Hello Everyone
I recently agreed to renew my Licence or Permission to Officiate within the Exeter Diocese. This meant I was obliged to renew my status with regards to Safeguarding, for the Church has had egg on its collective face several times in the recent past. For an organisation that reputes to promote safety and high integrity it has an abysmal record for it lends itself to abuse and misuse of position almost by definition. Temptations have proved the case. Be that as it may, the Safeguarding course highlighted a major difference between Safeguarding and Counselling.
Safeguarding involves the mantra of Report, Report, Report. You can see the inbuilt safety mechanism there, for if you report an incident to someone else then it is not hidden and will more likely be acted upon. Nobody would like to be accused of inaction when others know about the situation. In fact, if you are employed by any of the Statutory bodies then it is illegal not to inform of any actual or suspected neglect or abuse of minors (Children Act 2007).
How different for the independent Counsellor. Not only is it not illegal not to inform of abuse but counselling would not work if you did. The Government Executive acknowledged this after their Green Paper in 2016 and subsequent acknowledgment, in that Clients must feel safe to share their secrets, weaknesses, and failings. Confidentiality is a must. Clients would clam up if they thought otherwise. The only exceptions to this being drug trafficking or terrorism.
That does mean I have to be very sure as to which ‘hat’ I am wearing – the Counsellor or Priest. Or is that which collar I have on – before I put my foot in it! [Quite a picture]
We were away for three weeks last month. I know the growth was fairly rampant but I was sure there was a house here before we left.
The usual updates are there – Planting by the Moon and Astrology for Healers and Practitioners.
Have a good month
Blessings
John
