IACC: Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics & Practice

  1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible and authoritative Word of God.
  2. We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and His nature and activity are revealed in the Scripture as the God who is both Creator and Judge of human beings. God is our Redeemer in Christ.
  3. We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, the one, true Saviour and Lord through whose life, death and resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit, all the resources of God’s grace for salvation, healing, maturing and wholeness have been made available.
  4. We believe people are created in the image and likeness of God and yet are fallen and sinful beings and, therefore, in need of God’s redeeming grace and regeneration by the Holy Spirit: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith # and this not from yourselves, it is the gift
    of God # not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
  5. God’s purposes of grace and salvation bring people to faith and maturity in Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit, so that they become increasingly conformed to Christ’s likeness in every aspect of their lives and find their true place with His church and Kingdom.

Every model of counselling comprises Assumptions, Aims and Methods. The assumptive basis and overall aims may be implicit or explicit.

Counselling can be defined as ‘that activity which seeks to help people towards constructive change and growth in any or every aspect of their lives. The aim is to achieve this through a caring relationship and with agreed boundaries.’

Christian counselling can be defined as that activity which seeks to help people towards constructive change and growth in any or every aspect of their lives. The aim is the achieve this through a caring relationship and with agreed boundaries, according to Biblical assumptions, aims and methods practised within a framework of Christian commitment, insight and values.

It is not the purpose of the Association to bring uniformity into the theory and practice of counselling by Christians, but it does seek specifically Christian perspectives on the assumptions, aims and methods of counselling.