For the period of the office closure due to Covid-19 restrictions the IACP Complaints Committee is accepting complaints correspondence via email. Please forward all complaints correspondence by email attachment to iacpcomplaints@iacp.ie
Please note that the Committee meets monthly and deals with complaints in strict order of receipt, therefore, you may have a short wait before receiving a response. However, please be assured that the Committee will deal with your complaint in as timely a manner as possible, while at the same time allowing for the thorough and careful consideration which your complaint deserves.
(i) The establishment of a Complaints Procedure follows logically on the establishment of an Accreditation Scheme. The purpose of such a procedure is to provide a means of processing any complaint about an infringement of the Code of Ethics and Practice of the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy on the part of an Accredited Member or Pre-Accredited Member working towards Accreditation of the IACP. (ii) It is the guiding principle of this Complaints Procedure that, where possible or appropriate, an amicable solution will be sought.
(i) The Complaints Committee shall consist of
(ii) Appointments will normally be made in January, and each member of the
Complaints Committee will sign a declaration of confidentiality.
There are three possible stages to the Complaints Procedure:
(i) Stage One
(ii) Stage Two
(iii) Stage Three
- The Committee will call the Complainant and Advocate, the Counsellor and his/her Supervisor to a meeting, where the Committee will be represented by a Panel made up of the Extern, the two Examiners and a third member of the Complaints Committee to act as Chairperson. The Secretary of the Committee will facilitate the ensuing discussion.
- Both the Complainant and the Counsellor are at liberty to engage their own legal advisors to attend the formal meeting, provided that the Secretary will have been given prior notification thereof in writing as to the name of such representative, a week before this meeting.
- The Complaints Committee reserves the right to engage its own legal advisor to attend these meetings, for the purposes of assisting the Panel in examining and interviewing the person/s appearing before it, and with a view to considering all or any material produced.
- The Formal Meeting will be recorded, and will follow these stages:
- A. Complainant explains the nature of the complaint and may subsequently be questioned by members of the Panel.
- B. Counsellor will answer complaint, and may be questioned by members of the Panel.
- C. The Complainant may add further points, may then be questioned, and sum up his/her position.
- D. The Counsellor may add further points, may then be questioned, and may sum up his/her position.
- E. The Panel will prepare a report and recommendations for the Committee, which will meet to consider the matter within four weeks. The Committee will make a decision for appropriate action, and when withdrawal of membership of IACP is involved, will seek ratification from the Board of Directors. The Committee will communicate such action to the parties concerned in writing.
(i) The Committee may find that no breach of the Code of Ethics and Practice has occurred, and no action need be taken.
(ii) Where action is required, this may include sanctions to be imposed on the Counsellor, which may be one or more of the following:
(iii) Any Counsellor whose accreditation has been withdrawn shall be asked to cease counselling for as long as such withdrawal of membership remains in force.
(iv) The Board of Directors shall record sanctions involving permanent withdrawal of accreditation and membership (as in Dii4 above) in the following edition of its professional publication, and shall notify the Counsellor’s current Supervisor.
(v) The IACP reserves the right to notify whomsoever the Complaints Committee and the Board of Directors consider appropriate.
(vi) The Complaints Committee shall monitor, as far as possible, any sanctions imposed, and when these are lifted, shall notify the Counsellor and the Supervisor, and in cases where membership has been withdrawn, the Board of Directors.
(vii) Re-application for membership may be necessary in some instances, and the Complaints Committee shall then inform the Accreditation Committee that, in the opinion of the Complaints Committee, the former criteria for accreditation may stand.
(viii) All investigative procedures shall be conducted in strictest confidence. Discussion of complaints outside the Complaints Committee should never identify the individuals concerned, until withdrawal of accreditation is recommended.
E. General
(i) The IACP does not undertake to investigate, according to these procedures, a complaint by a member of the public against counsellors who are not Accredited Members of IACP.
(ii) The acceptance of a complaint for investigation by the Complaints Committee does not mean that the Committee accepts the Complainant’s view. Each case will be investigated on it’s merits. Expenses are not paid to any of the parties involved, with the exception of the Extern.
(iii) The Code of Ethics and Practice is indivisible; Members must comply with all guidelines and stipulations laid down by IACP.
(iv) Complainants and those complained against must provide documentary evidence to substantiate all claims and statements where it becomes appropriate. All communication and reporting will be in writing.
(v) For complaints to be considered, counselling confidentiality will be suspended, inso far as it pertains to the investigation of the complaint.
(vi) Persons such as counsellors have the right under the law to communicate freely with an inquiry body considering a complaint against them, and providing that communications will be considered to be occasions of qualified privilege. IACP investigate procedures operate on the basis that, in general, communications by counsellors within the complaints procedures are proctected, providing they were not motivated by malice.
(vii) When work on a complaint has been finalised, all the related documentation will be placed in a sealed envelope, the date and names of Complainant and Counsellor only on the outside of the envelope, and kept in the IACP registered office. Records will be kept for ten years, and destroyed thereafter.
(viii) Appeals will only be entertained on the grounds of a serious departure from the procedures by the Complaints Committee.
(ix) This procedure will be reviewed yearly by the current Complaints Committee, and the Committee will have the discretion to design a process having regard to a particular case, adhering as closely as possible to these guidelines.
(x) This Procedure takes effect from 18th October 2003