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COUN212 Ethical and Legal Issues in Counselling
10 cp
Prerequisites COUN106 Introduction to Counselling
Teaching Organisation 3-hour lecture/seminar and tutorials per week, covering various aspects of professional ethics and issues in counselling.
The aim of this unit is to introduce students to important issues related to professional practice in counselling. Ethics of professional practice and research will be studied including a detailed consideration of the ethical guidelines of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia and related Australian counselling associations. As well, the Codes and Guidelines of similar bodies such as the American Counselling Association, Ethical Principles National Association of Social Workers, British Counselling and Psychotherapy Association and the Australian Psychological Society (APS) will be utilised to highlight in more detail ethical obligations. Primary moral principles, which underpin ethical behaviour - autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, justice and fidelity - will be discussed. Issues related to the work of the professional counsellor such as interviewing, report writing, record keeping and access, mandatory reporting, supervision and case preparation, among others, will also be considered. Statutory and legal obligations on the counsellor within Australia will be covered.
