The principle of confidentiality in psychological counseling suggests. Limits of confidentiality in psychological counseling
psychological counseling emotional ethical
All professional consultants meet in their practice with situations that are ambiguous from an ethical and value point of view. Not in all cases, it is sufficient for the consultant to refer to his life ethical rules and attitudes. Consultants are not equally prepared for ethical choices and optimal solution morally ambivalent situations. In this regard, the ethical obligations of a consultant are usually described in the literature and studied in the training of consultants as a set of ethical principles for counseling. It is believed that the professional suitability of consultants in some degree associated with their knowledge and practical application of ethical principles (according to 3: Patterson (Patterson, 1971), Welfel (Welfel, 1998, p. 9).
Many countries have established codes of professional ethics for psychotherapists and counseling psychologists. They usually include the following main provisions.
1. Ensuring confidentiality.
2. The principle of autonomy (respect for freedom of choice and self-determination, personal dignity and values).
3. Awareness by the consultant of his limitations.
Let's take a closer look at these rules.
1. The principle of confidentiality is discussed in the professional environment of consultants most widely and sharply, both in theory and in its practical application. At the same time, confidentiality is considered as an obligation to fulfill an agreement with the client that information obtained during therapy will be protected from unauthorized access. Compliance with the principle of confidentiality in psychological counseling is not only ethical, but also legal concept. The principle of confidentiality also includes non-interference in the privacy of both the client and the therapist; rules for maintaining consultation documentation; features of work with minors and legally incompetent clients; order of consultations with other specialists; problems associated with research and teaching. Due to the breadth and ambiguity of a wide range of issues related to this principle, it is clear that it cannot be absolute. The main criteria for its application or non-application are, firstly, the purpose of using information about the client (A), and, secondly, the conditions for using the information obtained in the process of counseling (B).
A. In the process of concluding a contract with a client (at the very beginning of the consultation), the possibility and forms of using information about him for professional purposes are discussed. This includes presenting a "case" for supervision, providing descriptions of meetings for training purposes or to supervise the consultant's activities, and other "discovery" of information about the client, the objectives of which are negotiated (discussed) with the client.
B. When choosing the conditions and circumstances for using the information obtained in the process of consulting, the client's interests are the criterion. For example, when consulting different family members at the same time, information about them is transmitted with their consent in the name of their benefit. Just as in the first case, during the conclusion of the contract with the client, the latter is informed of possible circumstances in which confidentiality is not respected.
Undoubtedly, there are limits to confidentiality, they are described in the literature (R. Kociunas, Schneider (1963; cited in: George, Cristiani, 1990) and others:
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 required for effective work consultant are also not subject to confidentiality rules (for example, it is possible to provide an expert with consulting 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 by the rights of third parties and the public.
7. Confidentiality is limited to the consultant's right to preserve his own dignity and the safety of his person.
The most commonly reported conditions and circumstances in the literature that limit compliance with the principle of confidentiality in counseling (5):
1. Increased risk to the life of the client or other people.
2. Criminal acts committed against minors (violence, corruption, incest, etc.).
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.
2. The second principle, the principle of autonomy, refers to the type of relationship between the consultant and the client and postulates the observance of the personal rights and freedoms of the client. It includes, above all, the professional responsibility of the consultant towards his clients and their well-being, such as respect for the characteristics of the client. This attitude is manifested at all stages of counseling, in every intervention of the consultant in relation to the client: the way the consultant introduces himself, the way he addresses the client, the way he concludes a consulting contract with him. Providing the client with comprehensive information about the conditions of counseling, the opportunity to choose the direction and methods of work in the process of counseling, familiarizing him with what will happen and what are the boundaries of confidentiality - all this creates a mutually respectful and trusting relationship with the client. In this case, he will not have the feeling that something is being done to him, that he is being manipulated.
3. Third ethical principle counseling - awareness by the consultant of their boundaries. It focuses on issues relating to the consultant's responsibility for his or her professional competence. It may concern issues of advertising and expertise, professional powers and responsibility to society. In order to increase awareness of these issues, the consultant is encouraged to share his experience with colleagues, work with a supervisor. It is also important to monitor the mutual influence of the consultant and the client. The consultant must be able to determine the extent of assistance that can be provided to the client. In case of insufficient competence, the consultant is obliged to seek help and supervision from more experienced colleagues and, in some cases, even refuse to consult.
A practicing consultant, like any other person, cannot claim perfection, he is limited in his own way. He cannot expect excellent results with every client. As Kociunas writes, “Honestly, some clients are impossible to work with at all. Yes, and it is not necessary. The goal of the consultant is not to become a problem solver, but to help the individual client take responsibility for their own problems. It should not be forgotten that whatever the problem may be - school failure, alcoholism or family conflict - it can only be understood by analyzing the experiences of a person. The consultant's duty is to understand the client, not to find answers to the questions that life puts before the client.
Realizing his limitations, within the framework of the first meeting, he should decide whether he will continue to work with this client. In the event that the consultant feels incompetent to solve the problems raised by the client, or the client's problems require specialized assistance, or some other reasons (for example, personal ones) may interfere with further work, the client is referred to another consultant. Most common causes referrals of the client to colleagues, according to experts, are as follows:
1. The consultant is not competent to solve the problem presented by the client.
2. Differences in the personalities of the consultant and the client are so great that they make it difficult to establish and maintain consultative contact.
3. The client is a friend or relative of the consultant. It is difficult to establish and maintain a consultative relationship with him for a long time, and this makes serious psychological counseling impossible.
4. The client, for whatever reason, refuses to discuss his problems with the consultant.
5. After several meetings with the client, the conclusion is that the consultative contact is ineffective and unlikely to change in a productive direction (Kociunas: George and Cristiani (1990)).
3. The next ethical principle is the prohibition of dual relationships. As practice shows, consulting your relatives, friends, employees studying with a student consultant is inappropriate. This is due to the conflict of interest existing in dual relationships and the difficulty in distinguishing between dual relationships. It is also connected with the development of the phenomena of transference and countertransference in the relationship between the client and the consultant (they are discussed in more detail in the next section of the manual). Understanding the specifics of these phenomena and their influence on such “special” relationships, which are the relationship between the consultant and the client, one can understand that the transition of the boundaries of “special” relationships to another type of relationship, on the one hand, violates their healing nature, their “laboratory” nature, needed to explore in their context the client's problems. And on the other hand, the transition of "consultant-client" relations into personal or business leads to the fact that they become aimed at satisfying certain needs and desires of partners. At the same time, the consultant loses the opportunity to take an objective and detached position, which is a condition for psychological and psychotherapeutic assistance.
Sexual relations between counselors and clients are neither ethically nor professionally acceptable. They are based on the abuse of the benefits of the counselor role and the characteristics of the counseling and therapeutic relationship.
All types of dual relationships in counseling are characterized by the vulnerability of the client, the "portable" relationship of the client to the consultant, often with elements of idealization. All kinds of dual relationships between the consultant and the client are initially not equal and contain the danger of exploiting the client. One side of them (the client) is more vulnerable than the other (the consultant).
In addition to those listed, other ethical principles of counseling are described in the literature. They focus on the goals and direction of the consultant's work. These are the principles of: beneficial effects (doing good and preventing harm); the principle of non-harm (non-damage); principle of action in the interests of customers. The implementation of these principles is much more difficult to achieve than to declare them. The danger lies in the temptation for consultants to extend their personal value orientations to clients and ignoring their real needs and degree of interest in moving (or not moving) in one direction or another.
The need to follow the ethical principles of counseling seems, at first glance, absolutely clear and easy to follow. However, in real practice there are objective difficulties in their application. The main ones described in the literature are:
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.). The value orientation of these organizations may not fully coincide with the ethical requirements for a consultant. In such cases, the consultant is faced with 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 (Kociunas: George and Cristiani (1990)
It is these ethical dilemmas that, 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.
For example, when working with clients who have suicidal intentions, it is in conflict to ensure the safety of the client and preserve his autonomy and the right to free self-determination. In the above example, the principle of beneficence is given preference over the principle of personal autonomy (Kociunas: Beauchamp, Childress, 1983).
The literature discusses difficult situations, for example, how to behave as a consultant if during the session he learns about the antisocial intention of the client, if he observes traces of violence or confession of incest from a child, if parents ask to tell more about the inner world of their secretive teenager, and many others.
In some countries (for example, in the USA), a psychologist's failure to comply with ethical principles can lead to the deprivation of his diploma and the right to practice.
With a detailed consideration of the ethical principles of counseling, it becomes clear that they are all interconnected and flow into each other. Sources of information, strong points for consultants in making ethical decisions are their moral values, orientation to ethical standards and legal precedents, supervision and advice of their colleagues, codes and reference books. For both their own well-being and the well-being of their clients, it is very important for consultants to be well-informed in the area of ethics and morals.
Many professions have their own principles and requirements, the implementation of which is mandatory for specialists. Non-compliance with professional principles and requirements in some countries (for example, in the USA) can lead to the fact that a specialist loses his diploma, the right to practice and offer his professional services, etc.
It should be remembered that there are certain principles of consultant behavior and that following them not only ensures the ethics of professional activity, but is also the key to success. psychological impact. However, there are not always unambiguous and simple answers to the ethical and moral problems that arise in the practice of psychological counseling.
The following principles of psychological counseling can be distinguished:
1. Friendly and non-judgmental attitude towards the client.
Behind this wording lies a whole range of professional behavior aimed at making the client feel calm and comfortable during the appointment. A benevolent attitude implies not just following the 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 everyone who seeks help.
2. Orientation to the norms and values of the client.
This principle implies that the consultant during his work should be guided not by socially accepted norms and rules, but by those life principles and ideals that the client is the bearer of. Effective influence is possible only when relying on the value system of the client himself, while 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 possibilities of consultative influence will turn out to 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 functioning person.
Clients are not allowed to give advice. The reasons for this are quite broad and varied. First of all, whatever the life and professional experience of a consultant, it is impossible to give guaranteed advice to another: everyone's life is unique and unpredictable. In addition, when advising, the consultant takes full 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. In such a situation, the consultant puts himself in the position of a “guru”, which really harms counseling, leads to the fact that the client, instead of actively striving to understand his life and change it, develops a passive and superficial attitude to what is happening. At the same time, any failures in the implementation of the advice are usually attributed to the consultant as the authority who gave the advice, which, naturally, prevents the client from understanding his role in the events taking place with him.
4. Anonymity.
The most important condition for psychological counseling is its anonymity. This means that any information communicated by the client to the consultant cannot be transferred without his consent to any public or government organizations, private individuals, including relatives or friends. There are exceptions to this rule (of which the client is always warned in advance), specially stipulated by law. Such an exception would be a situation where the consultant finds out during the appointment about something that is a serious threat to someone's life.
5. Separation of personal and professional relationships.
There are many highly experienced and professional consultants who have fallen into the trap of becoming friends with clients or trying to provide professional help to their friends and immediate family. This path is fraught with many dangers, and not only because, as you know, there is no prophet in your own country and any recommendations and revelations with loved ones are easily depreciated, but also for many other reasons; some of them will be discussed below.
In psychotherapy, there are two most important concepts that are of great importance for working with patients: a) "transference", that is, the client's tendency to transfer and project onto the psychotherapist and his 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 major internal problems and conflicts onto the relationship with the patient. These concepts, introduced into psychoanalysis by Z. Freud, are widely used today in various areas of psychotherapy (Freud 3., 1989). They mean that any human relationship, and even such “special” relationships that develop within the framework of psychotherapy, are influenced by the inner personal needs and desires of a person, which he most often does not realize. Moreover, even professional psychotherapists are often "disarmed" by countertransference. It is 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 novice psychotherapist, there is an obligatory requirement 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. In many respects, the preservation of the consultant's authority for the client is due to the fact that the latter knows little about him as a person, he has no reason to both admire the consultant and condemn him as a person. The establishment of a close personal relationship between the consultant and the client leads to the fact that they, like close people, begin to satisfy certain needs and desires of each other, and the consultant can no longer maintain an objective and detached position, necessary for the effective resolution of the client's problems.
6. Involvement of the client in the counseling process
In order for the counseling process to be effective, the client during the appointment should feel as much as possible included in the conversation, vividly and emotionally experience everything that is discussed with the consultant. In order to ensure such inclusion, the consultant must ensure that the development of the conversation looks logical and understandable to the client, and also that the person not only “listens” to the specialist, but is really interested in him. After all, only if everything that is being discussed is clear and interesting, you can actively look for ways to resolve your situation, experience and analyze it.
It happens that during the reception the client suddenly loses interest in the topic under discussion, gets tired, internally disagrees, but does not want to talk about it. In this situation, you should not “force the atmosphere”, insist, try to find out everything “to the end”. It is better if the psychologist changes the subject, jokes and thus defuses the situation, thereby maintaining the client's involvement and interest in the counseling process and ensuring the productivity of the psychological impact.
Ethical aspects of psychological counseling.
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 in all countries codes of professional ethics are being created that regulate the professional activities of a psychotherapist and a consultant - a psychologist.
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.
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, so the consultant is obliged during the first meeting to provide the client with as much information as possible about the consulting 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;
On 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.
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. There are 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. Information about clients (consultant's records, individual client cards) should be stored in places inaccessible to outsiders.
The consultant, while maintaining secrecy, must acquaint the client with the circumstances under which trade secret is not respected. 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 counselor is obliged to take measures to protect the potential victim.
Another important ethical principle is the prohibition against double relationships. It is inappropriate to consult relatives, friends, employees studying with a student consultant, sexual contacts with clients are unacceptable. 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. Sexual relationships 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 a 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 addiction and the counselor loses objectivity. This is where any professional counseling and psychotherapy ends.
CHRISTIAN HUMANITARIAN-ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY
ESSAY
5th year students of the Faculty of Humanities
Academic discipline: "Methods of group and individual therapy"
Topic: "BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
CONSULTING»
Odessa-2008 G.
PLAN
Introduction
1. Basic principles of psychological counseling
1.1. Competence.
1.2 Privacy.
1.3. Exclusion of professional abuse.
1.4. The principle of "Do not evaluate".
Conclusion
Literature
INTRODUCTION
The counselor, like other professionals, not only contributes to the resolution of psychological problems - he also protects the mental health of the patient and is responsible for the harm done to his freedom. He must make every effort to create a psychologically comfortable atmosphere, and in some cases warn of possible states of discomfort. We are talking about the ethics of the principles that a professional psychologist and psychotherapist must adhere to.
The counselor, psychotherapist and other professionals have 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 makes the principles particularly important in psychological counseling and psychotherapy.
The purpose of this work is to characterize the basic principles of psychological counseling.
KEY PRINCIPLES OF COUNSELING
Competence and professional and scientific responsibility
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.
Competence dictates the smallest methods of dealing with a particular pathology, forms its expectations in certain cases of psychological profiles.
To be competent, a psychotherapist must not interrupt education and practice and constantly improve his qualifications and deepen his 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.
A practical psychologist 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 every paralinguistic gesture.
. 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 the client and the consultant meet quite by chance in a different setting, then the consultant, who knows almost everything about this person, is not even entitled 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.
It is mandatory to maintain confidentiality not absolutely, but relatively, since there are certain conditions that can change such an obligation.
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.
Materials of consultation meetings that cannot harm the interests of the client are not subject to confidentiality rules.
The 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 the expert with consultation materials by agreement with the client.
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).
Confidentiality is limited to the consultant's right to preserve his own dignity and the safety of his person.
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:
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 the consultation 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.
1.3.Exclusion of professional abuse
One of the forms of professional abuse should include the patient's ignorance of the goals, essence 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 dependence and the counselor loses objectivity. This is where any professional counseling or psychotherapy ends.
1.4. The "Don't Evaluate" Principle
The principle “Do not judge” 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. By evaluating and judging, the consultant closes access to the understanding of the personality and, therefore, cannot find best way working with him At the same time, it is not only about not expressing moralizing value judgments to the client in any case, but about not judging and evaluating 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.
CONCLUSION
From the analysis of the basic principles of psychological counseling, it becomes obvious that the observance of the noted ethical principles is directly dependent on the individuality of the consultant himself. A professional consultant must combine highly specialized aspects of work with ethical ones and, conversely, the unethical nature of a practical psychologist is combined with his unprofessionalism.
In all countries, codes of professional ethics are being created that regulate the professional activities of a psychotherapist and a consultant psychologist. Among the main principles of the work of practicing psychologists are: the professional competence of the consultant; respect for confidentiality; ban on double relationships, i.e. exclusion of abuse and the principle of "Do not evaluate".
It is not so easy for a consultant to unconditionally follow the rules of ethics for fairly objective reasons:
It is difficult to maintain standards of established behavior in the vast variety of counseling situations, because each counseling contact is unique.
The value orientations of organizations in which consultants work may not coincide with the ethical requirements for a consultant. In such cases, the consultant faces a difficult choice.
A consultant often finds himself in ethically contradictory situations when, while adhering to the requirements of one norm, he violates another.
LITERATURE
Kociunas R. Psychological counseling. Group psychotherapy.-M.: Academic Project OPPL, 2002.
Psychotherapeutic Encyclopedia / Under the editorship of B.D. Karvasarsky.-St. Petersburg: Peter, 1999.
Shaverdyan G.M. Fundamentals of psychotherapy.-St. Petersburg: Peter, 2007.
Topic 41. Psychological counseling: goals, objectives, principles.
The place of psychological counseling in the system of measures to provide psychological help individuals in difficult situations.
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 on the solution of 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, a 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 to be urgently resolved, 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 in this moment 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, in principle, he 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 really 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 ready solution the psychologist-consultant does not, because 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 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 the client and the consultant meet quite by chance in a different setting, then the consultant, who knows almost everything about this person, is not even entitled 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 the consultation 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 dependence 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. By evaluating and judging, 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.
