GENERAL PRINCIPLES
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CLIENT
CONFIDENTIALITY
REFERRAL, CONSULTATION AND INTERVENTION
INFORMATION ABOUT THE CLIENT
COUNSELLOR'S VALUES
ADVERTISING
PROFESSIONAL DECLARATION
1.1 This code of ethics, adopted by the William Glasser Institute - Canada,
applies to all members of the Canadian Region upon payment of membership in WGI
– Canada.
1.2 The William Glasser Institute - Canada recognizes as full members those
individuals Certified in Reality Therapy and as associate members those who are
in training or have indicated an interest in the ideas of Dr. William Glasser.
2.1 At all times a member of the William Glasser Institute - Canada must have
due regard for the standards of good practice adopted by fellow-members of the
Institute and by fellow-professionals who work in the service of others.
2.2 A counsellor is expected to deal with a client in such a way that the client
can choose to grow and develop; therefore, criticism, sarcasm or a judgmental
attitude are all contrary to the practice and principles of Reality Therapy. .
2.3 A counsellor should be aware of local customs and values and take these into
account in counselling.
2.4 Counsellors should monitor their work through regular self-evaluation and,
where necessary, seek consultation with or supervision by professionally
competent people.
3.1 In Reality Therapy it is recommended that a warm and honest professional
relationship be developed with the client. This "professional friendship" is a
partnership developed specifically to work for the good of the client.
3.2 Where there is already an ordinary personal friendship or where this
develops in counselling, the relationship is no longer a professional
counselling one and the counsellor should so inform the client.
3.3 Since friendship is often one of the unfulfilled needs of clients, it is the
counsellor's duty to help such clients develop friendship skills. The counsellor
should not encourage the client to become dependent on the counsellor for
friendship or other needs.
3.4 When a counsellor is learning new approaches or skills, these should not be
used with a client without the latter's awareness and consent. Similarly, the
client should be aware if all or part of the counselling process contributes to
statistical or research work of any kind.
3.5 In all training components, ideally the faculty member and the trainee
should not have a relationship as family member, partner or work-colleague. The
relationship should be free of all conflicts of interest that might be damaging
to the trainee, the faculty member or the Institute. In the case of special
dilemmas about this, the matter should be referred to the counsellor’s
professional association and/or may be referred to the WGI - Canada Executive
for advice.
4.1 Members should treat all information obtained from their clients in the
course of counselling with the level of confidentiality that is declared to the
client at the outset of counselling. These limits should only be breached where
necessary to protect the safety of the client or others.
4.2 The counsellor should not use confidential information for any personal
advantage or gain.
5.1 The counsellor should learn from the client if any other professional
help is being sought and should
ensure that his or her own intervention will not jeopardize the work of other
helpers. Clients should be
asked to inform that person of the fact that they are seeing us.
5.2 If the counsellor believes that he or she can be of no further help to a
client, then the client should be informed as soon as possible. If the
counsellor believes that the client should seek other professional help instead
of or in addition to counselling, he or she should inform the client of this
fact. .
5.3 The counsellor should take all due care only to make referrals or
recommendations to other professionals who have the relevant competence to deal
adequately with the referral.
6.1 Where information about the client is stored in any form, this fact should
be made known to the client and he or she should have direct access to such
information as well as control over its use or destruction.
6.2 No audio or video recording of a counselling session should be undertaken
without advance approval of the client and the client retains control over its
subsequent use or destruction.
6.3 In obtaining information from or about a client, the counsellor should deal
only with what may be necessary for the client's welfare.
6.4 All forms of recorded material relating to counselling sessions require the
informed consent of the client and must be kept with the utmost care and
confidentiality. In the case of computerized data all due care must be given to
security of access, security of data transfer and security of erasure with full
respect for the rights of the individual and the law.
7.1 Where the counsellor's personal values are relevant to the subject matter of
the counselling, the counsellor should make these clear to the client so that
the client may be aware of the counsellor's bias in the matter.
8.1 The counsellor should state his or her qualifications relevant to
counselling and whether one holds the credentials of the Order of Psychologists
or the Canadian Counsellor Certification. Membership in the Canadian Counselling
Association does not mean a person has the credentials necessary to be accorded
the CCC. In the case of Reality Therapy this should include the statement
"Reality Therapy Certified” and not to be confused with the above-mentioned
credentials.
8.2 Areas of experience, qualifications and expertise may be mentioned but
should be stated accurately and modestly.
8.3 No guarantee of "solution" or "cure" may be given.
8.4 In advertising Reality Therapy there should be no criticism, any explicit or
implicit comparison of other counsellors or approaches.
8.5 Where assistants or associates of a counsellor are not "Reality Therapy
Certified" this should be made clear in advertising if they are mentioned or
implied.
8.6 Any form of advertising should be acceptable to fellow-members of WGI -
Canada.
8.7 Counsellors should not display an affiliation with an organization in a
manner that falsely implies the sponsorship or verification of that
organization.
9.1 At all times the counsellor should be strictly honest with the client. All
statements made in advertising, in a professional declaration or in any other
communication to clients must be true in the strictest sense and should not be
open to any possible misinterpretation.
9.2 At the outset of counselling, the client should be informed of the
counsellor's approach, expectations about confidentiality, qualifications,
experience, expertise, limitations of the counselling, ground rules,
responsibilities of counsellor and client, possible duration and fees (including
additional expenses, surcharges and taxes).
9.3 The counsellor should not accept a client who appears to be outside the
counsellor's competence.
9.4 The client should be told that complaints or grievances about the
counselling service may be forwarded to the appropriate Order or Association
and/or to the Executive of WGI - Canada, and the correspondence address of WGI -
Canada should be freely available to the client. The Executive of WGI - Canada
will then be responsible for investigating the matter, consulting with The
William Glasser Institute and deciding on a course of action.
9.5 Where an impartial enquiry is sought by either client or counsellor, a third
party or parties acceptable to both must be asked to investigate the matter. The
William Glasser Institute - Canada will then decide the course of action
following the referee's verdict and recommendations. Appeals may be directed to
The William Glasser Institute which will be the ultimate authority in such
cases.
2005
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