Legal Counsel:
A Review of Counselling and the Law by Robert Ludbrook

Published by The New Zealand Association of Counsellors, 2003
Price $45.95 including P&P and GST

Reviewed by Sue Webb, Massey University

In 1992 NZAC published a booklet entitled 'The School Counsellor and the Law' by lawyer Robert Ludbrook, which was launched at the AGM. Fierce debate ensued over whether school counsellor members should be issued with a copy as of right, or pay $10 for some 50 pages (Hermansson,1999). However it was not a matter for debate that every school counsellor would need one. In relation now to all NZAC Members, the same could be said for 'Counselling and the Law', also by Ludbrook, this time numbering 351 pages.

Almost immediately after publication of 'The School Counsellor and the Law', with NZAC membership broadening well beyond it's original main base of school counsellors, it was clear that a much larger, but similar, text was needed for counselling in general. Also, in recent years, the law has come to play a larger part in the consciousness of ordinary New Zealanders, figuring more prominently in both the creation and the resolution of human problems.

Counsellors, without access to adequate resources on legal issue relevant to their work, risk disadvantaging or misleading their clients and may also put themselves or their employers in jeopardy. Today a counsellor may need to have some awareness of legislation in relation to ACC, the Family Court, privacy and human rights issues, victims' rights, domestic violence, the Health and Disability Commissioner, the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act-to name just a few.

While nothing can substitute for timely legal advice, either informal or formal, in relation to a particularly concerning situation, 'Counselling and the Law' provided ready access for counsellors to information, reassurance and support in their day to day work.

The book is divided into four parts. The first, twelve chapters in all deals with issues affecting counsellors. Information and advice address the nature of the profession and general issues affecting practice, before moving into a range of areas familiar to counsellors as sources of worry. Some have traditionally caused concern, for example relation with other professionals, confidentiality and privacy. Others have come to greater notice in more recent years, such as report writing, giving evidence in court, legal privilege and relations with third parties.

The second part on specialist counsellors contains thirteen chapters. These cover particular populations and contexts such as ACC clients, work with couples, adoption counselling and domestic violence. Three chapters address the legal situation in relation to children - child protection; school counselling; and counselling children and young people. Ludbrook's special interest in this area over a long period and his particular concern for children's rights leads to a detailed and helpful assistance with the complex boundaries between children's rights and adults' responsibilities.

School counsellors in particular should find these chapters useful in countering organisational worries about the ethics and legality of their practice. A chapter for those working particularly with the mental health clients would have been valuable, although their issues are noted in existing chapters.

This second part of the book also contains chapters on the work of social workers, psychologists and psychotherapists. Primarily this will help counsellors themselves to work with these professional colleagues, but it may also enable them to provide informed assistance to clients, who are sorting out difficulties with these other professionals.

The third, very brief, part contains a chapter on the employment of counsellors, while the fourth provides information on the functioning of a variety of official agencies to which both clients and counsellors may need to have recourse. These include the Ombudsmen, the Police Complaints Authority and the various commissioners, such as for Human Rights, Children and Privacy. In each case, the ways in which these avenues might be relevant for counsellors are outlined. I would personally like to have seen information on the Press Council and Broadcasting Standards here, but accept that the line needed to be drawn somewhere.

Finally the appendices provide some forms and checklists to use as templates, such as a sample counselling contract, a client information sheet, a trespass notice and a request for information under the Information Act. The counselling contract in particular seems unnecessarily detailed and formal and not likely to fit within the organisational culture of many counsellors. It can however operate as a useful checklist for the various areas that might need to be covered at the outset of counselling and for achieving shared understandings of the nature of the work with employers of counsellors.

This not a book to read form cover to cover. Once dipped into, however, it was unexpectedly difficult to put down. I initially approached it as a reference text, looking up areas I had previously struggled with in my own practice or been asked to provide professional advice on. Enlightenment in one area led to a desire to pursue related topics, aided by the cross-referencing. For example, an initial interest in the right of young people to make their own decisions about undertaking counselling lead to a broader consideration of young people's rights.

This then took me to confidentiality in relation to children's decision-making. This principle is something I have struggled to outline to others on a number of occasions, with some uncertainty as to my own understanding. Similarly, interesting pathways developed when I started with the topics of note-taking, summons to attend court and report writing - all issues which have kept counsellors awake at night in recent times.

Ludbrook's own familiarity with the world of counselling has been further enhanced by assistance from counsellor editors Sue Conforth and Fran Parkin and input from a range of counsellors with interest and familiarity in particular areas. This has enabled transparent links to be made between Ludbrook's balanced and detailed knowledge of the law and the present professional culture of counselling, the NZAC Code of Ethics and recent dilemmas in the profession.