Code of Ethics

PREAMBLE
Guidance counselors work with clients, as individuals and in groups, to whom they supply
professional services concerning educational, vocational and personal/social development.
Guidance counselors respect the dignity, integrity and welfare of their clients, work in ways
which promote clients’ control over their own lives, and respect clients’ ability to make decisions
and engage in personal change in the light of clients’ own beliefs and values. To protect clients’
interests, members of the Institute are required to comply with this Code of Ethics, which makes
explicit the values underlying their practice.

The work of the guidance counselor involves a special relationship of trust. That trust is
promoted by setting and monitoring appropriate boundaries in the relationship, and making this
action explicit to the client and relevant others. While the relationship with the client is the
primary concern, it does not exist in a social vacuum. For this reason, guidance counselors have
sensible regard for the social context of their work, which includes the wider community, the law
and professional colleagues.

The Code consists of four overall ethical principles which subsume a number of specific ethical
standards:

Principle 1: Respect for the rights and dignity of the client:

Guidance counselors honor and promote the fundamental rights, moral and cultural
values, dignity and worth of clients. They respect clients’ rights to privacy,
confidentiality, self-determination and autonomy, consistent with the law. As far as
possible, they ensure that the client understands and consents to whatever professional
action they propose.

Principle 2: Competence:
Guidance counselors maintain and update their professional skills. They recognize the
limits of their expertise, engage in self-care, and seek support and supervision to
maintain the standard of their work. They offer only those services for which they are
qualified by education, training and experience.

Principle 3: Responsibility:
Guidance counselors are aware of their professional responsibility to act in a
trustworthy, reputable and accountable manner towards clients, colleagues and the
community in which they work and live. They avoid doing harm, take responsibility for
their professional actions, and adopt a systematic approach to resolving ethical
dilemmas.
Principle 4: Integrity:
Guidance counselors seek to promote integrity in their practice. They represent
themselves accurately and treat others with honesty, straightforwardness and fairness.
They deal actively with conflicts of interest, avoid exploiting others, and are alert to
inappropriate behavior on the part of colleagues.

THE CODE

1.0 RESPECT FOR THE RIGHTS AND

DIGNITY OF THE CLIENT

Guidance counselors honor and promote the fundamental rights, moral and cultural values,
dignity and worth of clients. They respect clients’ rights to privacy, confidentiality, self-
determination and autonomy, consistent with the law. As far as possible, they ensure that the
client understands and consents to whatever professional action they propose.

More specifically, guidance counselors:

1.1 General Respect

1.1.1 Have sensible regard for clients' moral and cultural values, and do not allow their service to
be diminished because of factors such as gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion, race,
ethnicity, age, national origin, party politics, social standing or class.

1.1.2 Seek as full and active participation as possible from others in decisions which affect them.

1.1.3 Respect the rights of clients to receive a full explanation of the nature, purpose and result of
tests and assessments in language that they can understand.

1.1.4 When engaging in research, protect the dignity and wellbeing of research participants.

1.2 Privacy and Confidentiality

1.2.1 Take all reasonable steps to ensure that consultation with clients takes place in conditions
of appropriate privacy.

1.2.2 Avoid undue invasion of clients’ psychological boundaries.

1.2.3 Take all reasonable steps to preserve the confidentiality of information about clients
obtained in the course of their professional work. They discuss information about clients only for
professional purposes, and only with those who are clearly entitled to be consulted.

1.2.4 Clarify to clients any limits on confidentiality which apply.

1.2.5 Take all reasonable steps to ensure that colleagues, line managers, and others with whom
they work understand and respect the need for confidentiality.

1.2.6 Exercise discretion in the communication of information, including psychometric test

results, so as to prevent it from being used inappropriately. Appropriate action includes, but is
not limited to: refraining from recording information which could lead to
misinterpretation/misuse, avoiding conjecture, and using language that can be clearly understood
by the recipient (see also Clause 4.1.3).

1.2.7 Recognize the importance of keeping adequate records, and mindful of relevant legislation
(e.g. Data Protection, Freedom of Information) take all reasonable steps to safeguard the storage,
retrieval and disposal of clients’ records, both written and electronic. Where the guidance
counselor‘s control of such records is limited, they exercise discretion over the information
recorded.

1.2.8 Keep adequate records of client work and maintain them for an appropriate period of time.

1.3 Informed Consent and Freedom of Consent

1.3.1 Take all reasonable steps to ensure that clients give valid consent to proposed interventions
(consent of parents/guardians may also be required if the client is a minor; established policy of
the school/workplace may also be relevant).

1.3.2 Safeguard the right of clients to withdraw consent after an intervention has begun.

1.3.3 Reveal information about clients only with their consent, but with certain exceptions,
which include: where concealment would result in danger to the client or others; when required
by law or designated guidelines; or for purposes of professional consultation or supervision.

1.3.4 In obtaining informed consent, provide as much information as a reasonable person would
want to know before consenting, and ensure that the information is conveyed in language which
the client understands (see also Clause 4.3.1).

1.3.5 With the exception of recording of public behavior, make audio, video or photographic
records of clients only where these persons have given prior written agreement to the making of
the record and the conditions of subsequent access.
1.3.6 Publish oral and written information about clients only with their written consent, or where
the identity of individuals or groups is adequately disguised.

1.3.7 Obtain clients’ agreement to the attendance of trainees and other third parties not directly
involved in the provision of professional services.

2.0 COMPETENCE
Guidance counselors maintain and update their professional skills. They recognize the limits of
their expertise, engage in self-care, and seek support and supervision to maintain the standard of
their work. They offer only those services for which they are qualified by education, training and
experience.

More specifically, guidance counselors:

2.1 Limits of Competence

2.1.1 Recognize the limits of, and take care not to exceed, their education/training and
experience. Where they do not feel competent, they make appropriate referral to others within or
outside the profession.

2.1.2 Seek and follow competent professional advice on whether to limit, suspend or terminate
practice whenever their professional judgment is seriously impaired by a physical or
psychological condition.

2.1.3 Use only psychometric tests for which they have received appropriate training.

2.2 Limits of Procedures

2.2.1 Do not persist with interventions after the aims have been met or if it has become apparent
that the aims cannot be met (see also Clause B 1 of the Institute’s Guidelines for good practice in
counseling supervision).
2.2.2 Are mindful, when they make decisions/recommendations based on psychometric tests, of
the limitations of such tests.

2.3 Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

2.3.1 Maintain and develop their professional competence by undertaking appropriate CPD on an
ongoing basis (see also Clauses 3(1) and 4(1) of Appendix 1 to the IGC Constitution, and Clause
B 3.3.4 of the Institute’s Guidelines for good practice in counseling supervision).
2.3.2 Engage in self-care to avoid conditions (e.g. burnout, addictions) which may impair their
judgment and interfere with their ability to act in a professional manner.

2.3.3 Seek support and/or supervision from colleagues when feeling stressed or vulnerable due to
professional duties.

2.3.4 Seek supervision for both counseling work and work as counseling supervisors. They
ensure that the frequency of supervision is proportionate to their case-load (see also Clauses B
2.2 and B 2.3 of the Institute’s Guidelines for good practice in counseling supervision)

3.0 RESPONSIBILITY

Guidance counselors are aware of their professional responsibility to act in a trustworthy,

reputable and accountable manner towards clients, colleagues and the community in which they
work and live. They avoid doing harm, take responsibility for their professional actions, and
adopt a systematic approach to resolving ethical dilemmas.

More specifically, guidance counselors:

3.1 General Responsibility

3.1.1 Behave in professional activities in such a way as not to damage clients’ interests or
undermine public confidence in the profession.

3.1.2 Speak out if the policies, practices or regulations of the organization within which they
work are seriously at odds with any of the principles of this Code of Ethics.

3.1.3 Support colleagues. In particular, they offer, as appropriate, emotional support and/or
supervision to colleagues who request it.

3.2 Avoidance of Harm

3.2.1 Terminate an activity when it is clear that the activity is more harmful than beneficial.

3.2.2 Take all reasonable steps to ensure that psychometric tests are used only by those
appropriately qualified, and to protect the integrity of test materials which depend for their
validity on being kept out of the public domain.
3.3 Continuity of Care

3.3.1 When referring a client, maintain support and responsibility for caring until contact has
commenced with the agent to whom referral was made.

3.3.2 Communicate with other service providers and contribute where appropriate to the co-
ordination of client services in order to avoid duplication or working at cross purposes.

3.4 Extended Responsibility

3.4.1 Assume overall ethical responsibility for the professional activity of those (e.g. students,
trainees, supervisees, co-workers, employees) whose work they supervise. The responsibility
includes monitoring of subordinates' activity, and making them aware of their ethical
responsibility.

3.4.2 Facilitate the professional development of guidance trainees whose work they are
mentoring, and are constructive in their feedback.

3.4.3 When acting as counseling supervisors, ensure that supervisees maintain high standards of
practice.

3.4.4 When acting as counseling supervisors, take all reasonable steps to ensure that supervisees
and clients are safe in their work together.

3.4.5 When engaging in research, take all reasonable steps to ensure that any collaborators treat
participants in an ethical manner.

3.5 Resolving Dilemmas

3.5.1 Use a systematic procedure for investigating ethical issues and resolving ethical dilemmas
(see Appendix A for a recommended procedure).

3.5.2 Inform all parties, if a real or potential conflict of interest arises, of the need to resolve it in
a manner consistent with this Code, and take all reasonable steps to achieve resolution.
3.5.3 Consult with colleagues if faced with a difficult situation or conflict between the law and
an ethical principle. In an emergency, where there is no time to consult, they make their own best
professional judgment.

4.0 INTEGRITY

Guidance counselors seek to promote integrity in their practice. They represent themselves
accurately and treat others with honesty, straightforwardness and fairness. They deal actively
with conflicts of interest, avoid exploiting others, and are alert to inappropriate behavior on the
part of colleagues.

More specifically, guidance counselors:

4.1 Honesty and Accuracy

4.1.1 Ensure that they accurately represent their education, training, experience and affiliation
with the Institute.

4.1.2 Do not seek or accept fees or benefits beyond those agreed contractually in advance, or
significant gifts where such acceptance would undermine impartiality (see also Clause 4.3.2).

4.1.3 Take care in oral and written reports to clearly differentiate facts from opinions (see also
Clause 1.2.6).

4.1.4 Conduct research in a way that is consistent with a commitment to honest, open inquiry,
and communicate clearly any personal values or financial interests that may affect the research.

4.1.5 In written work, give publication credit to others in proportion to the professional
contribution they have made.

4.2 Straightforwardness and Openness

4.2.1 Respect the right of clients to receive an appropriate explanation of the results of
assessments, and the nature of interventions, in language that they can understand (see also
Clause 1.3.4).

4.2.2 Are clear and straightforward in contracting with clients and supervisees about issues such
as fees, purpose and nature of the relationship, confidentiality, consent, likely experiences, and
possible outcomes. They seek the client’s/supervisee’s agreement to any subsequent revision of
the terms of a contract before putting it into effect (see also Clauses 4.1.2 and 4.3.2)

4.3.1 Are acutely aware of the problematic nature of dual relationships (e.g. responsibility to
client vs. responsibility to employing institution), and recognize that it is not always possible to
avoid them. Where they become aware of such conflicts, they clarify to all concerned the nature
of their loyalties and take appropriate steps to safeguard clients' interests.