The regulatory statutory bodies such as the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and the South African Council for Social services Professions (SACSSP) set, maintains and applies fair standards of professional conduct and practice to effectively protect the interests of the public. Individual practitioners at different levels, registered with the HPCSA and the SACSSP, are held responsible for adherence to ethical and professional conduct. This workshop will reflect on the ethical requirements for counselling practices in public institutions, highlighting the importance of ethical practice.  The workshop will provide a background to ethical practice emphasizing the need for ethical conduct, when providing services in public institutions as well as highlighting some of the ethical challenges counsellors working in public institutions face, given the context in which services are provided at various public institutions such as hospitals, schools, universities etc. There are ethical challenges that emanate from several factors ranging from inter alia clients’ expectations, intra-institutional referrals from other units, technology and other physical logistics. Oversight by institutional management, having to deal with internal and external professionals in addition to significant others, all present ethical dilemmas. Counsellors find themselves at the centre of a myriad of factors which will be discussed with examples from practice, illustrating some ethical dilemmas facing counsellors in public institutions with recommendations on how these dilemmas can be dealt with based on the ethical requirements.

NB: The attainment of CEUs or CPD points does not license any professional to practise outside of their scope or competency. CPD training is intended to broaden the knowledge of professionals and does not constitute professional training. The responsibility to practise within their relevant scope remains with the professional, regardless of what CPD training they attend.