APCA

Mission    Constitution    Code of Ethincs    join APCA

The American Philosophical Counseling Association is an organization dedicated to the professional development of philosophical practice in a variety of forms and settings through providing communication networks, educational and training opportunities and ethical standards of practice for its members, as well as informing the public, other professionals and law makers about the field, investigating the practicality of professional certification (standards, purpose and processes involved therein) and working in cooperation with the general international community of philosophical practitioners in shared projects and objectives.

CONSTITUTION:

Section 1: Name and Objectives

Article 1: Name 

The name of the association shall be the "American Philosophical Counseling Association", hereafter referred to as the "association".

Article 2: Objectives 

The association is an organization dedicated to the professional development of philosophical practice in a variety of forms and settings through providing communication networks, educational and training opportunities and ethical standards of practice for its members, as well as informing the public, other professionals and law makers about the field, investigating the practicality of professional certification (standards, purpose and processes involved therein) and working in cooperation with the general international community of philosophical practitioners in shared projects and objectives.

Section 2: Membership

Article1: Eligibility 

Membership shall be open to all persons who subscribe to theobjectives of the association and who have attained the age of 21.

Article 2: Types of Membership 

There shall be three types of membership in the association. Regular Membership: All members of the association who are not Practicing Members, as stipulated below, shall be considered regular members. Practicing Membership: Persons who identify themselves as practicing philosophical counselors, who hold at least an MA in philosophy, or the equivalent, and who agree in writing to abide by the association's code of ethics, shall be classified as practicing members, if they so wish. Honourary Membership: The association may from time to time appoint honourary members in recognition of outstanding contribution to the field. Such members may be nominated by means of a petition addressed to the Secretary, signed by 10 or more members, or by a majority vote of the Board. If the nominees accepts the nomination, and a two-third majority vote in favor by the association members is received, then honourary membership shall be granted. Honourary members will not have any voting privileges nor be able to hold office.

Article 3: Rights and Privileges 

Regular and practicing members, shall have equal rights and privileges within the association.

Article 4: Membership Dues 

Regular and practicing members shall pay annual dues to the association as stipulated in t he bylaws of the association.

Article 5: Termination of Membership 

Membership may be terminated by: a) Resignation or lapsing without return of dues; or b) Expulsion; where a two-third majority of members deem it necessary.

Section 3: Board of Directors 

Article 1: Board of Directors 

The Board shall consist of association members in good standing, to be elected to the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer (these last two positions may be combined) and General Board Membership, of which there shall be five.

Article 2: Duties 

a) The President shall preside at all meetings of the Board and the association at which s/he can be present, and shall have the duties and powers normally appurtenant to the office of President in addition to those specified in the association's bylaws. The President shall prepare an annual report of the activities of the Board, which shall be signed by those Board members present at he annual meeting. The report shall be published in the first convenient issue of the association's newsletter following the meeting; b) The Vice-President shall have and exercise the responsibilities of the President in his/her absence, in addition to reasonable duties requested by the President; c) The Secretary shall keep a record of all meetings of the association and of all votes taken, and of all matters of which a record shall be ordered by the association. The minutes of the annual meeting shall be published in the first convenient association newsletter. S/he shall have charge of the correspondence, notify members of meetings, notify Board members of their election to office, keep a roll of the members of the association, and carry out such other duties as are prescribed in the bylaws; d) The Treasurer shall collect and receive all money due or belonging to the association. S/he shall deposit the same in a bank approved by the Board, in the name of the association. To withdraw moneys for the association account, s/he and the President must jointly sign cheques. S/he shall report to the Board, at every meeting, the condition of the association's finances and every item of receipt or payment not before reported; and at the annual meeting s/he shall render an account of all moneys received and expended during the previous year. The Treasurer's report shall be available at least 14 days prior to the annual meeting. If, in the opinion of the Treasurer, any item in any bill to the association is excessive, s/he shall immediately submit a question to the Board for its decision; and e) Other Board members shall present to the Board any concerns/suggestions expressed by the members of the association, and shall assist the Board wherever possible.

Article 3: Terms of Office 

a) The President shall serve for a period of three years that may be renewed twice. b) The Vice-President shall serve for a period of three years that may be renewed twice. c) The Secretary shall serve for a period of two years that may be renewed three times. d) The Treasurer shall serve for a period of two years that may be renewed three times. e) Other Board members shall serve for a period of two years that may be renewed for an indefinite number of times. 

Article 4: Elections 

a) Election shall be by ballot solicited from the association's membership prior to the annual general meeting. All regular and practicing members who are in good standing may vote. b) Nominations for vacant positions on the Board shall be solicited from the members well in advance of the annual general meeting by the Secretary. Nominations submitted to the Secretary shall include advice that the nominee agrees to serve if elected.

Article 5: Vacancies 

Any vacancies occurring on the Board during the year shall be filled until the next annual meeting of the association by a majority vote of all the then members of the Board, except that a vacancy in the Presidency will automatically be filled by the Vice- President.

Section 4: Meetings

Article 1: Annual Meeting 

The annual meeting of the association shall be held during the period from June 1 through October 30, at a place, date and time specified by the Board. Written notice shall be mailed by the Secretary to each member at least 30 days prior to the date of the meeting. The quorum for the annual meeting shall be ten percent of the members eligible to vote. 

Article 2: Special Meetings 

Special meetings of the association may be called by the President, by three members of the Board, or by ten percent of members in good standing. In the latter case, the request shall be sent to the Secretary who will arrange such a meeting as soon as possible.

Article 3: Board Meetings 

A meeting of the Board should be held promptly following the conclusion of the election by means which are most feasible. Other meetings of the Board may be held at such times and places as are designated by a majority vote of the entire Board. The quorum for a Board meeting shall be a majority of the Board members. The Board may conduct its business by mail or email through the Secretary.

Section 5: Amendments to the Constitution

Article 1: Proposing an Amendment 

Amendments to the constitution, bylaws, and other associationr egulations may be proposed at any time to members of the association by the Board or be made by written request to the Secretary by 10 members in good standing. A request by members shall be presented to the membership with the recommendations of the Board. 

Article 2: Method of Approving an Amendment 

Any such proposed amendments shall be sent by the Secretary to each association member with a ballot to indicate their approval or disapproval of the proposed amendment. The notice must specify a date not less than 30 days after the date of mailing by which date the ballots must be returned to the Secretary to be counted. The favorable vote of two-thirds of the members in good standing who return ballots within the time limit shall be required to effect any such amendment. No amendment shall become effective until it is approved by the Board of Directors.

CODE OF ETHICS:

A. Preamble

The American Philosophical Counseling Association (hereinafter known as APCA) developed and established this code of practice as the result of the wish and the need to give the profession of philosophical counseling clearer identity. This represents a step towards further social recognition and establishment of a professional profile. The intention is to develop further quality and training criteria in the next few years.

The need for this code stems from the fact that a philosophical counselor offers a professional expertise that puts the client in an unequal position. This is the primary reason for the need for a code of practice - to offer protection to the to a certain extent dependent client.


The terms used in the remainder of this document are defined as follows:


Philosophical Counselor - someone who has at least a master's degree in philosophy in addition to further training, and who holds a practice within which s/he receives people who pay for his/her expertise, and who thereby become the counselor's clients.

Counseling: a conversation between the philosopher and the client which takes place during an appointment and for which the client pays a fee.

B. Aim

The code gives clients, potential clients and those who refer them to a philosophical counselor access to the rules the philosopher will adhere to.


If necessary, the client and those referring him/her can use the code to remind the philosopher of those rules. The counselor is required to make the code available to the client. The code is also intended to achieve a greater degree of professional homogeneity.

C. Complaints

The philosophical counselor has declared that he or she will adhere to the code of practice, and this can provide a reason, or additional reason, to consult this particular philosopher, and can be a reason for other specialists to refer a client to a philosopher. If clients or those refering them believe that the consultant is not adhering to the code, they can report this to the management committee, which will deal with the complaint under Article 7 below.

D. Content

The code contains rules of practice which the philosopher must adhere to. The philosopher declares this to APCA by signing the code as part of the application procedure for being on the National Register of Philosophical Conselors. The NRPC is a list published by APCA of counselors who are signatories to the code and are full members.

ARTICLES

1. Assumptions

The client can be a private person or the representative of an organisation or professional body. The code deals with relationships where the client pays a fee for the provision of a service which amounts to a consultation.

2. Aims

The counselor can maintain a broad spectrum of aims, but must respect the>wishes of the client, and use these as the basis for a consultation. The wishes of the consultant will be either put aside or must be clearly explained to the client and explicitly agreed upon.

3. Methods

The counselor can, in principle, maintain a broad spectrum of methods.The counselor must realise that every method represents a means of dealing with the client and so contributes towards defining the relationship. Therefore, the counselor must ensure that the methods used, and the resultant definition of the relationship, is not in breach of other articles of the code, and expresses respect for the client, contributes to the dialogical form of the relationship, and avoids any abuse of power or authority.

4. Confidentiality

The counselor may contact only other interested parties such as specialists who referred the client, members of the client's family or household, etc., but only with the client's express permission. Thereby, the client's stated wishes are always respected.

5. Expertise

The counselor will regularly attempt to reassess his/her level of expertise, and supplement it and update it through further study and training.

6. Care

a. The counselor will enter a counseling relationship only if the client has explicitly expressed a wish to do so, and if the counselor is satisfied that the client is reasonably well informed about the content and form of such a relationship. Such an agreement between both parties is always implicit within a counseling session.


b. The counselor will always respect the client's privacy and the confidentiality of each counseling session. This means that no information specific to the client must ever leave the practice in a recognisable form, nor be available to third parties in any form without the express permission of the client.


c. The counselor will respect the client's ethical and religious views. The philosopher's reconstructive, constructive and deconstructive capacities in this respect will be applied only with the agreement of both
parties.

d. The counselor is at all times prepared to justify to the client the way in which the counseling is conducted by the counselor. This means that the philosopher is prepared to justify his/her methods, and also that the agreement between both parties can be revised at the initiative of either party.

e. The counselor is motivated to regularly evaluate the progress made during counseling, and its philosophical character; and, taking account of the terms of article 6 b., to reflect on this with colleagues, either verbally or in writing. The counselor regards the profession as one which benefits from exchanges of information and ideas. This also results in a form of quality control.


f. The counselor makes it clear where his/her limits of expertise lie, andat what point referral to a consultant from a different profession would be considered. The counselor is careful not to overstep these limits (seealso articles 4 and 6b).

7. Complaints Procedures

The client who is of the opinion that the counselor has breached any termsof this code can complain to APCA's management committee. The management committee will appoint two members to hear both parties (client and counselor), and to advise the society about appropriate measures. The decision will be taken by the association's full management committee, which has the following measures at its disposal: a warning; suspension of being on the NRPC pending further training or supervision; expulsion from the NRCP, and publication of the expulsion in APCA's newsletter; expulsion from APCA, and publication of the expulsion in the APCA newsletter.


The defendant can appeal to APCA's Annual General Meeting (AGM); both management committee and defendant appoint a member to prepare their case for the AGM. No action is taken pending the outcome of the appeal.

8. Liability

APCA is in no way liable for any damages claimed by clients as the result of counseling with an APCA member. The counselor alone is responsible for his/her work, and carries full liability for any action for damages.