(Bodalev A.A., Stolin V.V., 1987; Yu.E. Aleshina, R. Kochunas).
In his work, a practical psychologist is guided by the following principles and rules:
1. The principle of confidentiality (anonymity). The material obtained by the psychologist in the course of his work with the subject or client on the basis of a trusting relationship is not subject to conscious or accidental disclosure and must be presented in such a way that it cannot compromise either the subject, or the customer, or the psychologist, or psychological science.
Any information reported by the client to the psychologist, cannot be transferred without his consent to any public or government organizations, to private individuals, including relatives or friends. The only exceptions are cases that pose an immediate threat to someone's life.. The issue of privacy is litmus test of the consultant's responsibility to the client. Consulting is not possible if the client does not trust the consultant. The issue of privacy should discuss during the first meeting with the client.
· Limit professional use information about the client. It is the responsibility of each consultant to use client information for professional purposes only. Information about clients (consultant's records, individual client cards) should be stored in places inaccessible to outsiders.
· The consultant, while ensuring secrecy, must acquaint the client with the circumstances in which professional secrecy is not respected. Confidentiality cannot be elevated to an absolute principle. Most often we have to talk about its boundaries. (For example, confidentiality is limited by the rights of third parties and the public).
Circumstances, under which the validity of the confidentiality rules in counseling may be limited:
· Increased risk to the life of the client or others.
· Criminal acts (violence, corruption, incest, etc.) committed against minors.
The need for hospitalization of the client.
· Participation of the client and others in the distribution of drugs and other criminal activities.
Having found out during counseling that the client poses a serious threat to someone, the consultant is obliged to take measures to protect the potential victim (or victims) and inform her (them), parents, relatives, law enforcement agencies about the danger. The consultant must also inform the client of his intentions.
In August 1969, a client of the Poddar Mental Health Center told his counseling psychologist that he was going to kill his girlfriend Tatiana Tarasoff. The psychologist reported this to the police by telephone and further described the circumstances of the case in an official letter to the chief of police. He pointed out the need to establish surveillance for the client and hospitalize him as a socially dangerous person. The police detained Poddar for questioning but soon released him due to insufficient evidence. Some time later, the expert supervising the qualifications of the mentioned psychologist expressed dissatisfaction and demanded that the letter sent to the police be returned to him. The letter was destroyed. The senior colleague demanded that the counseling psychologist take no further action with this client. The parents of the potential victim were not made aware of the impending threat. Two months later, Poddar killed the girl. Her parents filed a criminal case against the employees of the university for not having warned them of a possible misfortune. Although the lower court dismissed the lawsuit, the California Supreme Court in 1976 convicted the Center staff for irresponsibility.
As Beauchamp and Childress (1983) argue, the priority of privacy ends where someone is in danger.
2. The principle of the competence of a psychologist. A psychologist has the right to take on only those issues on which he is professionally aware and endowed with the appropriate rights and powers to perform psycho-correctional or other influences.
The consultant is obliged correctly assess the level and limits of their professional competence. He should not instill in the client hope for help that they are unable to provide. In counseling the use of insufficiently mastered diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is unacceptable. If the consultant in some cases feels that he is not competent enough, he must consult with more experienced colleagues and improve under their guidance.
3. The principle of non-damage to the client (subject). The organization of the work of a psychologist must be such that neither its process nor its results are detrimental to his health, condition or social status.
4. The principle of the impartiality of the psychologist . It is unacceptable to have a biased attitude towards the client, no matter what subjective impression he makes with his appearance, legal and social status. Friendly and non-judgmental attitude towards the client implies not only adherence to generally accepted norms of behavior, but also the ability to listen carefully, provide the necessary psychological support, not condemn, but try to understand and help to anyone who asks for help. The client should feel calm and comfortable during the reception.
5. The principle of focusing on the norms and values of the client . The psychologist during his work should
focus not on socially accepted norms and rules, but on those life principles and ideals that the client is the bearer of. Effective impact is possible only when relying on the value system of the client himself, the critical attitude of the consultant can lead to the fact that the person who comes to the appointment closes, cannot be sincere and open, and, consequently, the possibility of consultative influence will be practically unrealizable. By accepting the values of the client, respecting them and giving them their due, the consultant will be able to influence them if they are an obstacle to normal
human functioning.
6. The principle of not giving advice . By advising, the consultant takes responsibility for what is happening, which does not contribute to the development of the personality of the person being consulted and his adequate attitude to reality. However do not confuse advice with the provision of objective information, which sometimes just needs to be given to the client.
When a person seeks advice, he is, in fact, asking: “Which route should I, blind, go on so as not to fall again? You can, of course, give advice, but in this case, the person will constantly turn to us. Our help is to make him see for himself. So that in the future I would not look for a guide-guide, but could go Samm.
7. The principle of distinguishing between personal and professional relationships . The prohibition against dual relationships is another important ethical principle that is discussed as often as confidentiality.
The level of skill is directly related to the ability of a person to realize and fulfill his professional role , build your behavior within its framework. "Human" relationships arise when behavior begins to go beyond the professional role.
Mixing work relationships with other types of relationships not only complicates, but also makes it impossible to solve a psychological problem. They are not friends with clients, they do not advise friends. Working relationships are relationships clean mirrors. "Human" relationships distort perception: friendship is a mirror of interdependence, falling in love is a mirror of idealization, and friendships are a mirror of tact. →
It is inappropriate to consult relatives, friends, employees studying with a student consultant; sexual contact with clients is not allowed. This prohibition is understandable, since counseling gives the specialist an advantage and there is a risk that in personal relationships this advantage can be used for the purpose of exploitation.
The desire by the client of a relationship with a psychologist that goes beyond the working ones must be considered as resistance and used as material for psychological analysis.
The problem of sexual relations of consultants and psychotherapists with clients is often hushed up. A survey of 1,000 American practitioners was conducted psychological counseling and psychotherapy, with a doctoral degree. Half of them were men and the other half were women. The researchers got the following results:
· erotic contacts and sexual relations are more frequent between male consultants and female clients (5.5%) than between female consultants and male clients (0.6%);
· consultants who once crossed the line of what is permitted tend to re-establish sexual relationships with clients (80% of cases);
- 70% of male consultants and 80% of female consultants categorically deny the permissibility of sexual relations with clients; 4% of respondents consider sexual relationships with clients to be therapeutically valuable.
Sexual relations between counselors and clients are neither ethically nor professionally acceptable because they represent a direct abuse of the counselor's role. The client is much more vulnerable than the consultant, because in the specific atmosphere of counseling he "uncovers" himself- reveals his feelings, fantasies, secrets, desires, including those of a sexual nature. Sometimes the client strongly idealizes the consultant, he wants a close relationship with such an ideal person who deeply understands him. However, when turning an advisory contact into a sexual relationship clients develop extreme dependence and the counselor loses objectivity. This is where any professional counseling and psychotherapy ends.
In psychotherapy, there are two most important concepts introduced into psychoanalysis by Z. Freud, which are of great importance for working with patients:
a) "transfer" that is, the client's tendency to transfer and project onto the therapist and the relationship with him his relationship with important people, major problems and conflicts;
b) "countertransference", that is, the therapist's tendency to project his relationships with significant people and underlying internal problems and conflicts onto the relationship with the patient. Precisely in order to understand, manage and be able to use one’s countertransference for the purposes of analysis, as well as a number of other personal and interpersonal phenomena, for a beginner
there is a mandatory requirement for a psychotherapist to undergo his own analysis and work with a supervisor for a long time.
To one degree or another, these phenomena operate in the process of counseling. But it is difficult to expect that a person who has not received special and in-depth training will be able to successfully work with these most complex phenomena.
It is enough for a consultant to understand that the preservation of his authority for the client is largely due to the fact that the latter knows little about him as a person, he has no reason to both admire the psychologist and condemn him as a person.
8. The principle of informed consent . It is necessary to notify the subject of ethical principles and rules psychological activity. The client's decision to enter into a "consultation contract" must be fully conscious, therefore the consultant is obliged during the first meeting to provide the client maximum information about the consulting process:
- about the main objectives of counseling;
- about your qualifications;
- about payment for consultation;
- about the approximate duration of the consultation:
- about the advisability of counseling;
- about the risk of temporary deterioration of the condition in the process of counseling;
- about the limits of confidentiality.
Very important agree in advance with the client the possibility of audio and video recording of consultation conversations and observation by a third party through a one way mirror. It is unacceptable to use such procedures without the consent of the client.. These procedures may be important to the counselor for pedagogical and research purposes, and also useful to the client in assessing the dynamics of his problems and the effectiveness of counseling. Sometimes the authority that controls the qualifications of a consultant requires detailed information about a particular case. The resistance of some insecure counselors to procedures for observing or recording conversations, ostensibly to maintain confidentiality and protect the client, actually expresses their own anxiety and discomfort.
Similar are principles of telephone counseling:
1. Constant availability. Day and night, 24 hours a day, people who find themselves in a difficult situation can get the support of another person.
2. Anonymity and confidentiality. The caller has the right not to give his name. The content of the conversation is absolutely confidential.
3. Respect for the caller. The client is accepted as he is. The consultant has no right to manipulate the caller or impose his position. Any form of ideological pressure, including religious or political, is unacceptable.
4 Caller protection. A consultant can be a person who has passed selection and special training, he is obliged to constantly improve his skills (see Russian Association of Telephone Emergency Psychological Assistance: Booklet, 1996).
Since the problem of good and evil continues to be central to ethics, the main requirement of practical ethics is reduced to the famous "do no harm".
Psychological counseling
Introduction. 3
1. The essence of psychological counseling. 5
2. Principles of psychological counseling. nine
3. Stages of psychological counseling. thirteen
Conclusion. 17
List of used literature.. 19
Introduction
The relevance of the chosen topic of work is determined by the fact that psychological counseling, as a professional activity, appeared relatively recently and is still at the stage of development. However, the degree of its influence on people and society is rapidly increasing. The number of people seeking help from a counseling psychologist is increasing. The issues that people deal with are extremely diverse. These are problems of relationships, partnerships. These are difficulties in interaction with the world, people. These are difficulties with oneself. As well as work problems.
Thus, the demand and potential of a consultant today cover all spheres of human life and become almost inexhaustible.
Psychological counseling includes many various directions work with people in which professional psychologists participate or psychological knowledge is used. Thus, the first component of this type professional activity is the theory and practice of psychological counseling. The second component includes knowledge of the specifics of professional activity, which has a huge impact on both human psychology and the conditions in which counseling is carried out. Psychological consultants have to work in the mode of individual and mass (collective) counseling of subjects and objects of activity. Each of them requires special knowledge and skills from the psychologist, especially knowledge of the stages and principles of the implementation of psychological counseling.
The purpose of the work is to study the stages and principles of the implementation of psychological counseling.
To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:
1. Consider the concept, goals and objectives of psychological counseling.
2. Describe the principles of psychological counseling.
3. Determine the stages of psychological counseling.
The theoretical basis of the work was textbooks on psychodiagnostics and management psychology.
1. The essence of psychological counseling
Psychological counseling is a type of short-term psychological assistance (from one to ten meetings), focused on resolving a specific problem and restoring emotional balance. The joint work of the psychologist and the client at the level of the subconscious sphere, along with the restoration of the "mental immune system", restores immunity and improves well-being.
In combination with bioenergy therapy, psychological counseling is widely used in the treatment of diseases such as depression, neurosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, as well as psychosomatic diseases.
Consultation with a psychologist can be useful for all adults who feel:
anxiety, str
ahi or impotence;
· irritability;
bad mood, apathy;
insomnia
suicidal thoughts
gaming and other addictions
feeling of dissatisfaction with life, work, marital status, oneself.
Psychological counseling is often necessary for adolescents:
who feel misunderstood in their environment and family;
suffer from a lack of self-confidence;
Have difficulty communicating with peers
Doubt their abilities
fear of the future, worries about their appearance and sexual relations.
experience a lack of love.
suffer from various kinds of fears, study poorly, often get sick.
Psychological counseling can help families and couples:
who experience difficulties and conflicts in relationships with each other, with children, with parents;
as well as those who decided to leave and rebuild their personal lives.
Through several meetings with a psychologist, through joint efforts, you can more clearly formulate the problem, look at it from different angles and clearly define the boundaries of its influence on life.
Often after the first psychological consultation the client understands the reasons for what is happening and clear ways out of the crisis situation, the person begins to better navigate what is happening, and in the future, he himself successfully overcomes difficulties.
In our "progressive" age, when, along with technological progress, various addictions, fears, competition flourish, which leads to stress and various psychosomatic diseases, the need for qualified psychological assistance is great. But, despite the fact that in the West a psychologist or psychoanalyst is almost a family doctor, in Russia, psychological counseling is poorly developed.
Firstly, many people think that they can cope with their problems and difficulties on their own, but, having reached the point of a chronic illness or neurosis, they get the result of an untimely visit to a doctor.
Secondly, once faced with the so-called "psychoanalysts", "psychologists" or "healers" they know how not just to find a good specialist. In this area, as in no other, the formal professional regalia of a psychologist are not able to ensure success. Soul healing is not pure technical problem. Psychological help is a joint mental work that requires time and desire to become healthy and happy.
Thirdly, some people think that counseling is a simple, non-committal and non-leading conversation, like conversations with friends and colleagues. This is a common misconception, as conversation is one of the ways or methods of finding the causes of a disease or problem. Already during the conversation, an experienced psychologist begins treatment, in particular at the level of work with the subconscious sphere.
A real, effectively practicing psychologist always feels a sincere desire to help a patient who very often turns out to be not as sick as he thinks or not sick at all.
A person who turns to a psychologist for psychological help formulates his question, which reflects his main problem and wishes related to what he would like to achieve in the course of work. The form and content of the request are varied.
But the demands addressed to the psychologist, containing wishes to change someone or something in the external situation of the client, or assuming that a specialist will do everything for the client, or that the client will be recommended something very quick and effective, will not justify his hopes. Phrases like: "My husband left me: you can return him!"; "Strange thoughts haunt me: make sure they don't exist"; "Hypnotize me, I want to wake up a different person", do not refer to the modus operandi professional psychologist. A client who yearns for an all-powerful healer is likely to be disappointed in a counseling psychologist. Not "at the right place" are also requests that imply a purely pharmacological solution: "I have insomnia, please prescribe medication for me", as well as requests that, due to their complexity, must be accompanied by specialized medical care (psychiatric treatment, etc.). The request for virtual contact with a psychologist also looks inadequate: "Do effective work with me via the Internet or by phone"! It's like going to the dentist or gynecologist virtually. Many do not understand that a psychologist is also a doctor who treats, first of all, the human soul, and the body automatically comes into a state of vigor and health if peace of mind and harmony is achieved.
A psychologist cannot be "hired" as, for example, a tutor or personal driver, defining duties for him or setting a "task" and eliminate himself from personal participation. Psychological work is precisely the work where the client and the psychologist jointly seek solutions, this is a common cause that requires cooperation. The presence of the client is necessary, he must be personally involved in the process and ready for the fact that the work associated with research and self-change is not easy. Professionalism will be required from the psychologist, and a certain activity from the client: interested participation in what is happening and readiness to be included in the developing healing process.
The result speaks about the activity of any person! Healthy, happy and smiling faces of people who have achieved results in self-knowledge and self-improvement speak about the activities of a doctor, psychologist and bioenergy therapist.
About "magical" transformations, about healing the soul and body, about changes in personal life and business, about finding your "half" and harmonizing relations with the outside world, about resolving your problems and finding a way out of a crisis situation, you can only talk about when there is a joint activity of an interested client and the professionalism of a counseling psychologist.
2. Principles of psychological counseling
The basic principles of psychological counseling are the conditions without which psychological counseling cannot take place. The three essential components of psychological counseling are the counselor, the person, and the therapeutic relationship between them. Each of these three components is subject to special conditions, without which its participation in the process of psychological counseling will be ineffective.
The first condition for effective counseling is the personality of the consultant. Since the personality of the consultant is his tool of labor, its completeness and integrity become important for the effectiveness of counseling.
The consultant must have the following personality traits: - showing a deep interest in people and patience in dealing with them; - sensitivity to the attitudes and behavior of other people; - emotional stability and objectivity; - the ability to inspire confidence in other people; - respect for the rights of others; - insight; - lack of prejudice; - self-understanding; - consciousness of professional duty.
Summarizing these requirements for the personality of a consultant, it can be argued that an effective consultant is, first of all, a mature person. The more diverse a consultant's style of personal and professional life, the more effective his activity will be. Sometimes in counseling you need to be directive and structured, and sometimes you can afford to get carried away by a conversation without a certain structure. In counseling, as in life, one should be guided not by formulas, but by one's intuition and the needs of the situation. This is one of the most important attitudes of a mature consultant.
Following important quality personality of the consultant - self-understanding. It is very important for the consultant in the process of psychotherapy to be accountable for their own emotions and experiences. It is very important to be realistic about yourself, to have adequate self-esteem and a positive attitude towards life in general. Not being able to listen to what is going on within us increases our exposure to stress and limits our effectiveness, and it also increases the likelihood of falling prey to satisfaction in the process of counseling our unconscious needs. The consultant must know who he is, who he can become, what he wants from life, what is essentially important to him. He approaches life with questions, answers the questions life has posed to him, and continually tests his values.
In psychological counseling, there is a special term that denotes an important quality of a good consultant - authenticity (Greek Authentikys - authentic).
Doubts about the sincerity and honesty of a consultant can cause a person to distrust him and feel unreliable. If a consultant does not have an internal readiness to solve a person's problem, it is better for him to reschedule the meeting or refuse to work at all. An authentic consultant allows himself not to know all the answers to life's questions, if he really does not know them. He does not behave like a man in love, if in this moment feels hostility. A person must trust the consultant personally and as a professional.
Empathy is a sine qua non of counseling. The word comes from the Greek "pathos" (strong and deep feeling close to suffering) with the prefix "em" - meaning inward direction. Empathy is a feeling that conveys such a spiritual unity of personalities, when one person is so imbued with the feelings of another that he temporarily identifies himself with the interlocutor, as if dissolving in him. The main feature of empathy is the real emotional presence of the consultant. Moreover, there is a process of fusion in which both the consultant and the person change. Thus, empathy means that the counselor responds sensitively and accurately to the person's experiences as if they were his own. It implies the ability to "get used" to the subjective world of a person and understand the meaning of various events in this world.
Such an "entry" should be non-judgmental, not dividing the content of the other world into right and wrong, good and bad parts. The counselor's nonjudgmental attitude allows people to accept themselves more. When a counselor accurately and diligently identifies a variety of feelings - anger, fear, hostility, anxiety, joy - a person is able to hear and understand himself better. Empathic understanding can be shown to a person by the most different ways- silence, reflection of feelings, successful and timely interpretation, telling a story, etc.
It can be assumed that the next basic principle of psychological counseling is psychological contact. Confidential contact between a consultant and a person, based on unconditional respect, empathy, warmth and sincerity of a consultant in relation to a person, is an integral, and, according to many professionals, an essential component of psychological counseling. There are also the terms "working alliance", "working union", "working relations". A working alliance represents those aspects of the relationship between a consultant and a person that are fixed in a consultative contract: this means an agreement to work in a certain mode in order to rid the person of his psychological problems. A working alliance prevails when the person speaks frankly about his thoughts and feelings and analyzes them together with the therapist. The specifics of a consultative contact varies from one person to another. The nature of the consultative contact depends on the theoretical orientation of the consultant. Despite such a variety of approaches to the essence of consultative contact, most experts are unanimous in their opinion about its importance in the process of counseling.
There are some other important principles of psychological counseling that are relevant to the personality of a person. These are the principles that indicate the limits of the effectiveness of psychotherapy. These conditions relate to the characteristics of a person and his objective ability to accept help from a consultant.
1. The tension caused by the conflict must be more painful for the individual than the stress of trying to resolve this conflict. Most often, people seek advice at critical, turning points in their lives, when the existing adaptation mechanisms do not work, and the established worldview collapses under the blows of fate.
2. The circumstances with which the individual has to face are not so unfavorable and unchanging that he cannot control or change them if he wishes.
3. The individual has the opportunity to express conflicting emotions during scheduled interviews with the counselor.
4. He is able to express these tensions and conflicts verbally or otherwise. A perceived need for help is preferred, but not necessary.
5. He is sufficiently independent emotionally as well as physically from direct family control.
6. It does not suffer from excessive instability, especially of organic origin.
7. He has enough intelligence - medium or high - to cope with his life situation.
8. Suitable for age - old enough to act independently and young enough to retain some flexibility in adapting.
Thus, the principles of psychological counseling should be considered through a number of conditions for the three components of psychological counseling: a consultant, a person and a consultative contact, the observance of which allows psychological counseling to be carried out as efficiently as possible.
3. Stages of psychological counseling
The whole process of psychological counseling from beginning to end can be represented as a sequence of main stages of counseling, each of which is necessary in its own way during counseling, solves a particular problem and has its own specific features. The word "Stage" denotes a separate moment, a stage in the development of something. In the views of various authors about the stages of psychological counseling, there is much in common, however, there are some differences, mainly related to the detail and consistency, completeness of presentation. It should be noted that in real psychological counseling it is rarely possible to fully and consistently fulfill the requirements of any one model. But it is necessary to focus on some model of the sequence of steps, as this increases the degree of reflexivity of the consultant's attitude to the consultative process.
It is important to note that each stage of psychological counseling is characterized by certain procedures of psychological counseling. Psychological counseling procedures are understood as groups of methods of conducting psychological counseling, combined for their intended purpose, with the help of which one of the particular tasks of psychological counseling is solved. The effectiveness of psychological counseling directly depends on the thoughtfulness of the procedures of psychological counseling.
The main stages of psychological counseling are as follows:
1. Preparatory stage. At this stage, the psychologist-consultant gets to know the person according to the preliminary record available about him in the registration log, as well as according to the information about the person that can be obtained from third parties, for example, from the person of enterprises, the head of the organization, work colleagues. At this stage of work, the psychologist-consultant, in addition, prepares himself for the consultation. At the first stage of psychological counseling, as a rule, no special procedures are distinguished and applied.
2. Adjustment stage. At this stage, a counseling psychologist personally meets a person, gets to know him and tunes in to joint work with a person. The man does the same for his part. A person must make a decision about his entry into the counseling process quite consciously, therefore, before the start of the counseling process, the counseling psychologist is obliged to provide the person with maximum information about the counseling process, namely: about the main goals of counseling, about his qualifications, about the approximate duration of counseling, about the advisability of counseling in this situation, about the boundaries of confidentiality. You should not instill in a person hope for help that a psychologist is unable to provide. The result of this part of the conversation should be a conscious decision of the person to enter the counseling process. This is usually clearly visible both on the verbal and non-verbal levels. At the second stage, procedures for meeting with a person, a general, emotionally positive psychological barriers communication of a psychologist-consultant with a person. This procedure includes other specific techniques and actions, with the help of which the psychologist-consultant from the very beginning of the consultation tries to make the most favorable impression on the person and create in him the mood that ensures the success of the consultation.
3. Diagnostic stage. At this stage, the counseling psychologist listens to the person's confession and, on the basis of its analysis, clarifies and clarifies the person's problem. The main content of this stage is a person’s story about himself and his problem (confession), as well as a person’s psychodiagnostics, if it becomes necessary to clarify the person’s problem and find its optimal solution. It is not possible to accurately determine the time required for this stage of psychological counseling, since much of its definition depends on the specifics of the person’s problem and his individual characteristics. In practice, this time is at least one hour, excluding the time required for psychological testing. Sometimes this stage of psychological counseling can take from 4 to 6-8 hours. At the third stage of psychological counseling, the so-called empathic listening procedure is actively working, as well as procedures for activating a person’s thinking and memory, reinforcement procedures, clarifying a person’s thoughts and psychodiagnostic procedures.
4. Recommendation stage. The psychologist-consultant, having collected at the previous stages the necessary information about the person and his problem, at this stage, together with the person, develops practical recommendations for solving his problem. Here, these recommendations are refined, clarified, concretized in all essential details. At this stage, a counseling psychologist should help a person formulate possible alternatives to habitual behavior, and then, carefully analyzing and critically evaluating them, choose the option that is most suitable for a person. At the fourth stage of psychological counseling, the following procedures can be used: persuasion, clarification, search for a mutually acceptable solution, clarification of details, concretization. All these procedures are connected with bringing to the consciousness of a person those tips and practical recommendations that a psychologist-consultant develops together with him. The purpose of the relevant procedures is to achieve the most complete and deep understanding by the person of the conclusions and decisions that the counseling psychologist comes to, as well as to motivate the person to implement these decisions.
5. Control stage. At this stage, the counseling psychologist and the person agree with each other on how the practical implementation of the results obtained by the person will be monitored and evaluated. practical advice and recommendations. The final stage of psychological counseling includes the following points: summing up the results of the consultation and parting with the person. Summing up, in turn, contains a brief repetition of the results of the consultation, the essence of the problem, its interpretation and the developed recommendations for solving the problem. At the request of a person, these recommendations can be offered to him not only orally, but also in writing. It is also important, summing up the results of the psychological consultation, together with the person, to outline a well-thought-out program for the implementation of the developed recommendations, noting the following in it: what, how, by what specific date, and in what form should be done by the person. It is desirable that from time to time a person informs a counseling psychologist about how things are going and how his problem is being solved. Here the question of how, where and when the psychologist-consultant and the person will be able to discuss additional issues that may arise in the process of implementing the recommendations developed is also resolved. At the end of this stage, if the need arises, the counseling psychologist and the person can agree with each other about where and when they will meet next.
At the fifth and final stage of psychological counseling, the same procedures are applied that were used at the fourth stage. However, this time they mainly concern estimates of the expected effectiveness of a person's practical implementation of the advice that he received from a consultant. Here, a special procedure is to strengthen the person's confidence that his problem will definitely be solved, as well as the readiness immediately after the completion of the consultation to begin a practical solution to his problem. At this stage, methods of persuasion, suggestion, emotionally positive stimulation, and a number of others can also be used.
Thus, the stages and the procedures accompanying them are aimed at achieving the goals that confront psychological counseling.
Conclusion
At the end of the work, we will summarize.
Psychological counseling is the practical provision of effective psychological assistance with advice and recommendations to people in need of this assistance, from professionally trained specialists, psychologists-consultants.
Psychological counseling is a process of professional interaction between a psychologist-consultant and a person - a working person (leader, team member, team) in order to effectively carry out adequate and efficient work.
The purpose of psychological counseling is to help people understand and clarify their own views of their living space and teach them to achieve their own, self-determined goals through making conscious choices and solving problems of an emotional and interpersonal nature. The goals of psychological counseling are: - facilitating behavior change; - improving a person's ability to establish and maintain relationships; - increasing the productivity of a person and his ability to overcome difficulties; - assistance in the decision-making process; - contributing to the disclosure and development of human potential
Psychological counseling in the process of its development goes through a number of successive stages, which are characterized by their tasks, goals and procedures of psychological counseling.
Stages of psychological counseling - successive steps in the conduct of psychological counseling, designed to achieve the private goals of counseling, which are pursued in its process. The stages of psychological counseling include, in particular, setting a person for confession, listening to a person's confession by a counseling psychologist, clarifying the essence of a person's problem, searching for and formulating recommendations for its practical solution.
Psychological counseling helps a person to choose and act at his own discretion, to learn new behavior. contributes to the development of personality. In counseling, the responsibility of a person is emphasized, i.e. it is recognized that an independent, responsible individual is capable of making independent decisions in appropriate circumstances, and the consultant creates conditions that encourage volitional behavior of a person. The core of the psychological is the "consultative interaction" between the person and the consultant, based on the principles of humanistic philosophy.
List of used literature
1. Aleshina Yu.E. Specifics of psychological counseling//Bulletin of psychosocial and correctional and rehabilitation work. 1994. - No. 1.2. Veresov N.N. Psychology of management, tutorial. - M., 2001.3. Elizarov A.N. Introduction to psychological counseling. - M., 2001.4. Kociunas R. Fundamentals of psychological counseling. - M., 1999.5. Kubra M. Management consulting. - M., 1992.6. Nemov R.S. Fundamentals of psychological counseling. - M., 1999.7. Revenko N.V. Psychology of management. - St. Petersburg, 2001.8. Cherednichenko IP, Telnykh NV Psychology of management. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2004.Kociunas R. Fundamentals of psychological counseling. - M., 1999. - S. 37.
Cherednichenko IP, Telnykh NV Psychology of management. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2004. - S. 126.
May R. The Art of Psychological Counseling. M., 1994. - S. 58.
May R. Decree. op. S. 61.
Aleshina Yu. E. The specifics of psychological counseling // Bulletin of psychosocial and correctional and rehabilitation work. 1994. - No. 1. - S.22-33.
CHRISTIAN HUMANITARIAN-ECONOMIC UNIVERSITY
ESSAY
5th year students of the Faculty of Humanities
Academic discipline: "Methods of group and individual therapy"
Topic: "BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
CONSULTING»
Odessa-2008 G.
PLAN
Introduction
1. Basic principles of psychological counseling
1.1. Competence.
1.2 Privacy.
1.3. Exclusion of professional abuse.
1.4. The principle of "Do not evaluate".
Conclusion
Literature
INTRODUCTION
The counselor, like other professionals, not only contributes to the resolution of psychological problems - he also protects the mental health of the patient and is responsible for the harm done to his freedom. He must make every effort to create a psychologically comfortable atmosphere, and in some cases warn of possible states of discomfort. We are talking about the ethics of the principles that a professional psychologist and psychotherapist must adhere to.
The counselor, psychotherapist and other professionals have ethical responsibilities and obligations. First of all, he is responsible to the client. However, the client and the consultant are not in a vacuum, but in a system of various relationships, so the consultant is responsible to the client's family members, to the organization in which he works, to the public in general, and, finally, to his profession. This responsibility makes the principles particularly important in psychological counseling and psychotherapy.
The purpose of this work is to characterize the basic principles of psychological counseling.
KEY PRINCIPLES OF COUNSELING
Competence and professional and scientific responsibility
The competence of the consultant is the basis of his work. The consultant is obliged to correctly assess the level of his professional competence. He should not instill in the client hope for help that he is unable to provide. In counseling, the use of insufficiently mastered diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is unacceptable. Counseling meetings should never be used to test any counseling methods or techniques. Lack of competence leads to a misunderstanding of the patient's personality and condition, which is the core of the consultant's work.
Competence dictates the smallest methods of dealing with a particular pathology, forms its expectations in certain cases of psychological profiles.
To be competent, a psychotherapist must not interrupt education and practice and constantly improve his qualifications and deepen his specialization. The consultant must know the age, gender, ethnic, socio-psychological and individual psychological characteristics of the client. If the consultant feels in some cases that he is not competent enough, he is obliged to consult with more experienced colleagues and improve under their guidance.
A practical psychologist is directly responsible for the consequences of his decisions, actions, expert opinions, diagnostic operations. Expert opinions and psychological status must be substantiated, representative and valid, presented in a clear and understandable form, since this implies indications or contraindications for the use of a particular method.
The counseling psychologist must be aware that his professional actions affect the life decisions of the client and can change the personal and social status of the person.
Understanding that intervening in the fate of a person who has trusted a consultant is a huge responsibility leads to strict introspection and systematic reflection on the consequences of not only every word, but also every paralinguistic gesture.
. Confidentiality
Confidentiality, non-disclosure or duty of silence of the consultant in relation to third parties is the most important principle of the consultant's work. Failure to comply with this principle leads to a complete collapse of the patient's trust in the consultant and makes his work meaningless. There are two levels of confidentiality. The first level refers to the limit of professional use of customer information. It is the responsibility of each consultant to use client information for professional purposes only. The consultant is not entitled to disseminate information about the client with other intentions. This also applies to the fact that someone is undergoing a course of psycho-correction.
It is extremely important and at the same time the most difficult to achieve that this principle is perceived by the consultant even at the level of the unconscious.
For example, if the client and the consultant meet quite by chance in a different setting, then the consultant, who knows almost everything about this person, is not even entitled to greet him until the client himself considers it necessary to let them know about their acquaintance.
Information about clients (consultant records, individual client cards) should be kept in places inaccessible to outsiders.
The consultant, while ensuring secrecy, must acquaint the client with the circumstances in which professional secrecy is not respected. Confidentiality cannot be elevated to an absolute principle. More often we have to talk about its boundaries.
There are several basic rules, following which you can set such boundaries.
It is mandatory to maintain confidentiality not absolutely, but relatively, since there are certain conditions that can change such an obligation.
Confidentiality depends on the nature of the information provided by the client, however, the confidentiality of the client binds the consultant incomparably more strictly than the "secrecy" of the events reported by the client.
Materials of consultation meetings that cannot harm the interests of the client are not subject to confidentiality rules.
The materials of consultation meetings necessary for the effective work of the consultant are also not subject to confidentiality rules (for example, it is possible to provide the expert with consultation materials by agreement with the client.
Confidentiality is always based on the client's right to good name and secrecy. The consultant is obliged to respect the rights of clients and, in certain cases, even to act illegally (for example, not to provide information about the client to law enforcement agencies, if this does not violate the rights of third parties).
Confidentiality is limited to the consultant's right to preserve his own dignity and the safety of his person.
Confidentiality is limited by the rights of third parties and the public.
Among the most frequently cited circumstances in which the confidentiality rules in counseling may be limited, the following deserve mention:
Increased risk to the life of the client or others.
Criminal acts (violence, corruption, incest, etc.) committed against minors.
The need for hospitalization of the client.
Participation of the client and others in the distribution of drugs and other criminal activities.
Having found out during counseling that the client poses a serious threat to someone, the consultant is obliged to take measures to protect the potential victim (or victims) and inform her (them), parents, relatives, law enforcement agencies about the danger. The consultant must also inform the client of his intentions.
When faced with a dilemma, what should be preferred: to maintain confidentiality, according to a code of ethics, or to follow legal norms? Practice shows that preference should be given to the latter option.
1.3.Exclusion of professional abuse
One of the forms of professional abuse should include the patient's ignorance of the goals, essence and meaning of the technique used. The client must be thoroughly informed about what and why the consultant is going to do with him, what are the results of the psychological status study and what is his basic problem.
Meeting clients outside the office, making personal requests to the client, or forming any informal relationship with the client nullifies the work of the consultant.
It is not advisable to consult relatives, friends, employees studying with a student consultant; sexual contact with clients is not allowed. Such a prohibition is quite understandable, since counseling gives the specialist an advantageous position and there is a danger that in personal relationships this advantage can be used for the purpose of exploitation.
The problem of sexual relations of consultants and psychotherapists with clients is very important, however, it is often hushed up. Sexual relations between counselors and clients are neither ethically nor professionally acceptable because they represent a direct abuse of the counselor's role. Sometimes the client strongly idealizes the consultant, he wants a close relationship with such an ideal person who deeply understands him. However, when the counseling contact turns into a sexual relationship, clients develop extreme dependence and the counselor loses objectivity. This is where any professional counseling or psychotherapy ends.
1.4. The "Don't Evaluate" Principle
The principle “Do not judge” is considered one of the most difficult to achieve in the work of a consultant. Usually, each judgment, along with the cognitive content, also carries an attitude - the emotional component of the judgment. It is often not possible to separate these components, but this is what constitutes the essence of the therapist's relationship with the client.
At the forefront of the relationship should be not evaluation, but understanding, even if the information coming from the client to the consultant is monstrous from the point of view of morality. By evaluating and judging, the consultant closes access to the understanding of the personality and, therefore, cannot find the best way to work with him. we are talking not only about not expressing moralizing value judgments to the client in any case, but about not judging and evaluating within oneself up to the subconscious. It is possible to observe this principle only after gaining experience and only under the condition of conscious efforts to ensure that all modal relations to the client are silenced in one's own soul. The consultant is not required to "like" or "dislike" the client; he is obliged, personally and silently, to place his problem in the broad context of the world experience of psychology and to find a mode through which it will be possible to strengthen and expand his consciousness and the ability to develop it. The latter will be an adequate form of respect for the rights of the individual instead of empty talk about rights.
CONCLUSION
From the analysis of the basic principles of psychological counseling, it becomes obvious that the observance of the noted ethical principles is directly dependent on the individuality of the consultant himself. A professional consultant must combine highly specialized aspects of work with ethical ones and, conversely, the unethical nature of a practical psychologist is combined with his unprofessionalism.
In all countries, codes of professional ethics are being created that regulate the professional activities of a psychotherapist and a consultant psychologist. Among the main principles of the work of practicing psychologists are: the professional competence of the consultant; respect for confidentiality; ban on double relationships, i.e. exclusion of abuse and the principle of "Do not evaluate".
It is not so easy for a consultant to unconditionally follow the rules of ethics for fairly objective reasons:
It is difficult to maintain standards of established behavior in the vast variety of counseling situations, because each counseling contact is unique.
The value orientations of organizations in which consultants work may not coincide with the ethical requirements for a consultant. In such cases, the consultant faces a difficult choice.
A consultant often finds himself in ethically contradictory situations when, while adhering to the requirements of one norm, he violates another.
LITERATURE
Kociunas R. Psychological counseling. Group psychotherapy.-M.: Academic Project OPPL, 2002.
Psychotherapeutic Encyclopedia / Under the editorship of B.D. Karvasarsky.-St. Petersburg: Peter, 1999.
Shaverdyan G.M. Fundamentals of psychotherapy.-St. Petersburg: Peter, 2007.
The success of psychological counseling largely depends on how the therapeutic relationship develops between the client and the psychologist. The foundation of these relationships is trust. Thanks to him, the client shares with the psychologist what is important and dear to him, opens his experiences. The well-being and health of not only the client and his family, but also other people sometimes depend on how the specialist manages the information received during the consultation.
Let's take an illustrative example. Victoria, 22 years old, seven of them, at the insistence of her mother, goes to psychologists. Symptoms - increased anxiety, attacks of fear, accompanied by suffocation. “I come to the session just to “chat”, about nothing. Why would I open my soul to psychologists? They then tell my mom everything! I didn't know I had a right to privacy!" For seven years, Victoria suffered from attacks of acute anxiety, the girl's family wasted money, the anxiety disorder became chronic - all because the psychologists who advised her violated the principle of confidentiality.
As a result of such actions, families can be destroyed, careers and health can be damaged, work results are devalued, and even the very idea of psychological counseling. That is why confidentiality is present in all ethical codes of psychologists and psychotherapists.
The first code of ethics for psychologists
The first code of ethics for psychologists was developed by an authoritative organization - American Psychological Association, its first edition appeared in 1953. This was preceded by a five-year work of the commission on ethical standards, which dealt with many episodes of the behavior of psychologists from the point of view of ethics.
According to the code, psychologists must protect confidential information received from clients and discuss issues of protecting it at the beginning of a therapeutic relationship, and if circumstances change during counseling, revisit this issue. Confidential information is discussed only for scientific or professional purposes and only with persons related to it. Disclosure of information without the consent of the client is possible only in a number of cases prescribed in the code. The main points of such disclosure are related to the prevention of harm to the client and other people.
Among practicing psychologists in the United States, the ethical approach is also very popular. code of the american consultants association.
In the US, violation can be punished with a license
“According to the code of ethics of the American Association of Consultants, the publication of a case is possible only after the client has read the text and given written permission, or the details have been changed beyond recognition,” says Alena Prihidko, a family therapist. – The consultant should discuss with the client who, where and when will have access to confidential information. Also, the therapist must obtain the client's permission to discuss his case with relatives. Taking the case to public space without permission threatens at least fine, maximum - revocation of a license. Psychotherapists in the United States value their licenses, because getting them is not easy: you must first complete a master's degree, then study for an internship for 2 years, pass exams, undergo supervision, know the laws and codes of ethics. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine that they would violate the code of ethics and describe their clients without permission - for example, in social networks».
How about us?
In Russia, a law on psychological assistance has not yet been adopted, there is no code of ethics common to all psychologists and there are no large prestigious psychological associations that would be well known.
Russian Psychological Society ( RPO) attempted to create a unified code of ethics for psychologists. It is published on the website of the society, and it is used by psychologists belonging to the RPO. However, while the RPO does not have great prestige among professionals, not all psychologists aspire to become members of society, most do not know anything about this organization.
The RPO code of ethics says little about confidentiality in counseling relationships: “Information obtained by a psychologist in the process of working with a client on the basis of a trusting relationship is not subject to intentional or accidental disclosure outside the agreed terms.” It is clear that the psychologist and the client must agree on the terms of disclosure of confidential information and then adhere to these agreements.
It turns out that in Russia among psychologists there is no common understanding of the principles of professional ethics
Ethical codes of psychologists, created at the level Russian associations in the areas of psychotherapy, are also mandatory for use only by members of associations. At the same time, some associations do not have their own ethical codes, and many psychologists are not members of any associations.
It turns out that today in Russia among psychologists there is no common understanding of the principles of professional ethics. Often, professionals have a very superficial understanding of ethical principles., including little knowledge of the principle of confidentiality. Therefore, it is increasingly possible to see how popular psychologists describe sessions without obtaining the permission of clients, make lists of ridiculous client requests, and diagnose commentators in comments to posts.
What to do if your case becomes public
Let's say that information about working with you was posted by a psychotherapist on the Internet - for example, on social networks. Find out what professional community your psychologist is in (if you didn't find out before the first consultation).
If the psychologist is a member of a professional association, you will be able to prevent breaches of confidentiality with respect to other clients, as well as damage to the professional reputation of the specialist. Find a professional community site on the Internet. Look for the Code of Ethics section and read it carefully. File a complaint and contact the community ethics committee. If you can't find the code and ethics committee contacts, please file a complaint directly with the community president.
Under pressure from colleagues, the psychologist will be forced to reconsider his attitude to professional ethics. Perhaps he will be expelled from society, but in any case he will not lose his practice, since the activities of psychologists in our country are not yet licensed.
How to prevent privacy violations
To prevent ethical violations, you need to take a number of actions at the stage of choosing a psychologist.
It is important that the counseling psychologist not only have a basic psychological education, but also professional retraining in one or more areas of psychotherapy. He also needs to undergo personal therapy and regular supervision with more experienced colleagues, be a member of professional communities.
When choosing a specialist...
...ask for copies of the diploma about higher education and certificates of professional retraining.
... find out what professional community the psychologist is in and who is his supervisor. Visit the association's website, look for your specialist among the members of the society. Read the association's code of ethics.
...ask how your psychologist understands the principle of confidentiality. Ask specific questions: “Who other than you will have access to confidential information? Who will be able to know what we will talk about during counseling?” Adequate response of a psychologist in this case would be: “I may want to discuss your case with my supervisor. What do you think about it?"
These precautions will help you find a truly professional psychologist whom you can trust, and as a result of working with whom you will receive effective psychological help.
Topic 41. Psychological counseling: goals, objectives, principles.
The place of psychological counseling in the system of measures to provide psychological assistance to a person in a difficult life situation.
The goals of psychological counseling and the activities of a psychologist-consultant. The tasks of psychological counseling and their connection with the direction of assistance.
Types of psychological counseling and their features. Principles of psychological counseling.
Similarities and differences of psychological counseling with psychotherapy, psychocorrection and psychodiagnostics.
Psychological counseling is a special area of practical psychology associated with the provision by a specialist psychologist of direct psychological assistance to people who need it, in the form of advice and recommendations. They are given by the psychologist to the client on the basis of a personal conversation and a preliminary study of the problem that the client has encountered in life. Most often, psychological counseling is carried out at prearranged hours, in a specially equipped room, usually isolated from strangers, and in a confidential environment.
Psychological counseling is an established practice of providing effective psychological assistance to people, based on the conviction that every physically and mentally healthy person is able to cope with almost all the psychological problems that arise in his life.
Counseling as the main type of psychological practice pursues the following goals :
1. Providing prompt assistance to the client in solving his problems.
People often have such problems that require urgent intervention, an urgent solution - those for which the client does not have the opportunity to spend a lot of time, effort and money. Such problems are usually called operational, and a similar name is assigned to the corresponding solutions. Receiving urgent psychological assistance in the form of oral consultation in solving operational problems becomes indispensable. For example, the parent of a child may experience such serious complications in his relationship with him, the continuation of which is fraught with very adverse consequences for the state of the physical and mental health of the child. An employee of an institution may also have a serious problem that needs urgent solution, which, for example, he will have to resolve in communication with his immediate supervisor during a short meeting scheduled for one of the coming days. The third example: in a family, a husband or wife can unexpectedly sharply complicate relations with his wife (husband) or with any of his (her) relatives. Because of this, a complex situation fraught with serious adverse consequences can develop in this family.
2. Rendering assistance to the client in solving those issues with which he could easily cope on his own without interference from outside, without the direct and constant participation of the psychologist in his affairs, i.e. where special professional psychological knowledge, as a rule, is not needed and only general, everyday, based on common sense advice. Such, for example, a problem may be the client's determination of the optimal mode of work and rest for himself, the rational distribution of time between different types of activities.
3. Providing temporary assistance to a client who actually needs a long-term, more or less permanent psychotherapeutic effect, but for one reason or another is not able to count on him at a given time. In this case, psychological counseling is used as a means of providing current, operational assistance to the client, which restrains the progressive development of negative processes, preventing further aggravation of the problem faced by the client. Such, for example, may be the very unexpected appearance of a state of depression in a client.
4. When the client already has a correct understanding of his problem and, in principle, he is ready to start solving it himself, but he still doubts something, he is not quite sure that he is right. Then, in the process of conducting psychological counseling, the client, communicating with the psychologist-consultant, receives from him the necessary professional and moral support, and this gives him self-confidence.
5. Providing assistance to the client in the case when he has no other opportunity than to receive advice. In this case, when conducting psychological counseling, a specialist psychologist should make it clear to the client that he actually needs to receive more thorough, fairly long-term psychocorrectional or psychotherapeutic assistance.
6. When psychological counseling is not used as a substitute for other methods of providing psychological assistance to a client, and together with them, in addition to them, with the expectation that not only the psychologist, but also the client himself will deal with the problem that has arisen.
7. In cases where ready solution the psychologist-consultant does not, because the situation is beyond his competence, he must provide the client with at least some, even minimal and insufficiently effective, assistance.
In all these and other similar cases, psychological counseling solves the following main tasks :
1. Clarification (clarification) of the problem encountered by the client.
2. Informing the client about the essence of his problem, about the real degree of its severity. (Problem informing the client.)
3. The study by a psychologist-consultant of the personality of the client in order to find out whether the client can independently cope with the problem that has arisen for him.
5. Providing ongoing assistance to the client in the form of additional practical advice offered at a time when he had already begun to solve his problem.
6. Client training how best to prevent the occurrence of similar problems in the future (the task of psychoprophylaxis).
7. Transfer by a psychologist-consultant to the client of elementary, vital psychological knowledge and skills, the development and correct use of which is possible by the client himself without special psychological preparation. (Psychological and educational informing the client.)
Principles of psychological counseling:
1. Competence, professional and scientific responsibility (Do no harm!)
The competence of the consultant is the basis of his work. The consultant is obliged to correctly assess the level of his professional competence. He should not instill in the client hope for help that he is unable to provide. In counseling, the use of insufficiently mastered diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is unacceptable. Counseling meetings should never be used to test any counseling methods or techniques. Lack of competence leads to a misunderstanding of the patient's personality and condition, which is the core of the consultant's work.
To be competent, a consultant must not interrupt education and practice and constantly improve their qualifications and deepen their specialization. The consultant must know the age, gender, ethnic, socio-psychological and individual psychological characteristics of the client. If the consultant feels in some cases that he is not competent enough, he is obliged to consult with more experienced colleagues and improve under their guidance.
The consultant is directly responsible for the consequences of his decisions, actions, expert opinions, diagnostic operations. Expert opinions and psychological status must be substantiated, representative and valid, presented in a clear and understandable form, since this implies indications or contraindications for the use of a particular method.
The counseling psychologist must be aware that his professional actions affect the life decisions of the client and can change the personal and social status of the person.
Understanding that intervening in the fate of a person who has trusted a consultant is a huge responsibility leads to strict introspection and systematic reflection on the consequences of not only every word, but also every paralinguistic gesture.
2 . Confidentiality
Confidentiality, non-disclosure or duty of silence of the consultant in relation to third parties is the most important principle of the consultant's work. Failure to comply with this principle leads to a complete collapse of the patient's trust in the consultant and makes his work meaningless. There are two levels of confidentiality. The first level refers to the limit of professional use of customer information. It is the responsibility of each consultant to use client information for professional purposes only. The consultant is not entitled to disseminate information about the client with other intentions. This also applies to the fact that someone is undergoing a course of psycho-correction.
It is extremely important and at the same time the most difficult to achieve that this principle is perceived by the consultant even at the level of the unconscious.
For example, if the client and the consultant meet quite by chance in a different setting, then the consultant, who knows almost everything about this person, is not even entitled to greet him until the client himself considers it necessary to let them know about their acquaintance.
Information about clients (consultant records, individual client cards) should be kept in places inaccessible to outsiders.
The consultant, while ensuring secrecy, must acquaint the client with the circumstances in which professional secrecy is not respected. Confidentiality cannot be elevated to an absolute principle. More often we have to talk about its boundaries.
There are several basic rules, following which you can set such boundaries.
1. Be sure to observe confidentiality not absolutely, but relatively, since there are certain conditions that can change such an obligation.
2. Confidentiality depends on the nature of the information provided by the client, however, the confidentiality of the client binds the consultant incomparably more strictly than the "secrecy" of the events reported by the client.
3. Materials of consultation meetings that cannot harm the interests of the client are not subject to confidentiality rules.
4. Materials of consultation meetings necessary for the effective work of the consultant are also not subject to confidentiality rules (for example, it is possible to provide an expert with consultation materials by agreement with the client.
5. Confidentiality is always based on the client's right to good name and secrecy. The consultant is obliged to respect the rights of clients and, in certain cases, even to act illegally (for example, not to provide information about the client to law enforcement agencies, if this does not violate the rights of third parties).
6. Confidentiality is limited to the consultant's right to preserve his own dignity and the safety of his person.
7. Confidentiality is limited by the rights of third parties and the public.
Among the most frequently cited circumstances in which the confidentiality rules in counseling may be limited, the following deserve mention:
1. Increased risk to the life of the client or other people.
2. Criminal acts (violence, corruption, incest, etc.) committed against minors.
3. The need for hospitalization of the client.
4. Participation of the client and other persons in the distribution of drugs and other criminal activities.
Having found out during counseling that the client poses a serious threat to someone, the consultant is obliged to take measures to protect the potential victim (or victims) and inform her (them), parents, relatives, law enforcement agencies about the danger. The consultant must also inform the client of his intentions.
When faced with a dilemma, what should be preferred: to maintain confidentiality, according to a code of ethics, or to follow legal norms? Practice shows that preference should be given to the latter option.
3. Exclusion of professional abuse (client awareness)
One of the forms of professional abuse should include the patient's lack of awareness of the goals, nature and meaning of the technique used. The client must be thoroughly informed about what and why the consultant is going to do with him, what are the results of the psychological status study and what is his basic problem.
Meeting clients outside the office, making personal requests to the client, or forming any informal relationship with the client nullifies the work of the consultant.
It is not advisable to consult relatives, friends, employees studying with a student consultant; sexual contact with clients is not allowed. Such a prohibition is quite understandable, since counseling gives the specialist an advantageous position and there is a danger that in personal relationships this advantage can be used for the purpose of exploitation.
The problem of sexual relations of consultants and psychotherapists with clients is very important, however, it is often hushed up. Sexual relations between counselors and clients are neither ethically nor professionally acceptable because they represent a direct abuse of the counselor's role. Sometimes the client strongly idealizes the consultant, he wants a close relationship with such an ideal person who deeply understands him. However, when the counseling contact turns into a sexual relationship, clients develop extreme dependence and the counselor loses objectivity. This is where any professional counseling or psychotherapy ends.
4. The principle of "Do not evaluate" (non-judgmental attitude)
The principle “Do not evaluate” is considered one of the most difficult to achieve in the work of a consultant. Usually, each judgment, along with the cognitive content, also carries an attitude - the emotional component of the judgment. It is often not possible to separate these components, but this is what constitutes the essence of the therapist's relationship with the client.
At the forefront of the relationship should be not evaluation, but understanding, even if the information coming from the client to the consultant is monstrous from the point of view of morality. Evaluating and condemning, the consultant closes access to the understanding of the personality and, therefore, cannot find the best way to work with him. to judge and evaluate within oneself up to the subconscious. It is possible to observe this principle only after gaining experience and only under the condition of conscious efforts to ensure that all modal relations to the client are silenced in one's own soul. The consultant is not required to "like" or "dislike" the client; he is obliged, personally and silently, to place his problem in the broad context of the world experience of psychology and to find a mode through which it will be possible to strengthen and expand his consciousness and the ability to develop it. The latter will be an adequate form of respect for the rights of the individual instead of empty talk about rights.