Ethics Flashcards
What is the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association and the Canadian Psychological Association Codes of Ethics? What are the 2 sets of ethical principles it is based on?
The Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association and the Canadian Psychological Association base their Codes of Ethics on two sets of ethical principles which, in spite of minor differences, overlap in meaning to a great extent, as shown in the comparison table below. The most important difference between the two conceptualizations is the fact that CPA (2017) prioritizes the weight that should be given to those four principles, which can help practitioners’ ethical decision-making process in cases when two ethical principles appear to be in conflict (i.e., in rare situations when upholding one principle may inadvertently lead to transgressing another). In contrast, CCPA (2020) does not conceptualize their six ethical principles as inherently hierarchical, but proposes that different weights could be given to different principles depending on the specific situation (hence, their use of small letter points instead of Roman numerals).
CPA 4 principles vs. CCPA 6?
CPA:
-Respect for the Dignity of Persons and Peoples
- Responsible Caring
- Integrity in Relationships
- Responsibility to Society
CCPA:
- Autonomy (respect for the dignity of Persons)
- Beneficence (Responsible caring)
- Nonmaleficence (Responsible caring)
- Fidelity (Integrity in relationships)
- justice (responsibility to society)
- societal interests (responsibility to society)
The Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (2020) lists 6 principles in their Code of Ethics. They are:
Beneficence: being proactive in promoting the clients’ best interests.
Fidelity: honouring commitments to clients and maintaining integrity in counselling relationships.
Non-maleficence: not wilfully harming clients and refraining from actions that risk harm.
Autonomy: respecting the rights of clients to self-determination.
Justice: respecting the dignity and just treatment of all persons.
Societal interest: respecting the need to be responsible to society.
Read the CCPA’s (2020) Code of Ethics and notice how the 6 principles identified above permeate all facets of the counsellors’ work: professional responsibility (section A), counselling relationships (section B), consulting and private practice (section C), evaluation and assessment (section D), research and publications (section E), and counsellor education, training, and supervision (section F).
How do the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association’s (2020) ethical principles differ from those put forth by the Canadian Psychological Association (2017)?
