Code of Conduct

I. Preamble

The Hong Kong Professional Counselling Association aims to promote professionalism in counselling. The present code offers general principles to guide professional conduct and the judicious appraisal of conduct. In our profession, we value integrity, impartiality and respect for persons and shall seek to establish the highest ethical standard in our work. Taking account of our obligations under the law, seek to hold the interest and welfare of our client’s to be paramount at all times.

II. Principles of Practice

Competence

2.	Members shall endeavour to maintain and develop their professional competence, to recognize and work within its limits, and to identify and ameliorate conditions which restrict it. Specifically they shall:

	2.1	neither claim nor imply professional qualifications which exceed those possessed, and are responsible for correcting any misrepresentations of those qualifications by others.

	2.2	recognize their own limitations and provide services or only use techniques for which they are qualified by training and/or experience.

	2.3	recognize the need to assure competent services and to seek continued education and professional growth through supervision, consultation, and active participation in the meetings and affairs of the Association.

	2.4	if requested to provide services, and where the services they judge to be appropriate are outside their personal competence, give every reasonable assistance towards obtaining those services from others who are appropriately qualified to provide them.

	2.5	take all reasonable steps to ensure that those working under their direct supervision comply with each of the foregoing, in particular that they recognize the limits of their competence and do not attempt to practise beyond them.

Relationship with Clients

The primary obligations of members is to respect the integrity, and promote the welfare of the client. They should not engaged in any action which would adversely affect the rights or interests of their claims. They shall seek to preserve the confidentiality of information acquired through their professional practices and normally only carry out interventions with the consent of the clients. Specifically they:


	3.1	shall not engage in any action that violates or diminishes the civil or legal rights of clients.

	3.2	shall provide clients with accurate and complete information as far as possible regarding the extent and nature of the services available to them.

	3.3	shall not exploit relationships with clients for personal advantage or shall avoid relationship or commitments that conflict with their interests and under no circumstances engage in sexual activities with clients.

	3.4	shall terminate services to clients and professional relationships with them, when such service and relationships are no longer required or no longer serve the clients’ needs or interest.

Confidentiality

Members, subject to the requirements of the law, shall take all reasonable steps to preserve the confidentiality of information acquired through their professional practice or research and to protect the privacy of individuals or organizations about whom information is collected or held. Specifically they shall:


	4.1	inform a person being provided with service of any known possible limitations in the setting for maintenance of confidentiality with regard to information gathered in professional work.

	4.2	in exceptional circumstances, where there is sufficient evidence to raise serious concern about the safety or interests of clients, or about others who may be threatened by clients’ behaviour, members shall take such steps as are judged necessary to inform appropriate third parties even without the prior consent of the clients. Whenever possible, members shall consult an experienced and independent colleague beforehand.

	4.3	take all reasonable steps to ensure that colleagues, staff and trainers with whom they work of the need for confidentiality regarding any information obtained as a result of the provision of professional services.

Obtaining Consent

5.	Members shall normally carry out investigations or interventions only with the valid consent of the subjects or clients, having taken all reasonable steps to ensure that they have adequately understood the nature of the process of the investigation or intervention. Specially they shall:


	5.1	recognize and uphold the rights of persons whose capacity to give valid consent to interventions may be diminished, including persons in the care of an institution or detained under the provisions of the law.

	5.2	recognize and uphold the rights of subjects and clients to withdraw previously given consent to investigations or interventions or other professional procedures after the commencement of such procedures.

	5.3	obtain informed consent from clients being taping, recording, or permitting third party observation of the activities.

Maintenance and Access to Records

6.	In general, the maintenance and access to records should be in compliance with specific requirements of the law. Members specifically shall:


	6.1	only record information which is necessary for the provision of continuous and coordinated services by all parties concerned.

	6.2	take all reasonable steps to ensure that records over which they have control remains personally identifiable only as long as is necessary in the interests of those to whom they refer, and to render anonymous or to destroy any records under their control that no longer need to be personally identifiable for these purposes.

	6.3	attempt to ensure that a policy be established with regard to the retention and disposal of records and that such policy is in line with the policy of the organization which employ them and with the principles acceptable within this Code for the proper protection of confidentiality.

	6.4	take all reasonable steps to safeguard the security of any records they have obtained, including records held on computers, and where they have limited control over access to such records, they shall exercise discretion with regard to the information entered in the record.

Remuneration for Services

7.	Members shall charge and accept fees that are fair and reasonable warranted by the circumstances, and proportional to the services provided.

Research and Publications

8.	Members engaged in study and research shall be guided by the conventions of scholarly inquiry. Specifically they shall:


	8.1	consider carefully possible consequences for human beings when engaged in research.

	8.2	ascertain that the consent of participants in the research is voluntary and informed, without any implied deprivation or penalty for refusal to participate, and with due regard for participants’ privacy and dignity.

	8.3	protect participants from unwarranted physical or mental discomfort, distress, harm, danger, or deprivation.

	8.4	when engaged in the evaluation of services or cases, discuss them only for professional purposes and only with persons directly and professionally concerned with them.

	8.5	information obtained about participants in research should be treated as confidential.

	8.6	take credit only for work actually done in connection with scholarly and research endeavors and credit contributions made by others.

Consulting

Consultation refers to a voluntary relationship between a professional helper and help-needing individual, group, or social unit in which the consultant is providing help to the client(s) in defining and solving a work-related problem or potential work-related problem with a client or client system. Specifically, they must:


	9.1	have a high degree of self-awareness of their own values, knowledge, skills, limitations, and needs when entering a helping relationship that involves human and/or organizational change. The focus of the consulting relationship must be on the issues to be resolved and not on the person(s) presenting the problem.

	9.2	understand and agree upon the problem definition, subsequent goals, and predicted consequences of interventions selected with the client.

	9.3	be reasonably certain that they, or the organization represented, have the necessary competencies and resources giving the kind of help that is needed or that may develop later, and that appropriate referral resources are available to the consultant.

	9.4	encourage and cultivate client adaptability and growth toward self-direction. Members must maintain this role consistently and not become a decision maker for clients or create a future dependency on the consultant.

	9.5	conscientiously adhere to the HKPCA Code of Conduct when announcing consultancy.