Statements of General Ethical Intent:
It is the fundamental responsibility of the Therapist, the client, support staff, supervisors, and trainees to uphold the human integrity of each person involved in the therapeutic relationship. The Therapist agrees that human integrity is the most important consideration in the therapy process. The therapist finds ways to protect the client's integrity wherever possible. The therapist takes precautions to ensure that the client is informed of any risks or contra-indications to therapy. Therapy should be designed to lead to increased self-efficacy and quality of life for each individual client. The Therapist is in a special situation, in which he or she carries the knowledge of his chosen profession and/or specialty. The Therapist is responsible for informing a client that when, or if, the client's words, actions, or behaviours could be harmful to themselves, and/or others in a life threatening way the therapist will and must inform the proper authorities. The proper authorities in this case would be the Police or Child Protective Services, recognizing that these agencies may have different names in different States, Provinces, and/or Countries.
It is also recognized that the Therapist does not practice therapy in a vacuum of knowledge; that means that, the client's and the therapist's values, morals, and standards of society all influence therapy and the therapeutic relationship. It is then the continued role of the therapist to point out how these factors may be influencing the therapy process. This means that the therapist remains objective in the face of sometimes adverse conditions. Therefore, the therapist is responsible for remaining open, objective, and caring at all times to the best of the Therapist's ability.
A. Therapists Rights and Responsibilities.
1. It is the responsibility of the Therapist to remain competent in their chosen field of therapeutic practice. The therapist will only perform duties and therapy within the realm of their competence and training.
2. It is the responsibility of the Therapist to attend to care of their own being. This means that the Therapist will look after their physical and mental well being to the best of their ability. The therapist will seek help and/or supervision when they need to in regards to their personal mental and physical health.
3. It is the responsibility of the Therapist to obtain supervision or consultation from a colleague when needed, and possibly on a regular basis. This document does not set forth the time commitments involved; the Therapist along with the colleague and/or supervisor must establish those standards.
4. It is the responsibility of each Therapist to keep up to date with the information and clinical research in their chosen field of practice.
5. It is also the responsibility of the Therapist to re-assess, on a regular basis, how the Therapist's own values, judgements, and experience can negatively or positively influence the therapy sessions.
6. It is the responsibility of the Therapist to establish and maintain professional contact only, with clients who are presently under the treatment of the Therapist. Professional contact is recognized as: providing therapy and services for which the therapist is trained in, has experience in delivering, and/or is supervised by an experienced professional trained in said therapy and/or profession.
7. While it is in order to maintain professional contact during the therapy sessions, situations may arise when a former client and their therapist develop deeper feelings of attraction. First, it is the duty of both participants to understand how the differentials in relationships are affecting their feelings. Then, it is up to each individual, separately, to objectively evaluate if enough time has elapsed since the termination of the therapy before pursuing any type of relationship beyond professional contact outside the office setting.
