Ethical practice: working with children, families, and the law

Developed to support Arts and Play Therapists, and Child Counsellors new to private practice or working with children and families, this 3 hour webinar will focus on two categories of ethical dilemmas common to providing therapy to children (0-12years) and their caregivers in the context of private practice in Australia.
Vulnerable children include children who have experienced family violence, early life trauma, living in out of home care, or have child protection involvement. Most university courses do not provide training on these ethical issues and this area of practice carries with it unique ethical challenges that therapists working in this area need to be aware of and be competent in. 

These are:

1. Ethical issues that need to be considered in relation to parents/caregivers. Questions explored include what is our duty of care to maintain a confidential therapeutic intervention? Who and how do we determine what is in the best interests of the child? What are the limitations of our role? What boundaries are needed and why? What is dual consent and what are the ethical issues associated with this for the child?

2. The intersection of ethical practice and the law: what happens when there is an intervention order in place? what sorts of orders are there that implicate children? what is my role for families moving through family court proceedings?

The webinar will offer participants an opportunity to explore questions from their own direct practice in an interactive and reflective space as well as stimulate a deeper understanding of these ethical issues and the intersection with legal systems. Case studies will be used and practical information will be provided that can be taken straight into everyday work that support mature ethical thinking and practice.

N.B. Discussion of individual cases will not be permitted and will not replace clinical supervision.

Emma van Daal has 15 years of experience working with vulnerable children in both community and private settings and has been subject to court proceedings on several occasions. She understands how this can be stressful for therapists who do not have the support of a workplace and/or have not worked in organisations where exposure to policies and systems inform practice knowledge. University training in ethics is general and lacks a deeper dive into real practice. Early career practitioners can move into private practice roles ill-equipped to do the work in an ethically competent way despite being ethical therapists. Emma is an Arts therapist, Child Psychotherapist and works as a consultant and researcher in the area of infant mental health.