ABSTRACT
When you consult a professionally trained counsellor or psychotherapist, it is likely that he or she will belong to a recognized professional body and that body will have a code of ethics and practice that your counsellor is expected to abide by. One of the principles in this code is known as the principle of informed consent. This principle states that it is a mark of ethical practice that you should give your informed consent to a therapeutic approach before your counsellor or psychotherapist proceeds to help you by using this approach with you. If we look at the principle of informed consent carefully, we quickly see that in order for you to give your consent to proceed with an approach to counselling/psychotherapy you have to be informed about it.
