The terms Counselor and counseling
are very shoddily in India with
every formal face to face interaction being given the name of counseling. Be it
just providing informations with the intension of marketing a product or
services, be it providing choices of academic courses and institutions, be it
providing religious discourses to individuals, be it guidance or advice etc,
all interactions which involve so called “INFORMED CHOICES” are only addressed as
counseling. This has only resulted in confusion among the lay man about
counseling associated with mental health.
Further the profession is losing
its sheen due to non-professionals, unqualified, under qualified, untrained
professionals functioning in the name of mental health counselors. With no
governmental organization or statuary bodies to regulate the profession of
mental health counseling, everyone, who ever feels that they know something
about human relationships and behavior, with and without the knowledge psychology,
psychopathology mental health or counseling, start proclaiming themselves as counselors
and are practicing counseling, according to their own whims and fancies. This is only endangering the
welfare of the profession and the help seekers. With no statutory body monitoring,
no prescribed ethics related to the practice is advocated which has only
further deteriorated the preparedness of the people entering the profession of
mental health counseling.
I have just attempted to create
a draft version of the ethical practices associated with mental health
counseling that should be followed in India. This version is based on the
ethical standards followed in the western countries which has been customized to
Indian population taking into consideration the culture and diversity.
Essential
Ethical practices to be followed
Professional Responsibility
Ø
Mental
health Counselors should acquire the necessary qualification, training and
standards for practice before they enter the profession. In India it should be at
the least a post graduation in the field of psychology with specialization in
counseling and at the least a 6 months internship under a practicing profession
and 6 months of supervised practice.
Ø
They
should have a responsibility to read, understand, and adhere to applicable
laws, rules, regulations and ethics of practice, which governs the country in
which they practice.
Ø
Counselors
should practice only within the boundaries of their competence and their areas
of specialization.
Ø
They
should have a clear knowledge about the boundaries of their own profession and
that of other professionals in the field of mental health such as
psychiatrists, psychologists / psychotherapists, clinical psychologists and psychiatric social workers.
Ø
They
should continually monitoring their effectiveness of their practice and take
steps to improve when necessary.
Ø
They
should always try to update their knowledge by participating in continuing
education programs, clinical case discussions, seminars and conferences to
acquire and maintain a reasonable level of awareness of current scientific and
professional information in their fields of activity
Ø
Metal
health counselors establish relationships of trust with their clients and
continue to maintain it even after they cease to be a client
Ø
Mental
health counselors should be able to maintain a balance in safeguarding the
welfare and rights of their clients and other affected persons. They should not
take a biased approach in favor of their client, just because it’s the client
who has approached them for solutions.
Ø
They
should be guarded against the pressures that may arise due to personal,
financial, social, emotional, organizational or political factors that might
lead to misuse of their influence, to either take decisions for or against the clients’
welfare overlooking the professional standards. Any reports given should be
strictly based on professional evaluation, the reliability and validity of
which is verifiable and not under any
pressure, coercion or persuasion
Ø
They
should uphold professional standards of conduct, clarify their professional
roles and obligations, accept appropriate responsibility for their behavior and
seek to manage conflicts of interest that could lead to exploitation or harm.
Ø
Mental
health counselors should be aware of and respect cultural, individual and role
differences, including those based on age, gender, gender identity, race,
ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability,
language and socioeconomic status.
Ø
They
should not allow their own value systems to interfere in their attitudes
towards the client of the process of counseling
Ø
They
should ensure that no discrimination based on the above said factors allowed to
happen
Ø
They
should also be aware of their professional responsibilities to society and to
the specific communities in which they work
Ø
They
should be willing to consult with, refer to, or cooperate with their own
colleagues and other professionals and institutions to serve the best interests
of their client.
Ø
If
the counselors feels that the clients problems are out of the purview of their
professional competence or they cannot manage the client or after a few
sessions there is no visible progress towards the intended goals, then they
must refer the client to the appropriate professional immediately.
Ø
Counselor’s
ultimate goal should be to encourage client growth and development in ways that
foster the interest and welfare of clients and promote formation of healthy
relationships
Confidentiality
Ø
Counselors
should be aware of the fact that their
client trusts them to keep confidential the Information he/ she shares with you. so it becomes mandatory that
the informations are not revealed to anybody else
Ø
Except
in cases with involve law it should not be revealed unless he/she gives you
permission in writing to disclose it.
Ø
If
there is a need to comply with a court order to release information, the counselors can inform the client of the
court order and release information which are strictly relevant to the order,
necessary and verifiable
Ø
The
clients should be informed about the limitations related to confidentiality, in
the initial phase of the counseling session itself
Relationship
Boundaries
Ø
Counselors
should avoid non professional interactions with the present and former clients.
Ø
Counselors
should also be careful enough not to enter into dual relationship such as
relationship based on religious, social , emotional, sexual or business
interests with their present or former clients.
Ø
Counselors
should also ensure that there is no conflict of interest in the relationship
which can result in damage to the client in any way or lead to exploitation of the clients for any
personal gains
Ø
Physical
contact except formal contact such as handshakes, with the client should be completely.
Ø
No
intentions suggesting physical intimacy or sexual contact should be expressed
by the counselors during the session or otherwise.
Ø
In
case if such expression arise from the client, the counselors should be able to
assertively block such expression and if the same continues then the client
should be referred to any other competent colleague.
Informed
Consent:
Ø
The
counselor should provide adequate information in the language which can be
understood by the client about the counseling process
Ø
Counselors
should ensure that an informed consent form which has the above said details is
signed by the counselee or by the guardian in case the counselee is a minor
Ø
Clients
should be given the freedom to choose whether to enter into or remain in a counseling
relationship
Financial
remuneration
Ø
The
counselor has the freedom to decide the fees of his/ her professional services
based on the facilities available in the premises, locality and the financial
status of the client
Ø
In
case they have a established fees, the counselors has all the right to provide
concessions if they feel that the fees
is beyond the paying capacity of the client.
Ø
In
such cases the counselor should ensure that there is no deficiency in his/her
services because the remuneration is lower than the set standards
Ø
In
case the counselors feels that the same cannot then they should assist clients
in finding comparable services which is affordable to the client.
Advertising:
Ø
In
case the counselor wants to advertise their services to the public they should
ensure that the content of such advertisement clearly illustrate their
credentials, competencies and experience in an accurate manner that is not
false, misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent.
