Standards of Practice

These standards of practice were developed by the Canadian Counselling and
Psychotherapy Association to provide direction and guidelines to enable its
members, and other counsellors and psychotherapists in Canada1
, and counsellors-in-training, to conduct themselves in a professional manner consistent with
the CCPA Code of Ethics. They are also intended to serve the following purposes:
• To support statutory and professional self-regulation by establishing a shared set of expectations related to the many areas of counselling-related
activities and responsibilities;
• To protect the public by establishing a set of expectations for quality
counselling services and for the maintenance of counsellor accountability;
• To establish a set of expectations for ethically competent professional
behaviour which counsellors may use to monitor, evaluate, and work to
improve their professional practices;
• To serve as the foundation for addressing professional queries and ethics related complaints, and
• To establish expectations for counsellor education, supervision, and to
provide support for ongoing professional development.