A Discursive Approach to the Registration Debate Working with Texts; Thinking Ethics.

Abstract

Counsellors are currently considering impending registration. This important decision is being made in the context of wider changes that also affect the profession: poststructural versions of subjectivity; potential environmental collapse and increasing regimes of accountability. This article takes a closer look at the registration debate with these concerns in mind. It applies a critical, Foucauldian, discursive approach to two relevant documents: the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (HPCAA) and the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC) Code of Ethics 2002 (the Code). Although these documents have different functions, both impinge upon counselling practice. A comparison foregrounds some ethical discrepancies and raises the question of whether registration under the Act is even possible without a significant rewrite of the NZAC Code. The article lays out some areas of divergence in the hope that they may be useful points of reference in future negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Journal of Counselling is the property of New Zealand Association of Counsellors and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)