1963; cited in George and Cristiani, 1990) formulated seven basic rules for setting such boundaries:
1. The obligation to maintain confidentiality is not absolute, but relative, since there are certain conditions that can change such an obligation.
2. Confidentiality depends on the nature of the information provided by the client, however, the confidentiality of the client binds the consultant incomparably more strictly than the "secrecy" of the events reported by the client.
3. Materials of consultation meetings that cannot harm the interests of the client are not subject to confidentiality rules.
4. Materials of consultation meetings necessary for the effective work of the consultant are also not subject to confidentiality rules (for example, it is possible to provide an expert with consultation materials by agreement with the client).
5. Confidentiality is always based on the client's right to good name and secrecy. The consultant is obliged to respect the rights of clients and, in certain cases, even to act illegally (for example, not to provide information about the client to law enforcement agencies, if this does not violate the rights of third parties).
6. Confidentiality is limited to the consultant's right to preserve his own dignity and the safety of his person.
7. Confidentiality is limited by the rights of third parties and the public.
Among the most frequently cited circumstances in which the confidentiality rules in counseling may be limited, the following deserve mention:
1. Increased risk to the life of the client or other people.
2. Criminal acts (violence, corruption, incest, etc.) committed against minors.
3. The need for hospitalization of the client.
4. Participation of the client and other persons in the distribution of drugs and other criminal activities.
Having found out during counseling that the client poses a serious threat to someone, the consultant is obliged to take measures to protect the potential victim (or victims) and inform her (them), parents, relatives, law enforcement agencies about the danger. The consultant must also inform the client of his intentions.
When faced with a dilemma, what should be preferred: to maintain confidentiality, according to a code of ethics, or to follow legal norms? After the case with Tarasoff, sensational in the USA, which considerably influenced the definition of confidentiality limits, preference is given to the latter option.
In August 1969, a client of the Poddar Mental Health Center told his counseling psychologist that he was going to kill his girlfriend Tatiana Tarasoff. The psychologist reported this to the police by telephone and further described the circumstances of the case in an official letter to the chief of police. He pointed out the need to establish surveillance for the client and hospitalize him as a socially dangerous person. The police detained Poddar for questioning but soon released him due to insufficient evidence. Some time later, the expert supervising the qualifications of the mentioned psychologist expressed dissatisfaction and demanded that the letter sent to the police be returned to him. The letter was destroyed. The senior colleague demanded that the counseling psychologist take no further action with this client. The parents of the potential victim were not made aware of the impending threat. Two months later, Poddar killed the girl. Her parents filed a criminal case against the employees of the university for not having warned them of a possible misfortune. Although the lower court dismissed the lawsuit, the California Supreme Court in 1976 convicted the staff of the Center for irresponsibility.
As Beauchamp and Childress (1983) argue, the priority of privacy ends where someone is in danger.
Another important ethical principle that is discussed as often as confidentiality is the prohibition against dual relationships. It is inappropriate to consult relatives, friends, employees studying with a student consultant; sexual contact with clients is not allowed. Such a prohibition is quite understandable, since counseling gives the specialist an advantageous position and there is a danger that in personal relationships this advantage can be used for the purpose of exploitation.
The problem of sexual relations of consultants and psychotherapists with clients is very important and often hushed up. Holroyd and Brodsky in 1977 surveyed 1,000 American practitioners of psychological counseling and psychotherapy with doctoral degrees. Half of them were men and the other half were women. The researchers got the following results:
· erotic contacts and sexual relations are more frequent between male consultants and female clients (5.5%) than between female consultants and male clients (0.6%);
· consultants who once crossed the line of what is permitted tend to re-establish sexual relationships with clients (80% of cases);
· 70% of male consultants and 80% of female consultants categorically deny the permissibility of sexual relations with clients; 4% of respondents consider sexual relationships with clients to be therapeutically valuable.
Sexual relations between counselors and clients are neither ethically nor professionally acceptable because they represent a direct abuse of the counselor's role. The client is much more vulnerable than the consultant, because in the specific atmosphere of counseling he "uncovers" himself - reveals his feelings, fantasies, secrets, desires, including those of a sexual nature. Sometimes the client strongly idealizes the consultant, he wants a close relationship with such an ideal person who deeply understands him. However, when the counseling contact turns into a sexual relationship, clients develop extreme dependence and the counselor loses objectivity. This is where all professional counseling and psychotherapy ends.
LITERATURE
1. American Psychological Association. Ethical principles of Psychologists // American Psychologist, 1990. Vol. 45. P. 390-395.
2. Beauchamp T. L., Childress J. S. Principles of Biomedical Ethics. 3rd Ed. N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1983.
3. George R. L., Cristiani T. S. Counseling: Theory and Practice, 3rd Ed. Englewood Cliffs. N. J.: Prentice Hall, 1990.
4. Holroyd J. C., Brodsky A. Psychologists" attitudes and practices regarding erotic and non-erotic physical contact with patients // American Psychologist, 1977. Vol. 32. P. 845-849.
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Library of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Development of Mental Culture (Kyiv)
1. The obligation to maintain confidentiality is not absolute, but relative, since there are certain conditions that can change such an obligation.
2. Confidentiality depends on the nature of the information provided by the client, however, the confidentiality of the client binds the consultant incomparably more strictly than the "secrecy" of the events reported by the client.
3 Materials of consultation meetings that cannot harm the interests of the client are not subject to confidentiality rules
4 Materials of consultation meetings necessary for the effective work of the consultant are also not subject to confidentiality rules (for example, it is possible to provide an expert with consultation materials by agreement with the client)
5. Confidentiality is always based on the client's right to good name and secrecy. The consultant is obliged to respect the rights of clients and, in certain cases, even to act illegally (for example, not to provide information about the client to law enforcement agencies, if this does not violate the rights of third parties).
6. Confidentiality is limited to the consultant's right to preserve his own dignity and the safety of his person.
7. Confidentiality is limited by the rights of third parties and the public.
Source: R. Kociunas. Fundamentals of psychological counseling
Other related news:
Topic 41. Psychological counseling: goals, objectives, principles.
The place of psychological counseling in the system of measures to provide psychological assistance to a person in a difficult life situation.
The goals of psychological counseling and the activities of a psychologist-consultant. The tasks of psychological counseling and their connection with the direction of assistance.
Types of psychological counseling and their features. Principles of psychological counseling.
Similarities and differences of psychological counseling with psychotherapy, psychocorrection and psychodiagnostics.
Psychological counseling is a special area of practical psychology associated with the provision by a specialist psychologist of direct psychological assistance to people who need it, in the form of advice and recommendations. They are given by the psychologist to the client on the basis of a personal conversation and a preliminary study of the problem that the client has encountered in life. Most often, psychological counseling is carried out at prearranged hours, in a specially equipped room, usually isolated from strangers, and in a confidential environment.
Psychological counseling is an established practice of providing effective psychological assistance to people, based on the conviction that every physically and mentally healthy person is able to cope with almost all the psychological problems that arise in his life.
Counseling as the main type of psychological practice pursues the following goals :
1. Providing prompt assistance to the client in solving his problems.
People often have such problems that require urgent intervention, an urgent solution - those for which the client does not have the opportunity to spend a lot of time, effort and money. Such problems are usually called operational, and a similar name is assigned to the corresponding solutions. Receiving urgent psychological assistance in the form of oral consultation in solving operational problems becomes indispensable. For example, the parent of a child may experience such serious complications in his relationship with him, the continuation of which is fraught with very adverse consequences for the state of the physical and mental health of the child. An employee of an institution may also have a serious problem that needs urgent solution, which, for example, he will have to resolve in communication with his immediate supervisor during a short meeting scheduled for one of the coming days. The third example: in a family, a husband or wife can unexpectedly sharply complicate relations with his wife (husband) or with any of his (her) relatives. Because of this, a complex situation fraught with serious adverse consequences can develop in this family.
2. Rendering assistance to the client in solving those issues with which he could easily cope on his own without interference from outside, without the direct and constant participation of the psychologist in his affairs, i.e. where special professional psychological knowledge, as a rule, is not needed and only general, everyday, based on common sense advice. Such, for example, a problem may be the client's determination of the optimal mode of work and rest for himself, the rational distribution of time between different types of activities.
3. Providing temporary assistance to a client who actually needs a long-term, more or less permanent psychotherapeutic effect, but for one reason or another is not able to count on him at a given time. In this case, psychological counseling is used as a means of providing current, operational assistance to the client, which restrains the progressive development of negative processes, preventing further aggravation of the problem faced by the client. Such, for example, may be the very unexpected appearance of a state of depression in a client.
4. When the client already has a correct understanding of his problem and he, in principle, is ready to start solving it himself, but he still doubts something, he is not quite sure that he is right. Then, in the process of conducting psychological counseling, the client, communicating with the psychologist-consultant, receives from him the necessary professional and moral support, and this gives him self-confidence.
5. Providing assistance to the client in the case when he has no other opportunity than to receive advice. In this case, when conducting psychological counseling, a specialist psychologist should make it clear to the client that he actually needs to receive more thorough, fairly long-term psychocorrectional or psychotherapeutic assistance.
6. When psychological counseling is not used as a substitute for other methods of providing psychological assistance to a client, and together with them, in addition to them, with the expectation that not only the psychologist, but also the client himself will deal with the problem that has arisen.
7. In cases where a consultant psychologist does not have a ready-made solution, since the situation is beyond his competence, he must provide the client with at least some, even minimal and insufficiently effective, assistance.
In all these and other similar cases, psychological counseling solves the following main tasks :
1. Clarification (clarification) of the problem encountered by the client.
2. Informing the client about the essence of his problem, about the real degree of its severity. (Problem informing the client.)
3. The study by a psychologist-consultant of the personality of the client in order to find out whether the client can independently cope with the problem that has arisen for him.
5. Providing ongoing assistance to the client in the form of additional practical advice offered at a time when he had already begun to solve his problem.
6. Client training how best to prevent the occurrence of similar problems in the future (the task of psychoprophylaxis).
7. Transfer by a consultant psychologist to a client of elementary, vital psychological knowledge and skills, the development and correct use of which is possible by the client himself without special psychological preparation. (Psychological and educational informing the client.)
Principles of psychological counseling:
1. Competence, professional and scientific responsibility (Do no harm!)
The competence of the consultant is the basis of his work. The consultant is obliged to correctly assess the level of his professional competence. He should not instill in the client hope for help that he is unable to provide. In counseling, the use of insufficiently mastered diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is unacceptable. Counseling meetings should never be used to test any counseling methods or techniques. Lack of competence leads to a misunderstanding of the patient's personality and condition, which is the core of the consultant's work.
To be competent, a consultant must not interrupt education and practice and constantly improve their qualifications and deepen their specialization. The consultant must know the age, gender, ethnic, socio-psychological and individual psychological characteristics of the client. If the consultant feels in some cases that he is not competent enough, he is obliged to consult with more experienced colleagues and improve under their guidance.
The consultant is directly responsible for the consequences of his decisions, actions, expert opinions, diagnostic operations. Expert opinions and psychological status must be substantiated, representative and valid, presented in a clear and understandable form, since this implies indications or contraindications for the use of a particular method.
The counseling psychologist must be aware that his professional actions affect the life decisions of the client and can change the personal and social status of the person.
Understanding that intervening in the fate of a person who has trusted a consultant is a huge responsibility leads to strict introspection and systematic reflection on the consequences of not only every word, but also every paralinguistic gesture.
2 . Confidentiality
Confidentiality, non-disclosure or duty of silence of the consultant in relation to third parties is the most important principle of the consultant's work. Failure to comply with this principle leads to a complete collapse of the patient's trust in the consultant and makes his work meaningless. There are two levels of confidentiality. The first level refers to the limit of professional use of customer information. It is the responsibility of each consultant to use client information for professional purposes only. The consultant is not entitled to disseminate information about the client with other intentions. This also applies to the fact that someone is undergoing a course of psycho-correction.
It is extremely important and at the same time the most difficult to achieve that this principle is perceived by the consultant even at the level of the unconscious.
For example, if a client and a consultant meet quite by chance in a different setting, then the consultant, who knows almost everything about this person, does not even have the right to greet him until the client himself considers it necessary to let them know about their acquaintance.
Information about clients (consultant records, individual client cards) should be kept in places inaccessible to outsiders.
The consultant, while ensuring secrecy, must acquaint the client with the circumstances in which professional secrecy is not respected. Confidentiality cannot be elevated to an absolute principle. More often we have to talk about its boundaries.
There are several basic rules, following which you can set such boundaries.
1. Be sure to observe confidentiality not absolutely, but relatively, since there are certain conditions that can change such an obligation.
2. Confidentiality depends on the nature of the information provided by the client, however, the confidentiality of the client binds the consultant incomparably more strictly than the "secrecy" of the events reported by the client.
3. Materials of consultation meetings that cannot harm the interests of the client are not subject to confidentiality rules.
4. Materials of consultation meetings necessary for the effective work of the consultant are also not subject to confidentiality rules (for example, it is possible to provide an expert with consultation materials by agreement with the client.
5. Confidentiality is always based on the client's right to good name and secrecy. The consultant is obliged to respect the rights of clients and, in certain cases, even to act illegally (for example, not to provide information about the client to law enforcement agencies, if this does not violate the rights of third parties).
6. Confidentiality is limited to the consultant's right to preserve his own dignity and the safety of his person.
7. Confidentiality is limited by the rights of third parties and the public.
Among the most frequently cited circumstances in which the confidentiality rules in counseling may be limited, the following deserve mention:
1. Increased risk to the life of the client or other people.
2. Criminal acts (violence, corruption, incest, etc.) committed against minors.
3. The need for hospitalization of the client.
4. Participation of the client and other persons in the distribution of drugs and other criminal activities.
Having found out during counseling that the client poses a serious threat to someone, the consultant is obliged to take measures to protect the potential victim (or victims) and inform her (them), parents, relatives, law enforcement agencies about the danger. The consultant must also inform the client of his intentions.
When faced with a dilemma, what should be preferred: to maintain confidentiality, according to a code of ethics, or to follow legal norms? Practice shows that preference should be given to the latter option.
3. Exclusion of professional abuse (client awareness)
One of the forms of professional abuse should include the patient's lack of awareness of the goals, nature and meaning of the technique used. The client must be thoroughly informed about what and why the consultant is going to do with him, what are the results of the psychological status study and what is his basic problem.
Meeting clients outside the office, making personal requests to the client, or forming any informal relationship with the client nullifies the work of the consultant.
It is not advisable to consult relatives, friends, employees studying with a student consultant; sexual contact with clients is not allowed. Such a prohibition is quite understandable, since counseling gives the specialist an advantageous position and there is a danger that in personal relationships this advantage can be used for the purpose of exploitation.
The problem of sexual relations of consultants and psychotherapists with clients is very important, however, it is often hushed up. Sexual relations between counselors and clients are neither ethically nor professionally acceptable because they represent a direct abuse of the counselor's role. Sometimes the client strongly idealizes the consultant, he wants a close relationship with such an ideal person who deeply understands him. However, when the counseling contact turns into a sexual relationship, clients develop extreme addiction and the counselor loses objectivity. This is where any professional counseling or psychotherapy ends.
4. The principle of "Do not evaluate" (non-judgmental attitude)
The principle “Do not evaluate” is considered one of the most difficult to achieve in the work of a consultant. Usually, each judgment, along with the cognitive content, also carries an attitude - the emotional component of the judgment. It is often not possible to separate these components, but this is what constitutes the essence of the therapist's relationship with the client.
At the forefront of the relationship should be not evaluation, but understanding, even if the information coming from the client to the consultant is monstrous from the point of view of morality. Evaluating and condemning, the consultant closes access to the understanding of the personality and, therefore, cannot find the best way to work with him. to judge and evaluate within oneself up to the subconscious. It is possible to observe this principle only after gaining experience and only under the condition of conscious efforts to ensure that all modal relations to the client are silenced in one's own soul. The consultant is not required to "like" or "dislike" the client; he is obliged, personally and silently, to place his problem in the broad context of the world experience of psychology and to find a mode through which it will be possible to strengthen and expand his consciousness and the ability to develop it. The latter will be an adequate form of respect for the rights of the individual instead of empty talk about rights.
(Bodalev A.A., Stolin V.V., 1987; Yu.E. Aleshina, R. Kochunas).
In his work, a practical psychologist is guided by the following principles and rules:
1. The principle of confidentiality (anonymity). The material obtained by the psychologist in the course of his work with the subject or client on the basis of a trusting relationship is not subject to conscious or accidental disclosure and must be presented in such a way that it cannot compromise either the subject, or the customer, or the psychologist, or psychological science.
Any information reported by the client to the psychologist, cannot be transferred without his consent to any public or government organizations, to private individuals, including relatives or friends. The only exceptions are cases that pose an immediate threat to someone's life.. The issue of privacy is litmus test of the consultant's responsibility to the client. Consulting is not possible if the client does not trust the consultant. The issue of privacy should discuss during the first meeting with the client.
· Limit of professional use of customer information. It is the responsibility of each consultant to use client information for professional purposes only. Information about clients (consultant's records, individual client cards) should be stored in places inaccessible to outsiders.
· The consultant, while ensuring secrecy, must acquaint the client with the circumstances in which professional secrecy is not respected. Confidentiality cannot be elevated to an absolute principle. Most often we have to talk about its boundaries. (For example, confidentiality is limited by the rights of third parties and the public).
Circumstances, under which the validity of the confidentiality rules in counseling may be limited:
· Increased risk to the life of the client or others.
· Criminal acts (violence, corruption, incest, etc.) committed against minors.
The need for hospitalization of the client.
· Participation of the client and others in the distribution of drugs and other criminal activities.
Having found out during counseling that the client poses a serious threat to someone, the consultant is obliged to take measures to protect the potential victim (or victims) and inform her (them), parents, relatives, law enforcement agencies about the danger. The consultant must also inform the client of his intentions.
In August 1969, a client of the Poddar Mental Health Center told his counseling psychologist that he was going to kill his girlfriend Tatiana Tarasoff. The psychologist reported this to the police by telephone and further described the circumstances of the case in an official letter to the chief of police. He pointed out the need to establish surveillance for the client and hospitalize him as a socially dangerous person. The police detained Poddar for questioning but soon released him due to insufficient evidence. Some time later, the expert supervising the qualifications of the mentioned psychologist expressed dissatisfaction and demanded that the letter sent to the police be returned to him. The letter was destroyed. The senior colleague demanded that the counseling psychologist take no further action with this client. The parents of the potential victim were not made aware of the impending threat. Two months later, Poddar killed the girl. Her parents filed a criminal case against the employees of the university for not having warned them of a possible misfortune. Although the lower court dismissed the lawsuit, the California Supreme Court in 1976 convicted the staff of the Center for irresponsibility.
As Beauchamp and Childress (1983) argue, the priority of privacy ends where someone is in danger.
2. The principle of the competence of a psychologist. A psychologist has the right to take on only those issues on which he is professionally aware and endowed with the appropriate rights and powers to perform psycho-correctional or other influences.
The consultant is obliged correctly assess the level and limits of their professional competence. He should not instill in the client hope for help that they are unable to provide. In counseling the use of insufficiently mastered diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is unacceptable. If the consultant in some cases feels that he is not competent enough, he must consult with more experienced colleagues and improve under their guidance.
3. The principle of non-damage to the client (subject). The organization of the work of a psychologist should be such that neither its process nor its results are detrimental to his health, condition or social status.
4. The principle of the impartiality of the psychologist . It is unacceptable to have a biased attitude towards the client, no matter what subjective impression he makes with his appearance, legal and social position. Friendly and non-judgmental attitude towards the client implies not only adherence to generally accepted norms of behavior, but also the ability to listen carefully, provide the necessary psychological support, not condemn, but try to understand and help to anyone who asks for help. The client should feel calm and comfortable during the reception.
5. The principle of focusing on the norms and values of the client . The psychologist during his work should
focus not on socially accepted norms and rules, but on those life principles and ideals that the client is the bearer of. Effective impact is possible only when relying on the value system of the client himself, the critical attitude of the consultant can lead to the fact that the person who comes to the appointment closes up, cannot be sincere and open, and, consequently, the possibility of consultative influence will be practically unrealizable. By accepting the values of the client, respecting them and giving them their due, the consultant will be able to influence them if they are an obstacle to normal
human functioning.
6. The principle of not giving advice . By advising, the consultant takes responsibility for what is happening, which does not contribute to the development of the personality of the person being consulted and his adequate attitude to reality. but do not confuse advice with the provision of objective information, which sometimes just needs to be given to the client.
When a person seeks advice, he is, in fact, asking: “Which route should I, blind, go on so as not to fall again? You can, of course, give advice, but in this case, the person will constantly turn to us. Our help is to make him see for himself. So that in the future I would not look for a guide-guide, but could go Samm.
7. The principle of distinguishing between personal and professional relationships . The prohibition against dual relationships is another important ethical principle that is discussed as often as confidentiality.
The level of skill is directly related to the ability of a person to realize and fulfill his professional role , build your behavior within its framework. "Human" relationships arise when behavior begins to go beyond the professional role.
Mixing work relationships with other types of relationships not only complicates but also makes it impossible to resolve psychological problem. They are not friends with clients, they do not advise friends. Working relationships are relationships clean mirrors. "Human" relationships distort perception: friendship is a mirror of interdependence, falling in love is a mirror of idealization, and friendships are a mirror of tact.→
It is inappropriate to consult relatives, friends, employees studying with a student consultant; sexual contact with clients is not allowed. This prohibition is understandable, since counseling gives the specialist an advantage and there is a risk that in personal relationships this advantage can be used for the purpose of exploitation.
The desire by the client of a relationship with a psychologist that goes beyond the working ones must be considered as resistance and used as material for psychological analysis.
The problem of sexual relations of consultants and psychotherapists with clients is often hushed up. A survey was conducted of 1,000 American practitioners of psychological counseling and psychotherapy with a doctoral degree. Half of them were men and the other half were women. The researchers got the following results:
· erotic contacts and sexual relations are more frequent between male consultants and female clients (5.5%) than between female consultants and male clients (0.6%);
· consultants who once crossed the line of what is permitted tend to re-establish sexual relationships with clients (80% of cases);
- 70% of male consultants and 80% of female consultants categorically deny the permissibility of sexual relations with clients; 4% of respondents consider sexual relationships with clients to be therapeutically valuable.
Sexual relations between counselors and clients are neither ethically nor professionally acceptable because they represent a direct abuse of the counselor's role. The client is much more vulnerable than the consultant, because in the specific atmosphere of counseling he "uncovers" himself- reveals his feelings, fantasies, secrets, desires, including those of a sexual nature. Sometimes the client strongly idealizes the consultant, he wants a close relationship with such an ideal person who deeply understands him. However, when turning a consultative contact into a sexual relationship clients develop extreme dependence and the counselor loses objectivity. This is where any professional counseling and psychotherapy ends.
In psychotherapy, there are two most important concepts introduced into psychoanalysis by Z. Freud, which have great value to work with patients:
a) "transfer" that is, the client's tendency to transfer and project onto the therapist and the relationship with him his relationship with significant people, major problems and conflicts;
b) "countertransference", that is, the therapist's tendency to project his relationships with significant people and underlying internal problems and conflicts onto the relationship with the patient. Precisely in order to understand, manage and be able to use one’s countertransference for the purposes of analysis, as well as a number of other personal and interpersonal phenomena, for a beginner
there is a mandatory requirement for a psychotherapist to undergo his own analysis and work with a supervisor for a long time.
To one degree or another, these phenomena operate in the process of counseling. But it is difficult to expect that a person who has not received special and in-depth training will be able to work successfully with these most complex phenomena.
It is enough for a consultant to understand that the preservation of his authority for the client is largely due to the fact that the latter knows little about him as a person, he has no reason to both admire the psychologist and condemn him as a person.
8. The principle of informed consent . It is necessary to inform the subject about the ethical principles and rules of psychological activity. The client's decision to enter into a "consultation contract" must be fully conscious, therefore the consultant is obliged during the first meeting to provide the client maximum information about the consulting process:
- about the main objectives of counseling;
- about your qualifications;
- about payment for consultation;
- about the approximate duration of the consultation:
- about the advisability of counseling;
- about the risk of temporary deterioration of the condition in the process of counseling;
- about the limits of confidentiality.
Very important agree in advance with the client the possibility of audio and video recording of consultation conversations and observation by a third party through a one way mirror. It is unacceptable to use such procedures without the consent of the client.. These procedures may be important to the counselor for pedagogical and research purposes, and also useful to the client in assessing the dynamics of his problems and the effectiveness of counseling. Sometimes the authority that controls the qualifications of a consultant requires detailed information about a particular case. The resistance of some insecure counselors to procedures for observing or recording conversations, ostensibly to maintain confidentiality and protect the client, actually expresses their own anxiety and discomfort.
Similar are principles of telephone counseling:
1. Constant availability. Day and night, 24 hours a day, people who find themselves in a difficult situation can get the support of another person.
2. Anonymity and confidentiality. The caller has the right not to give his name. The content of the conversation is absolutely confidential.
3. Respect for the caller. The client is accepted as he is. The consultant has no right to manipulate the caller or impose his position. Any form of ideological pressure, including religious or political, is unacceptable.
4 Caller protection. A consultant may be a person who has been selected and special training, he is obliged to constantly improve his skill (see Russian Association of Telephone Emergency Psychological Help: Booklet, 1996).
Since the problem of good and evil continues to be central to ethics, the main requirement of practical ethics is reduced to the famous "do no harm".
