Code of Ethics and Professional Practice for Gestalt Therapists
These ethical principles and standards are based on the Code of Ethics for Gestalt Therapists of the EAGT (the European Association for Gestalt Therapy). The Code of Ethics has two purposes. First, it sets out general principles and establishes standards of professional ethics for gestalt therapists and gestalt institutes. Second, it informs and protects the people who seek psychotherapeutic services.
A gestalt therapist (the Therapist) — in this Code, a specialist of either sex who provides psychotherapeutic services within the paradigm of the gestalt approach, relying on the principles and standards of the Code of Ethics.
The main purpose of psychotherapy is to raise the psychophysiological and social quality of life of individuals, groups and communities through the psychotherapeutic relationship. Gestalt therapy as a whole recognises these aims, bearing in mind the subjectivity of the quality of life of individuals as a phenomenon of their field.
Since this aim is reached through a dialogical approach that recognises personal autonomy and self-regulation, the Code of Ethics provides space and mechanisms for resolving disagreements between the parties. Conflicts between gestalt therapists are resolved through dialogue and an exchange of views rather than through a hierarchical system of assessments and instructions.
The Code of Ethics applies to all individual members and member organisations of the European Association for Gestalt Therapy at international level. If a discrepancy arises between this Code and the provisions of a local national code, the latter prevails. This Code is subject to review if it becomes inapplicable to the standards of professional ethics.
Gestalt therapists undertake to observe the principles of the Code of Ethics and Professional Practice and to regard them as the foundation of good practice rather than as a list of minimum requirements.
This Code protects not only clients but also gestalt therapists, by establishing ethical standards that define the limits of practice and responsibility in the working setting.
All students, therapists, teachers and supervisors of KIGiP agree with the provisions of this Code and accept them, and also give their consent to the application of the procedure for considering complaints, submitting reports and assessing their breaches of the Code of Ethics and Professional Practice. Every student, therapist, teacher and supervisor of KIGiP undertakes to apply the rules of the Code of Ethics in their professional practice and to follow the rules of the Complaints Procedure.
The Ethics Committee of KIGiP is responsible for drawing up the Code of Ethics and the Complaints Procedure.
A. CODE OF ETHICS
A.1. The declaration of the equal worth of all individuals.
A.2. Respect for the uniqueness, worth and dignity of the person.
A.3. Acceptance of difference: of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, preferences, disability, age, religion, language, social and economic status, and of spiritual needs.
A.4. Recognition of the importance of autonomy and personal self-regulation in the context of interpersonal relationships in contact.
B. CODE OF PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN GESTALT THERAPY
B.1 Competence.
B.1.1. A gestalt therapist takes on only those tasks for the performance and completion of which, in their judgement or on reasonable grounds, they have the necessary competence, and which will have a favourable effect on the client’s process.
A gestalt therapist begins to work only on tasks that are well known to them, or in which they are well informed, steady and confident enough to complete them for the good of the client’s process.
B.1.2. If, in the course of the work, a gestalt therapist discovers particular limits to their competence, they either recommend another specialist to the client or enter into cooperation with an appropriate specialist, including seeking supervision.
B.1.3. The first step in this process is to review and discuss the initial contract with the client. Continuing to work with the client entails taking the necessary steps to improve the therapist’s competence.
B.1.3.1. The therapist studies the client’s request and difficulties attentively and decides whether their competence is sufficient for the therapeutic work to be carried out wholly in the client’s interests. If the gestalt therapist reasonably concludes that the contextual field — its structure, boundaries and the aims that dominate in that area — in some way contradicts or unduly limits the unfolding of the competence needed for the development of the client’s process, the therapist refrains from further work with that client.
B.1.3.2. In a difficult situation the gestalt therapist turns to more experienced colleagues for support and help in clarifying the difficulties.
B.1.3.3. The gestalt therapist seeks individual or group supervision, whichever is most appropriate for supporting and clarifying the difficulties that have arisen in the course of their work.
B.1.3.4. If the client needs additional help (diagnosis, treatment and so on) that lies beyond the gestalt therapist’s competence, the therapist seeks to build cooperation with representatives of other professions and institutions (for example, clinics).
B.1.4. The gestalt therapist protects their work and the reputation of the profession from any unqualified actions, projects and procedures (lectures, interviews in the media, seminars) that do not meet the agreed professional standards.
B.1.5. The gestalt therapist seeks individual therapy if their own state is unstable, which may show itself in personal crises, signs of burnout and/or difficulty in protecting the boundaries of intimacy, and in a tendency towards seduction.
B.1.6. Methodological and technical means in the therapeutic process must serve the therapeutic aims and must be agreed with the client in the therapeutic contract. The gestalt therapist is aware that any techniques, especially expressive and cathartic ones, require de-dramatisation at the closing stage, which can be achieved through detailed and careful working through.
B.1.7. The gestalt therapist seeks to widen and deepen their competence, continuing to learn throughout their professional life. In the interests of their clients, the gestalt therapist is open to important scientific discoveries and research in the gestalt approach or in other schools of psychotherapeutic research and practice.
B.1.8. The gestalt therapist documents their diagnostic and therapeutic work with the client in detail, observing the requirements of the law regarding the period of storage of documents and the necessary security measures. Detailed documentation means meeting the scientific standard laid down by local psychotherapy legislation and observing the principles of objectivity and clarity needed for the documentation and the data it contains to be understandable and acceptable to another professional therapist.
B.2 The client–therapist relationship.
B.2.1. The client/therapist relationship is a professional relationship in which the client’s wellbeing is the therapist’s first concern.
B.2.2. Gestalt therapists recognise the importance of the relationship for effective therapy and are aware of the power and influence, and of the issues of dependence, inherent in this situation. The gestalt therapist acts in accordance with this understanding and does not bring into the relationship with clients any financial, sexual, emotional, political or ideological element that could lead to personal gain or to the meeting of their own needs, or that serves the interests of any other persons or institutions.
B.2.3. Gestalt therapists pay attention to situations in which their other relationships or outside obligations come into conflict with the client’s interests. Where such a conflict of interests exists, the gestalt therapist is responsible for discussing it openly within the therapeutic relationship and for taking the necessary steps to resolve the matter.
B.2.4. Physical contact (a hug, a handshake and so on) in the therapeutic process is oriented solely to the client’s wellbeing and calls for particular professional reflection and care. The client’s informed consent to such contact is of the first importance.
B.2.5. Gestalt therapists recognise that dual relationships are incompatible with the therapeutic process. For example, they must not carry out therapeutic work with a colleague, a close friend, a relative, a neighbour or a partner.
B.3 Confidentiality.
B.3.1. All the gestalt therapist’s interactions with the client are confidential and fall under section B.7 below.
B.3.2. The rules for storing the client’s personal data, including notes on the client’s history and the course of therapy, are governed by the relevant national legal and professional norms.
B.3.3. The gestalt therapist takes care that identifiable personal data are not spread along the intersecting links of confidential relationships, such as supervision.
B.3.4. Where a gestalt therapist wishes to use particular information obtained in the course of work with a client in a lecture or a publication, the client’s permission must be obtained and strict anonymity of names and data must be preserved, presenting the information in such a way that the client cannot be identified.
B.3.5. Where a gestalt therapist intends to use particular material from work with a client for case studies, papers and publications, they must obtain the client’s informed consent and strictly protect the anonymity of the client and of the client’s personal information.
B.3.6. Photography and video or audio recording of therapy sessions require the client’s explicit permission or the written consent of their official representative.
B.3.7. If a gestalt therapist wishes to obtain data about a client from other specialists or institutions, they observe the client’s rights under national law. This also applies to any records about the client.
B.3.8. The gestalt therapist observes the requirements concerning the client’s right of access to records about themselves in accordance with local national law, and oversees the transfer of the relevant documents to the client.
B.3.9. Where state or private bodies such as courts, insurance companies and so on request the client’s data, the gestalt therapist follows national legal norms. In addition, the gestalt therapist discusses this matter with the client in the way most favourable to the therapeutic process.
B.3.10. Where, under the applicable law in force, the client is a minor, the gestalt therapist builds the therapeutic relationship in accordance with current national law. In addition, the gestalt therapist observes national legal and professional provisions on the care of a child in cases of abuse, neglect or other forms of restriction or violation of the child’s rights.
B.4. The contract with the client.
B.4.1. Any contract concluded between a gestalt therapist and a client is binding on both parties, whether it is written or oral.
B.4.2. The gestalt therapist gives a prospective client clear and open information about their competence, knowledge and experience when discussing the contract for the provision of therapeutic services.
B.4.3. The gestalt therapist organises the intake procedure in accordance with the rules accepted for the branch of psychotherapy they practise.
B.4.4. Any photography, audio or video recording, or the presence of an observer in a session, must be discussed and contracted with the client.
B.4.5. The written or oral contract with the client must clearly set out the cost of therapy sessions, the payment schedule, the place of meetings, breaks and cancellations of sessions by the client or the therapist. Breaks may be caused by holidays, other professional commitments, illness and so on. Matters such as the duration of therapy, the client’s transfer from one specialist to another and the ending of therapy are discussed by the therapist with the client and require the agreement of both.
B.4.6. If the gestalt therapist encounters personal difficulties or physical trouble of their own, they turn to a supervisor for support in restoring their professional relationship with the client.
B.4.7. The gestalt therapist guarantees that, without the client’s express permission, the course of the therapeutic relationship will not be affected by any outside persons, principles, interests of the gestalt therapist or of other interested parties, whatever their relationship with the client.
B.4.8. Any change to the above conditions requires the contract with the client to be renegotiated.
B.5 Advertising.
A gestalt therapist’s advertising must be limited to descriptions of the services available and of the qualifications of the specialist who provides them. Advertising must not contain client testimonials and must not include letters of recommendation or comparative assessments; that is, it must not in any way claim that the services provided are more effective than similar services of colleagues, of other schools of therapy or of other organisations. The content of advertisements is subject to the national rules of legal and professional bodies.
Our organisation (KIGiP) considers that, in advertising their services, people may call themselves a psychologist if they hold a higher education diploma confirming that qualification, and may call themselves a gestalt therapist if they hold valid certificates for that qualification or a retraining diploma stating such a qualification.
B.6 Safety.
B.6.1. The gestalt therapist takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that no psychological or physical harm or violence is done to the client during a session.
B.6.2. The gestalt therapist ensures the privacy of therapy sessions. No person other than those named in the relevant contract between the client and the gestalt therapist has the right to listen to, watch or record therapy sessions.
B.6.3. Gestalt therapists and organisations are obliged to cover the risks of their professional activity with appropriate insurance, where this is required in the country in which they work.
B.7 Exceptional circumstances.
B.7.1. A gestalt therapist may be obliged to take steps to protect the client and/or their social environment if it cannot be said with sufficient confidence that the client is in control of their actions. In this case, where possible and applicable, the client’s informed consent should be obtained for changes to the confidentiality provisions of the contract.
B.7.2. When a therapist is in contact with a client for whom, in the therapist’s judgement, «exceptional circumstances» apply, the therapist asks the client for the name of a person whom they may contact if necessary. Any subsequent departure from the rules of confidentiality is strictly limited to the period of time, or the state of the client, in which the client is unable to bear responsibility for their own actions.
B.7.3. In cases of individual and/or social emergency (for example, individual and/or public danger to life, civil unrest, war, natural disaster and so on) the gestalt therapist will maintain the frame of the therapeutic work and preserve the client’s autonomy and professional confidentiality as far as circumstances allow.
B.7.4. The gestalt therapist protects the client’s autonomy and professional confidentiality in cases where the psychotherapeutic process is part of a wider process concerning the client’s wellbeing. This applies in particular where the psychotherapeutic work was initiated within a larger project (work in a hospital, work with an organisation, work with subordinates and so on), or by a team of health care specialists. The gestalt therapist discusses the terms on which their services are provided at the initial stage of contracting with their clients and with the other people and specialists involved in the project, and returns to this matter thereafter.
B.8 Regulation of the gestalt therapist’s activity.
B.8.1. Legislation.
The gestalt therapist is familiar with current national law in so far as it concerns their professional activity and the organisation of their work, and carefully observes the provisions of the applicable law in force.
B.8.2. Research.
The gestalt therapist is open to taking part in research, which is an instrument for developing professional therapeutic and diagnostic work, and makes the results of their research available to the therapeutic community.
B.8.3. In their own research the gestalt therapist respects co-authors, the copyright of others, and colleagues’ professional data and materials.
B.8.4. Responsibility towards colleagues and other people.
The gestalt therapist is properly accountable for their work to colleagues and co-workers, respecting above all the client’s personal space, needs and autonomy and the norms of confidentiality and anonymity.
B.8.5. Advertising. In public and in private the gestalt therapist refrains from promoting their services and from boasting about their education and professional qualities.
B.8.6. The gestalt therapist follows national professional regulations when presenting information about themselves on plates and wall signs, in newspaper announcements, telephone directories or on the internet.
B.8.7. The public must not be misled about a gestalt therapist’s services or qualifications, since this may prevent a client from obtaining quality services in good time from other sources and specialists.
B.8.8. The gestalt therapist does not conceal from the client information about the availability of help and professional services from colleagues and other organisations.
B.8.9. The gestalt therapist always respects the work of colleagues, including in public statements, and refrains from disparaging remarks and comments about theoretical models, schools or colleagues in their various professional roles.
B.8.10. The gestalt therapist does not agree to take part in a project in which a colleague is already engaged without first obtaining that colleague’s consent, especially where it is a question of beginning therapy while a therapeutic contract exists between the client and another therapist. If in doubt, the gestalt therapist enters into dialogue with the colleague after obtaining the client’s informed consent.
B.8.11. The gestalt therapist does not receive economic or personal benefit from referring clients to colleagues or organisations.
B.8.12. A gestalt therapist who receives information about a colleague’s conduct that discredits the profession and the psychotherapeutic community is obliged to confront that colleague and/or their professional association.
B.8.13. Undesirable activity.
The gestalt therapist does not join initiatives that may prove damaging to their reputation, to the reputation of the organisation they represent, or to the profession as such.
B.8.14. Political aspects of therapeutic work.
The gestalt therapist is aware of the social and political consequences of their work and of the effect of these aspects on their clients.
B.8.15. Psychotherapeutic education. The task of psychotherapeutic training is to inform students about the theoretical, methodological and technical developments of psychotherapy in general, and of gestalt therapy in particular, impartially and accessibly. Teachers’ personal views must be clearly identified as such. False expectations should not be encouraged in students, especially when discussing the provisions of national law on the provision of training services, questions of awarding the qualification of «psychotherapist», and questions of providing psychotherapeutic services through medical insurance.
B.8.16. Gestalt institutes must check the qualifications and the psychophysical suitability of prospective students, and must provide clear and full information about the curriculum and internal rules.
B.8.17. Gestalt institutes guarantee the quality of education — in terms of the professional competence of teachers and supervisors and of the effectiveness of the training programme. Institutes monitor the quality of education and ensure the development of teaching methodology.
B.8.18. Relations between teachers, students and institutes must be clear and transparent. Gestalt therapists who teach students are aware of the particular nature of such relations, of the force of dependence and of the idealisation of assessments inherent in them, and do not use them for their own benefit. Educational institutes create rules governing relations between teachers and students, and a space in which problems that arise can be voiced and resolved.
B.8.19. Institutes periodically check whether a student’s level of education is sufficient and create transparent and appropriate procedures for this.
B.8.20. The ethical principles governing the client–therapist relationship and the therapist’s activity in society (competence, confidentiality, aspects of the relationship, contracting and safety) also apply to the field of education and to relations between teachers and students.
B.8.21. A student’s gestalt therapy during training must be protected from possible overlapping roles on the part of the teaching trainer, and the student’s therapist must refrain from taking part in the formal assessment of the student’s professional development and professional suitability.
B.8.22. Institutes monitor and support the appropriate personal, didactic, clinical and academic qualities and competences of their teachers, as well as the professional interaction of trainers, compulsory supervision and the further professional growth of teachers.
B.8.23. If a gestalt therapist wavers between several ethical positions or requirements and cannot resolve the conflict alone or through supervision and intervision, they turn to the Ethics Committee of their institute or to a professional association for advice.
B.9 Relations with former clients.
B.9.1. The gestalt therapist is responsible for relations with former clients and students.
B.10 Legal regulation.
Every student, therapist, teacher and supervisor who is a member of the KIGiP community and who is convicted of a criminal offence, or against whom a civil claim is brought by a client, must inform the administration of KIGiP of this without delay.
C. COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS PROCEDURE
C.1. Complaints procedure.
C.1.1. This procedure is a means of communication for the purpose of expressing points of view, investigation, reconciliation and redress, within which all parties connected with the complaint can receive support and be heard.
The process potentially involves three stages: A. An informal meeting between the complainant and the member of the community against whom the complaint is made, with the participation of an independent representative who will facilitate the discussion.
B. A formal application to the Ethics Committee, which consists of three people who are not members of the board or of other executive bodies of the organisation.
C. A formal written complaint describing its content and subject, with all available evidence and facts.
C.1.2. Complaints must be submitted as soon as possible after the event has taken place. Complaints about events more than seven years old are not usually considered, except in cases of entangled relationships of dependence, for example sexual abuse (in such cases the limit is up to 10 years).
C.1.3. The person against whom a complaint is made must be a member of the KIGiP community (student, therapist, teacher, supervisor). Questions of membership of the KIGiP community, or of leaving it, must not be decided by the person complained against while the complaint is being considered.
C.1.4. Complaints concerning legal or financial matters, or matters of status, do not fall within the competence of the Ethics Committee and are not considered by it. In such cases complaints must be directed to the appropriate authorities under the current legislation of Ukraine.
C.1.5. If a complaint is received about a member of the KIGiP community, it must be passed to the Ethics Committee without delay. Within 7 days the Ethics Committee notifies the complainant that their application has been received and informs the person against whom the complaint is made that it exists.
C.1.6. The Ethics Committee is also open to complaints against KIGiP teachers who train students in psychotherapy. In this case the complainant contacts the Ethics Committee of KIGiP and will be advised on further steps. The structure and membership of the Ethics Committee are discussed once every three years at the General Meeting of KIGiP.
C.1.7. Within 14 days the Ethics Committee contacts the applicant, discussing the options with them and choosing a procedure convenient for them. As a first step, the representative of the Ethics Committee should involve the complainant in an informal dialogue with the person complained against, in order to reach a mutually satisfactory arrangement for resolving the situation.
C.1.8. If such an informal dialogue did not take place or did not resolve the conflict, the representative of the Ethics Committee strongly recommends two mediators (who need not be members of the KIGiP community). Such mediators must be acceptable to both parties.
C.1.9. If mediation was refused by either party or did not resolve the conflict, the applicant may send a written application to the Chair of the Ethics Committee. In that case the previous experts are removed from the further process, and the Chair may return the application to the complainant to clarify the desired form and/or content of the complaint. Meanwhile the person complained against receives written notice of the complaint.
C.1.10. The Ethics Committee must establish as quickly as possible whether the application contains serious grounds for a formal complaint, and if so, the Ethics Committee is obliged to inform the applicant of this. If there are no grounds, the Chair of the Ethics Committee may consider the application at their discretion.
C.1.11. If the application is accepted, the person complained against receives a written copy of the complaint at the same time as the applicant is informed that the complaint has been accepted. The person complained against must send a written response to the complaint to the Chair within 21 days, and the Chair must send a copy of it to the applicant.
C.1.12. To consider the application, the Chair of the Ethics Committee must convene a panel of three people (who are not members of the board of the organisation); the application must be considered within 21 working days. If for any reason — for example, the absence of members of the Ethics Committee — there are obstacles to holding a meeting of the Committee, a postponement should be agreed; the period of consideration may then be extended by a further 21 working days.
C.1.13. The Ethics Committee is obliged to inform both parties to the conflict of the outcome of its work. This process often involves a face-to-face meeting of the parties. If a personal meeting is not possible, the Ethics Committee chooses another form of communication at a time convenient for all parties.
C.1.14. All the necessary documents relating to the complaint must be provided to the Ethics Committee and to both parties no later than within twenty working days.
C.1.15. The Ethics Committee is obliged to prepare a written report on the consideration of the complaint within 10 days and to send the relevant copies to the Chair of the Ethics Committee, to the complainant and to the respondent. The Ethics Committee is involved in deciding the sanctions proposed by the panel considering the application.
C.1.16. The report must contain information about the nature of the complaint, the procedures that followed and the outcome of the process for both parties. The conclusions may be as follows: the conflict has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties; the complaint is unfounded; the complaint is founded in certain respects. If the complaint is found to be founded, the report must state which provisions of the Code of Ethics were breached.
If the complaint is found to be founded in some respects, the Committee may propose the following sanctions: additional supervision; a review of the practice of the person complained against; further training; a formal warning and an instruction to stop working in the manner in question. Exclusion from membership of the KIGiP community may take place only for a particularly gross professional act, such as the active sexual exploitation of a client. The Ethics Committee sets the periods within which the sanctions must be carried out. The panel is obliged to follow this process and to inform the Ethics Committee of KIGiP.
C.1.17. The outcomes of complaints found to be founded are recorded by the Ethics Committee. A recommendation for exclusion from membership is submitted for approval to the administration of KIGiP. The applicant and the person complained against are notified of the decision within 21 days, whether or not the complaint is found to be founded. If, under the decision of the Ethics Committee, particular sanctions are envisaged, the Committee informs them of the periods for carrying them out.
C.1.18. If one of the parties does not support a dialogical discussion but uses legal or emotional pressure (insults, intimidation, coercion), work on the case is passed to the administration, since the Ethics Committee can work only with people who remain able to stay in constructive dialogue.
C.2. Appeals procedure.
C.2.1. Both the complainant and the person against whom the complaint was made may lodge an appeal in connection with the conclusion of the Ethics Committee’s work on the complaint. An appeal is lodged no later than 15 working days from the day the Ethics Committee’s decision was issued.
C.2.2. The appellant must give clear and substantial arguments to support their view that:
– the Committee’s decision is not applicable to their situation; – the procedures carried out in considering the complaint were biased.
C.2.3. The appeal is considered by an Appeals Panel, whose task is to determine whether there are grounds for the appeal.
C.2.4. The Appeals Panel consists of 3 people. The structure of the Appeals Panel is discussed once every three years at a meeting of KIGiP.
C.2.5. If the appeal is accepted by the chair of the Appeals Panel, both parties are notified. The presence of both parties is possible only at the invitation of the Appeals Panel.
C.2.6. The Appeals Panel consists of three members (one of whom is the coordinator for the particular case) and one independent expert.
C.2.7. The appeal procedure must be completed within 30 working days.
C.2.8. The decision of the Appeals Panel is sent in writing to the Chair of the Ethics Committee and to the Chair of the Appeals Panel, who is obliged to inform the appellant of the decision within seven days.
C.2.9. All conclusions and other documents relating to the appeal procedure are kept in accordance with the requirements of the current legislation of Ukraine.
Clients’ complaints and objections are considered by the Ethics Committee of KIGiP.
Edited by: the Ethics Committee of KIGiP