Professional Ethics For Helping Professions

Learn safeguarding, equality, confidentiality, contracting and more for counsellors, therapists, coaches and teachers

What you’ll learn
Ethical practice for helping professions
Fairness, equality and diversity
Building an appropriate relationship with clients
Safeguarding and managing risk of harm
Confidentiality, contracting, remit and supervision
Professional bodies, insurance, personal development
Requirements
This course assumes you are a helping professional such as a counsellor, psychotherapist, coach or teacher
No prior knowledge of professional ethics is required
Description
Are you a helping professional, such as a counsellor, psychotherapist, coach or teacher (mindfulness, meditation, yoga, etc)? If so, there are a set of core skills you need to keep yourself and your clients safe. This course will teach you everything you need to know about best practise and working within ethical guidelines.We’ll cover:Fairness, equality & diversity, exploring the barriers clients may encounter in using our servicesBuilding an appropriate relationship with clients and handling conflicts of interestSafeguarding: what do we do if a client talks about suicide, self-harm, or harming others?Confidentiality, when to keep it and when to break itData protection and keeping clients’ information secureContracting and maintaining professional boundariesCore skills such as organisation, time management, communication and assertivenessWorking within our remit and signposting clients to additional supportSupervision and joining professional bodiesSuitable insurance for helping professionalsPersonal development and practitioner self-careWe will explore each of these areas in a series of lessons backed up by reading material, case studies and exercises. The course features dozens of downloadable worksheets and examples so you can learn from real-world situations and apply the learning to your situation.By the end of this course, you will be able to work with confidence, knowing that you can handle difficult situations with clients and work within ethical guidelines to protect yourself and your clients.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Welcome

Lecture 2 Course goals and outline

Lecture 3 How to use this course

Lecture 4 Course handbook

Section 2: Fairness

Lecture 5 Diversity

Lecture 6 Common barriers

Lecture 7 Discrimination

Lecture 8 Case study: women-only classes

Lecture 9 Case study: access to buildings

Lecture 10 Being accessible

Lecture 11 Respecting difference

Lecture 12 Power imbalance

Section 3: The relationship

Lecture 13 Working alliance

Lecture 14 Building safety

Lecture 15 Safe environments checklist

Lecture 16 Safe online environments

Lecture 17 Dual relationships

Lecture 18 Romantic relationships

Lecture 19 Case study: romantic relationships

Lecture 20 Conflict of interest

Lecture 21 Case study: gifts

Lecture 22 Termination

Section 4: Safeguarding

Lecture 23 What is safeguarding?

Lecture 24 Types of abuse

Lecture 25 Harm to the individual

Lecture 26 Case study: suicide

Lecture 27 Harm to the public

Lecture 28 Harm to another individual

Lecture 29 Safeguarding pathways

Lecture 30 Harm to the practitioner

Section 5: Confidentiality

Lecture 31 Maintaining client confidentiality

Lecture 32 Breaking confidentiality

Lecture 33 Data protection

Lecture 34 Principles of data protection

Lecture 35 Keeping secure notes

Lecture 36 Meeting a client in public

Section 6: Contracting

Lecture 37 What is contracting?

Lecture 38 Informed consent

Lecture 39 Boundaries

Lecture 40 Cancellations

Lecture 41 Case study: last-minute cancellations

Lecture 42 Complaints

Lecture 43 Contracting checklist

Lecture 44 Written contracts

Section 7: Core skills

Lecture 45 What are core skills?

Lecture 46 Organisation

Lecture 47 Top tips for organisation

Lecture 48 Time management

Lecture 49 Top tips for time management

Lecture 50 Assertiveness

Lecture 51 Top tips for assertiveness

Lecture 52 Communication

Lecture 53 Top tips for communication

Lecture 54 Computer literacy

Section 8: Remit

Lecture 55 What is remit?

Lecture 56 Ethical referrals

Lecture 57 Case study: working within your remit

Lecture 58 Case study: mindfulness and mental health

Lecture 59 Signposting

Lecture 60 Signposting worksheet

Section 9: Supervision

Lecture 61 What is supervision?

Lecture 62 What happens in supervision?

Lecture 63 Types of supervision

Lecture 64 Where do I find a supervisor?

Lecture 65 Supervision ratios

Lecture 66 Supervision log

Section 10: Professional bodies

Lecture 67 What is a professional body?

Lecture 68 Affiliation vs regulation

Lecture 69 Joining a professional body

Lecture 70 Ethical framework example 1: BACP

Lecture 71 Ethical framework example 2: Association for Coaching

Lecture 72 Ethical framework example 3: Yoga Alliance

Section 11: Insurance

Lecture 73 Do I need insurance?

Lecture 74 Types of insurance

Lecture 75 Insurance policies

Lecture 76 Finding insurance

Section 12: Personal development

Lecture 77 Personal therapy

Lecture 78 Personal practice

Lecture 79 Up-to-date knowledge

Lecture 80 Journal alerts

Lecture 81 Self-reflection

Lecture 82 Self-reflection worksheets

Lecture 83 Continuing professional development (CPD)

Lecture 84 SWOT analysis

Lecture 85 Personal development plan

Section 13: Self-care

Lecture 86 Importance of self-care

Lecture 87 Aspects of self-care

Lecture 88 Types of self-care

Lecture 89 Case study: Chris’s self-care

Lecture 90 Self-care worksheet

Section 14: Conclusion

Lecture 91 Conclusion

Lecture 92 Bonus lecture

Counsellors and psychotherapists,Coaches,Mindfulness, meditation and yoga teachers,Other professional practitioners