1 — Respect for the person and their subjectivity. 

The practitioner of relational psychotherapy considers the person who consults him as a unique and free subject, which leads him to respect his dignity, his privacy, its unconscious parts and their symbolic expression, its autonomy, its options philosophical or religious. 

2 — Integrity of care. 

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy places himself solely at the service of the psychotherapeutic process of the person. He does not do anything that could harm him or that would be motivatedby the interest of third parties or by conscious or unconscious personal ends other thanthose of psychotherapy. 

3 — Professional competence. 

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy uses his skills acquired through in-depth psychotherapeutic work on himself, through specialized training ofhigh level, through constant questioning of one’s practice and through cooperation withhis peers in the context of professional bodies. 

4 — Responsibility. 

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy alone decides on his psychotherapeutic methods and techniques. He assumes responsibility for monitoring the people to whom he is committed, in compliance with the law and the ethical rules of his profession.

ETHICAL RULES

The ethical rules form a private law contract between the practitioner in relational psychotherapy who undertakes to respect them and the professional institution which recognizes, endorses and defends him. Any consultant can refer to it.

I — Respect for the person and their subjectivity

I—1 RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

a) The practitioner in relational psychotherapy respects the legislation on the rights of people, their dignity, their freedom and their protection.

b) He respects the principle that no one is required to reveal anything about himself.

c) He strives to promote the autonomy of the person who consults him. He respects his desire and takes note of his judgment, particularly regarding the cessation of his psychotherapy, after the conscious and unconscious motives have been deciphered. a framework of constraint or when the person’s capacity for discernment is impaired, the practitioner in relational psychotherapy strives to bring together the conditions for a relationship respectful of the
psychological dimension of the subject.

I—3 DUTY OF RESERVE

a) Aware of the very specific relationship which binds him to the person who consults him, the practitioner in relational psychotherapy observes an attitude of reserve in all circumstances.

b) Aware of the possible impact of his words, he takes care of the direct or indirect consequences of his interventions and, among other things, of the use that could be made of them by third parties.

I—4 FRAMEWORK OF EXERCISE

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy establishes a set of rules concerning his framework of practice aimed at promoting the psychotherapeutic process and protecting the person who consults him. He respects and enforces this framework. In this sense, he respects the obligation of non-confusion between the psychotherapeutic framework and his private life.

I—5 PROFESSIONAL SECRETITY

a) The practitioner in relational psychotherapy is subject to the usual rules of professional secrecy which extends to everything he has seen, heard or understood during his practice.

b) He takes all the necessary precautions to preserve the anonymity and confidentiality of the people who work with him. consult or have consulted it.

c) In collective sessions, it prescribes to the members of the group an obligation of secrecy regarding the identity of the participants and discretion regarding the progress of the sessions.

d) Obligations regarding respect for professional secrecy apply regardless of the practice setting.

I—6 SEXUAL ABSTINENCE

a) The relational psychotherapy practitioner abstains from any sexual relationship with the people who consult him as well as with his students in training and colleagues in supervision.

b) He prescribes a ban on sexual acts between participants during sessions. collectives.

I—7 PHYSICAL AND MORAL SAFETY

a) As part of his practice, the relational psychotherapy practitioner establishes a rule of non-violence on people and property.

b) He ensures that his interventions or advice cannot harm the physical and moral security of the people who consult him.

c) In collective sessions, he imposes rules of respect for participants and not committing violence.

I—8 TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION

a) If therapeutic reasons require collaboration with another person providing care, the relational psychotherapy practitioner can only share his information with the agreement of the person consulting him.

b) This agreement is implicitly given in a cotherapy process where the cotherapist and any assistants or observers in training share the obligations of this code of ethics.

c) The transmission of information or certificates to a third party for a use other than care is only done with discernment and reserve. The relational psychotherapy practitioner requires the consent of the person concerned, or informs the person concerned in the case of people with impaired discernment or if they are minors.

d) When there is a legal obligation to report, the relational psychotherapy practitioner must inform the person that he is required to comply with the law.

I—9 INFORMATION ON HIS PRACTICE

a) Any information to the public by any means whatsoever must be done in a position of reserve and decency on the personality of the practitioner in relational psychotherapy, on the nature of the care he provides and on the expected results of psychotherapy

b) The practitioner in relational psychotherapy does not use the people who consult him or have consulted him for media purposes.

II — INTEGRITY OF THE CARE

II—1 QUALITY OF CARE

As soon as he has established a therapeutic contract with a person, the relational psychotherapy practitioner undertakes to provide them with the best quality of psychotherapeutic care.

II—2 CALL ON A THIRD PARTY

To this end, and if he considers it useful, he calls on the collaboration of third parties. It signals to the person in psychotherapy the possibility or necessity of using other skills to complement or relay their own care.

II—3 RELATION TO MEDICINE

Aware of the specificity of psychotherapy and that of medicine, the practitioner of relational psychotherapy invites, where appropriate, the person who consults him to surround himself with all the guarantees of the latter.

II—4 RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CONSULTANT

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy must draw the attention of the person who consults him to his own responsibility and to the need for active and permanent cooperation of the latter.

II—5 CHOICE OF THE THERAPIST

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy respects and facilitates the person’s free choice of therapist.

II—6 CHANGE OF THERAPIST

The relational psychotherapy practitioner is aware of the specific links established by a therapy previously engaged with another psychotherapy practitioner. In the case of a consultation with a view to changing therapist, it will
facilitate the analysis of the difficulty that has arisen.

II—7 INTERRUPTION OF ACTIVITY

In the case where the practitioner in relational psychotherapy plans to interrupt his activity, he informs the people who consult him sufficiently in advance and takes all measures appropriate to the particular situations.

II—8 BELONGING

a) The fact, for a practitioner in relational psychotherapy, of being linked to a care center, training center, a place of life or any other institution cannot affect the application of these ethical rules.

b) The fact, for a practitioner in relational psychotherapy, of personally adhering to political ideas, an ideology, a religion, a spirituality or a philosophy, cannot authorize him to influence the person who consults him for anything other than the psychotherapy.

II—9 PERSONAL CONNECTIONS

a) The practitioner in relational psychotherapy does not engage in psychotherapy with people to whom he is otherwise intimately linked.

b) He does not engage in psychotherapy with people who are intimately linked to each other, except in the context of psychotherapies of the relational system (couple psychotherapies, family systemic psychotherapies, etc.).

c) In a situation conflict of interest, he has the obligation to recuse himself.

III — PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

III—1 PERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY PROCESS

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy has himself gone through an in-depth psychotherapeutic or psychoanalytic process. This personal approach is distinct from his training, although it fundamentally participates in it.

III—2 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy has validated in-depth professional training capable of creating competence as a practitioner of relational psychotherapy.

III—3 CONTROL AND SUPERVISION

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy maintains a system of control or supervision of his practice by a qualified third party.

III—4 CONTINUING TRAINING

The knowledge and skills of the practitioner in relational psychotherapy must be the subject of constant regeneration throughout his career.

III—5 RIGOR

a) The methods of intervention of the practitioner in relational psychotherapy are carried out according to the rules of the art of the methods he uses. He knows the theoretical and practical foundations and has experienced their effects.

b) The personal intuition and creativity of the practitioner in relational psychotherapy can be added when they respect the established framework and only serve to promote the psychotherapeutic process.

III—6 MODE OF COMMUNICATION

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy favors meeting in real presence before any other form of distance communication, whatever the media used. In the case of virtual communication required by the circumstances, he explains the limits of this modality and the conditions of its intervention.

III—7 DISCERNMENT

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy defines his own limits taking into account his training and his experiences. He is never required to engage in a psychotherapeutic care process.

III—8 ORIENTATION

When requests do not fall within his competence, the relational psychotherapy practitioner directs people towards professionals likely to answer the questions or situations that have been submitted to him.

III—9 EVALUATION

The relational psychotherapy practitioner does not give a diagnosis or of advice to the person who consults him concerning third parties whom he does not know, unless he considers this opinion necessary for the psychotherapeutic process, but with discernment and as a simple hypothesis based on the words of the person. This provision does not apply to
supervision sessions.

IV — RESPONSIBILITY

IV—1 RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTONOMY

In addition to the civil and criminal responsibilities of every citizen, the relational psychotherapy practitioner has a professional responsibility. Within the framework of his professional competence, he decides and is personally responsible for the choice and application of the methods and techniques he implements and the opinions he formulates.

IV—2 COMMON LAW SITUATIONS

The relational psychotherapy practitioner cannot take advantage of the psychotherapeutic process to condone an illegal act. It is subject to the obligations of common law. In the case of situations that could harm the psychological or physical integrity of the person who consults him or a third party, he assesses with discernment the conduct to be taken, taking into account the legal provisions regarding professional secrecy, assistance to a person in danger and the obligation to denounce a crime.

IV—3 PROFESSIONAL INDEPENDENCE
The relational psychotherapy practitioner must not accept working conditions that would undermine his professional independence and, in particular, which would prevent him from applying this code of ethics.

IV—4 CONTROLLERS, SUPERVISORS, TRAINERS

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy exercising controls, supervision or didactic activities must be duly identified by his professional institutions.

IV—5 RULES OF CONFRATERNITY

None practice or institution not being able to claim exclusivity or primacy over others in psychotherapeutic competence, the practitioner in relational psychotherapy is bound by the duty of reserve and respect towards his colleagues and towards other psychotherapy professionals.

IV—6 USE OF THE NAME

No one has the right, in an informative or advertising text, to use the names and titles of another practitioner without their authorization expressly.

IV—7 FEES

Each practitioner of relational psychotherapy in private practice sets his own fees conscientiously. He informs the people who consult him of their amount from the first interviews and ensures their agreement.

IV—8 PREMISES

The practitioner in relational psychotherapy must be able to have suitable premises for his professional practice allowing confidentiality to be preserved and having sufficient technical means in relation to the nature of his professional acts and the people who consult him.

IV—9 ETHICAL INFORMATION

a) the practitioner in relational psychotherapy undertakes to respond positively to any meeting request issued by the ethics commission.

b) The code of ethics for practitioners in relational psychotherapy is public. The
relational psychotherapy practitioner makes it available to the people he/she receives.