PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERVENTIONS

One finding of the 'Effectiveness Review' was that certain professional characteristics of counsellors were probably more important than the particular form of therapy: best results were achieved by counsellors with high levels of organisation and who closely adhered to chosen counselling programme rules (McClellan et al, 1994).

The BAC Code of Ethics and Practice for Counselling (amended 1996) provides the basic framework for counsellors to adhere to. The specifications provided by the BAC for accreditation can be used to determine the minimum qualifications and practice experience required for a person to be classified as capable of providing counselling. This includes four hundred and fifty hours course work on counselling theory with an equal amount of time spent in counselling practice. The amount of theoretical work hours equates to that provided by most counselling Diploma courses. The BAC offers guidance on the minimum amount of supervision required for a counsellor to remain in practice: one and a half hours counselling supervision each month. Where a person is acting in a dual capacity (i.e. providing nursing duties with some clients while taking on the role of counsellor with others), the counselling supervision should be separate from the supervision of their other duties. The BAC Code of Ethics and Practice for Supervision of Counsellors (1996) provides comprehensive details and these should be used by all counsellors and supervisors within substance misuse services.

The British Association for Counselling (BAC) has historically preferred to perceive 'counselling' as a distinct entity from 'counselling skills', the former referring to those circumstances where the practitioner

and client explicitly contract to enter into a counselling relationship and the latter applying to those situations where the practitioner uses counselling skills as a part of their other professional duties. 'A client can be deemed to be receiving counselling if they are being seen by a person who has taken on the role of counsellor and who is not acting in another professional capacity with that client'. Drawing on this position, it seems reasonable to assume that many health and social care professionals will not be in a position to provide counselling unless they are seeing a client solely for that purpose. From the perspective of substance misuse services, professionals providing counselling will need to ensure that a client's other health and social needs are addressed by different team members.

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The above information is copyright of Dr Bruce Trathen MBBS MRCPsych (2006). ISBN 0-9545164-0-0. The author grants permission for these guidelines to be downloaded, copied and distributed freely, but does not grant permission for their sale.