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Discuss and explore the implications of the BACP Code of Ethics

Within counselling, language is used to detect opinions, values and principles. Upon reading BACP Codes it becomes clear that they have been written using judgemental language, they use approving terms such as 'good', thus to do otherwise would be 'bad'. Similar wording such as the use of 'appropriate', 'inappropriate', 'should' and 'ought' remain equally suspicious. As I see it, the implications from a counsellor's perspective, is the friction between encouraging ones own clients to move away from such judgements whilst, at the same time being governed by ethical rules.

My own involvement within a counsellor-training environment has involved the constrution of a Group Contract; a set of common guidelines, principles and rules which the group theoretically agree to adhere. Such a Group Contact is focused on the safety of the participants with particular regard given to confidentiality. Basics are covered to ensure the group functions and this includes keeping good time and the timing and order of proceedings. There is some recognition of existing Equal Opportunities statements, rights to be treated fairly and to review the Group Contract when necessary.

In theory, the Group Contract is a valid document to which all group members have agreed, but there can be complications. For example, the opinions of those group members who may have been reluctant to speak out, for fear of resulting conflict, are never considered. The wording within the Group Contract can remain open to interpretation and the quality is directly related to the amount of development time spent on it.

A group contract is unlikely to cover everything, even if the process is challenging and time consuming. Within a large group of 15, the difficulties lay in gaining understanding and abeyance of each point. On refelection, surprisingly, there was no mention of statues, terrorism, health and safety, child protection, criminal activity and the use of drugs. Moreover, there was no discussion or consideration of BACP ethical guidelines.

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