ABSTRACT
In this chapter I draw on my experiences of working in remote, isolated rural communities to show how those experiences have led me to revise my views on the strict application, in some settings, of some aspects of the Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP, 2002). As a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) I was involved in the formulation of the original Code of Ethics for Counselling, and more recently I was one of a group convened to help formulate BACP’s current Ethical Framework. One of our objectives in that later process was to get away from rigid prescriptive rules for ethical behaviour in order to develop an ethos in our profession in which therapists of whatever persuasion would take responsibility for becoming ethically mindful in their clinical practice. I firmly believe that counselling and psychotherapy are essentially professional relationships which need to be appropriately boundaried and managed, in order to provide a safe therapeutic space for the client and to protect both therapist and client from abuse of any kind. While boundaries need to be clear and explicitly agreed with the client, they should also take account of the social, emotional, psychological and cultural context of the client. Boundaries, while providing safety through being firm, clear and explicit, should not be so rigid that they hinder therapeutic practice and creativity on the part of the therapist. For me, regardless of the setting, the fundamental ethical principles have always applied in all areas of my clinical work. I also believe that the Ethical Framework (BACP, 2002) and the values and principles delineated in the framework apply to all counsellors and psychotherapists, whatever their theoretical orientation. The framework is about good therapeutic practice based on a commonly held set of values and principles irrespective of therapist modality. However, in recent years I have begun to recognise that there are some significant differences in the ways that some of these ethical principles need to be applied in different geographical and organisational settings.
