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Training to be an Ethics Counsellor

by Gail Rice

When I saw the advertisement for people interested in becoming volunteer ethics counsellors, it struck a chord in me and I immediately called to express an interest.

At the information session in August last year Dr Simon Longstaff, Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre, and Suzi Ross, Director of Counselling and Community Services for the Ethics Centre, outlined the roles and expectations of volunteer ethics counsellors. Something sparked and I knew I wanted to be part of this vision and energy.

During this session Suzi explained the Ethics Counselling service and the training that would be necessary to become an ethics counsellor.

It was clear that this was a serious commitment. It included eighty hours of training over three modules. If we survived this, we then began our apprenticeship, including a year of volunteer counselling work (one day per week) alongside continuing training and supervision by Suzi.

Would you believe I was still interested? I found out later that so were others; in fact, seventy people attended the information sessions and forty-one applied for the counselling training.

At the first training session Suzi said she had found it difficult to select the sixteen participants who would undergo the basic training. She'd been surprised by the quality and quantity of applicants:

It was congruent with my dreams but far exceeded my hopes. However, I know that sixteen participants was the maximum number for the level of experiential learning that was necessary. In the final selection I attempted to include quality and diversity as well as an appropriate mix of professions and life experiences.

In February of this year we entered the last phase of the training. There were now ten of us committed to completing the program. In April we begin as volunteer counsellors, accompanied by three others who will work in support roles such as administration, research and marketing.

It has been a fantastic eight months for me. Although I have had experience in counselling, marketing and education I have to say that working with this group of dedicated and energetic people from such a wide range of backgrounds has been one of my most enriching learning experiences.

As Suzi said at the very beginning, while many of our backgrounds provided us with expertise all of us required 'counter training'. For example, during the introductory session, it was made clear:

• Lifeline counsellors often need to be de-conditioned of their crisis attitude and may find it hard to work in the reflective space needed for true exploration.
• Retired managers and medicos can find it hard not to 'fix' people up and solve problems.
• People who are passionate about 'healing the world' can find it difficult to relinquish their passions and help others to recover their own passions, values and principles.
• Lawyers find it hard to let go of the law.
• Welfare-type counsellors sometimes find it difficult to work in the business area because they have deep attitudes about sleeping with or waiting to convert the enemy.

All of us, I think, learnt with Suzi's guidance to differentiate what was a help and what was a hindrance on the journey to becoming ethics counsellors. I can only speak for myself, but would guess it was true for many of my colleagues, that counselling and ethics theory combined with grappling with real ethical counselling dilemmas has been at times intimidating, at times terrifying but most of the time absolutely exhilarating.

We are definitely a mixed group in terms of our backgrounds which include law, philosophy, marketing, economics, commerce, real estate, sociology, dietetics, accounting and education. But we are absolutely united in our commitment to and belief in the value of ethics counselling as a service which can help anyone who is grappling with ethical dilemmas in their workplace.

We were surprised to discover that number of ethical dilemmas that occur in the workplace. It confirmed what Suzi told us:

It is almost inevitable that every person in business and the professions will encounter at least one significant ethical dilemma during the course of his or her career. The Counselling Service at the Centre provides a confidential and free counselling service to assist in alleviating the distress that arises from these dilemmas. All the volunteer counsellors have been trained to assist individuals to come to their own decisions.

The space to do this within one's workplace is usually quite difficult without fear of jeopardising one's position in the organisation. This service is provided either face to face or on the phone.

We are all excited about the direction the Ethics Counselling Service is taking. The Securities Institute and The Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants already advertise the service to their members. Friends often ask me, what sorts of dilemmas do people in the workplace experience? These examples will give you a sample:

• You overhear information that will have a negative financial effect on a company that you have invested in, and the information is not yet public. Should you act on the information?
• Do I inform my employees if I know the company is planning to reduce the size of its workforce?
• What do I do when the data that I've collected is being twisted and manipulated to present false statements?
• Our company is harming the environment, and I am asked to write press releases denying this fact. What do I do?
• How can I find a compromise between my personal values and those values espoused by my company?

As a result of the volunteer training program an expanded team of counsellors is able to assist you (in person or on the telephone) in resolving your workplace dilemmas.

We don't pass judgement on proposed courses of action, but seek to clarify issues and help identify strategies that fit the individual.

Ethics Counselling is free, confidential and open to anyone. The telephone number for Ethi-Call, Ethics Counselling service, is 1800 672 303*. Call during Australian EST business hours to make arrangements to speak with one of our trained ethics counsellors.

Learn more about St James Ethics Centre's Ethics Counselling service.

*nb: this is an Australian free-call number. Contact us if you are unable to get through using this number.

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