Duties and commitment of the therapist and client.
The text below represents a moral contract to which each of the parties, the therapist and the client, commits. I ask you to read it and tacitly abide by it.
Duties, responsibilities and limits of the therapist, basic principles
- To practice the profession of therapist is more a craft than a science, and requires humility and rigor.
- I will accompany you on a path that can be difficult and painful, but also a source of discovery, of joy, and of invaluable self-knowledge.
- I am not perfect or omniscient or the sole owner of the truth. Nor am I a guarantor of good and evil, or of the “normal”.
- I am not obliged to provide therapy.
- I pledge to offer quality services to clients who meet me online or in person. I will do so to the best of my ability, in the context of my professional training and personal experience only.
- I will respect your integrity and your own values in the process of change. I am required to use my skills while respecting the values and dignity of my clients and keeping their best interest in mind.
- Our work relationship forbids me to have any other form of association with you, or with your family, except in the case of fortuitous geographical proximity. The relationship is thus defined in a therapeutic context in the interests of the client.
- I have a duty to maintain and develop my professional skills and personal development in a field which is in constant evolution.
- I undertake to respect a fundamental human ethic taking its root in perennial wisdom, non-violence (physical or verbal), non-aggression (verbal, sexual or even psychological).
- I am not a doctor. I do not prescribe any medication and refrain from any recommendations as to their use or non-use, even if the diagnoses of doctors are of interest to me. I will not interfere with medication and I do not advise in this area. I can only deal with internal conflicts or psychological disorders of the mind and soul of individuals in order to improve their psychological status and state of mind. I do not treat “diseases”, although they can disappear with the resolution of a conflict or difficulty – as happens often, thankfully.
- I am not a “certified psychotherapist”, accredited by a state association of professionals from France, Switzerland, the United States or elsewhere, although my training has consisted of studying psychology and psychotherapy in these countries and within such professional associations, among others.
- My vocational and continuous training, corroborated by diplomas, certificates and other attestations of my skills, has taught me the ancient “Art” of the therapeutic relationship, of individual development and self-realization.
- The content of our sessions is strictly confidential. I am very careful about this and attach the utmost importance to it! I may use the clinical data from your consultations, but with extreme caution to safeguard your strict anonymity, and for scientific or educational purposes only.
- If I feel that the problems you are encountering are not within my competence, it is my duty to direct you to a colleague who may be more able to achieve a satisfactory result.
Duties of the client, basic principles of the commitment and engagement
- The client, by using the services of Samui Life Coaching, should be aware of his or her own responsibility, being conscious as far as possible of the necessity for his active and permanent cooperation in the process undertaken.
- The client should understand that the measures and rules of this contract are promulgated in the client’s own interest and for his own protection, to achieve a successful process.
- The client agrees to do what he has committed to do for himself, as part of his development, as far as possible.
- The client understands that he cannot expect anything else from the therapist other than what is described in this code of ethics.
- The client makes a commitment to respect and honour the appointments.
- The sessions or consultations are of 45-60 minutes or 90-120 minutes duration.
- In case of non-attendance, let me know immediately or as quickly as possible.
- If you cancel your session less than 24 hours before the appointment, the meeting will not be refunded except in extraordinary circumstances that can be proved.
- The following do not constitute extraordinary circumstances:
o Making a mistake in the date or time of appointment
o Forgetting the appointment.
References for code of ethics:
- Wikipedia: Ethics of psychology
- “Code de Déontologie pratique thérapeutique et rapports avec les patients”, de Alain Tortosa, Fédération AAPEL (Association d’Aide aux Personnes avec un “Etat limite”.
- Site Internet du “Centre de diffusion et de promotion du mieux-vivre (Développement personnel & Psychothérapies)”, de Anne De Vreught et de Baudouin Labrique, “L’engagement des thérapeutes dans le cadre de leur travail (en séance et à domicile)”.
