British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy
They include the fees you pay, the time of your appointments, the frequency of sessions and what you and your counsellor expect from each other. All sessions will be conducted in confidence and may be recorded on audiotape (only with your informed consent).
A counselling contract ensures that the counselling process will be performed in a good, safe and professional manner and highlights the responsibilities of the counsellor towards clients, as well as the responsibilities of the client towards the counsellor .
6 Steps to Engage New Clients in the First Session Welcome/Orienting the client to the consultation session . Super-Short and Focused Diagnostic Evaluation. Feedback to Client. Share Your Initial Plan (let the client know that you can help them) Answer The Client’s Questions and Wrap-Up (giving them a choice to schedule for follow-up with you). The Follow-Up Email.
In fact, a contract is a legally binding document that sets out an offer (of therapy), which is accepted (by the client) for what is known as ‘mutual consideration’. This means that there is an advantage for both parties, which might be making life changes for the client and some kind of advantage for the practitioner.
Counselors must deal with a variety of ethical issues and dilemmas. Six ethical principles underlie ethical counseling practice; they are autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, fidelity, and veracity (Box 5.1).
Boundaries are agreed limits, within which psychological safety is provided, and it is the responsibility of the therapist to maintain them. They may also be seen as implicit and explicit ‘rules’ which are part of the formal nature of all therapy. They protect both clients and therapists.
Whatever, the reason you go to counselling for; whatever issues you have, the most vital aspect of counselling is a sound relationship with your counsellor . This means developing a good rapport, gaining a sense of confidence and feeling that your counsellor is really able to listen and understand your needs.
Edward Bordin, defined a good therapeutic relationship as consisting of three essential qualities: an emotional bond of trust, caring, and respect; agreement on the goals of therapy ; and collaboration on the “work” or tasks of the treatment.
How to Build a Trusting Counselor Patient Relationship You’re empathetic. People who choose counseling as a career path are usually empathetic by nature. The focus is on the patient. Objectives are set. You practice unconditional positive regard in your therapy. You’re prepared. You’re patient and flexible. There’s no coddling. Your relationship is professional.
The core counselling skills are described below. Attending. Silence. Reflecting and Paraphrasing . Clarifying and the Use of Questions. Focusing. Building Rapport . Summarising. Immediacy.
The five stages of counseling, relationship building, assessment , goal setting, intervention, and termination form the basic counseling structure, regardless of the type of therapeutic form the therapist chooses to practice.
The five bedrock principles of autonomy , justice , beneficence , nonmaleficence , and fidelity are each vital in and of themselves to a healthy counseling relationship.
Similar to other forms of contracts , the therapeutic contract is a formal agreement between two parties. Within the contract , clear responsibilities, roles, and expectations are outlined for both the client and the counselor. In contemporary counseling practice, ethical and legal challenges are inevitable.
This chapter discusses behavioral contracting as a cognitive behavior therapy technique for change. A behavioral contract is a written or oral agreement between a client(s) and a clinician, consultant, or an instructor that specifies expectations, plans, and/or contingencies for the behavior(s) to be changed.