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The CSPP is
currently in the process of developing its code of conduct. A
substantial draft has been prepared by Board member,
Christina Bellon, Ph.D., with extensive feeback from other Board
members.
We hope to
publish this here soon. Please check again soon.
What
follows is a first statement, made for discussion shortly after CSPP
founding.
Comments are
welcome. Members are
invited to assist us by providing feedback and participating in this process.
M. Picard,
President. (Jan. 31, 2004)
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Toward a Code of Ethical Conduct for Philosopher
practitioners.
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Last revised
1998/12/4
The following
proposed guidelines towards a code of ethics and conduct for practitioners are
incomplete, under development and in themselves currently non-binding upon CSPP
members. However, these guidelines (particularly as they apply to philosophical
counsellors) are broadly consistent with responsible rules of practice for
fee-charging counsellors and therapists of any background. The Executive, Board,
and a probable majority of the membership currently support the spirit of these
guidelines, if not always their precise formulations as below. Since it is the
case under the constitution (Sect. 2, Art. 2) that any member can be expelled by
a two thirds vote of the membership, members are advised that conduct flagrantly
contrary to the spirit of the guidelines is reasonably liable eventually to lead
to an expulsion vote. In this regard the reader's attention is particularly
drawn to sections 2a and 2b below. Members are encouraged to offer comment on
the guidelines in the ongoing process of shaping professional standards for
fee-charging practitioners, particularly counsellors.
Preamble.
The purpose of the following guidelines is to promote and safeguard good
standards of professional integrity and competence among Canadian philosophical
practitioners who wish to be affiliated with the CSPP.
1.
A "philosophical practitioner" for the purposes of the following is
anyone with a substantial degree of formal education (or equivalent) in academic
philosophy who also conducts some purportedly philosophically-based service for
the public, whether or not in return for personal payment. This includes
personal counselling, public seminars, workshops, discussion groups, etc. of a
philosophical nature.
2a.
It is a philosophical counsellor's foremost concern (in light of his or her
essentially care giving role) to make reasonable efforts to avoid harming his or
her clients, as by abuse of trust, violation of personal or group
confidentiality in the case of personal or group counselling, providing services
which the counsellor is not competent to provide, failing to advise the client
to seek types of help which only other types of care giver are qualified to
offer when the client appears in need of such help, conflict of the counsellor's
interests, sexual involvement with the client, misleading the client, lack of
sensitivity to the client's autonomy and core beliefs and values, coercing the
client in any way, discrimination against some client(s) for illegitimate
reasons, neglecting to maintain reasonable attentiveness to the client's
welfare, or deliberate and single-minded mercantile exploitation of the client.
2b.
The counsellor's obligation to respect client confidentiality is curtailed in
the case of a client's disclosure to the counselor that the client clearly
intends to commit suicide, homicide, or otherwise to expose any person's life to
mortal danger unbeknownst to that person. In the case of intended homicide or
exposing other persons to mortal danger, the counsellor has an obligation to see
that the endangered person is aware of the risk. In the case of intended
suicide, the counsellor has an obligation to notify next of kin and other
authorities of the risk to the client. These acts of disclosure by the
counsellor are last resorts where the client refuses to disclose the said
information to the other parties, as the counsellor will first ask of the
client. In all such cases the counsellor will attempt to use good judgment in
seeking to avoid violating the client's privacy on frivolous grounds.
Nonetheless, a counsellor has no legal privilege to refrain from informing
appropriate parties about serious crimes or acts of violence perpetrated or
intended by the client.
3.
All other types of practitioner apart from counsellors are obligated to follow
conventional standards of maturity and integrity, particularly where they charge
for their practices. However, the code of conduct described in 2a above is open
to looser interpretation for non-counsellors and for those who neither charge
for nor advertise their practices.
4. The CSPP has no
liability for any damages sought against counsellors or other practitioners for
professional misconduct, and no liability for damages sought against it by
members.
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