The counsellors of Lahendus.net follow the ethical principles established by the Union of Estonian Psychologists for the psychologists of the union. In addition, the following principles and obligations to clients are of key importance to the counsellors of Lahendus.net:

Principles

1. We respect people and human life. We ensure the privacy and anonymity of our clients and comply with the confidentiality requirements.
2. We help people develop their self-reflection and decision-making skills on the basis of scientific knowledge and confirmed experiences.
3. We try to acknowledge both our professional and personal strengths and weaknesses so that we can make realistic assessments of which tasks we can handle.
4. Where necessary, we explain the code of ethics of psychologists to our clients.
5. We are responsible for our words and both our actions and omissions. Being a student does not absolve the counsellor of the responsibility for their words and actions. The degree of responsibility is also not changed by the fact that counselling takes place online in the form of messages. The persons a counsellor provides services to are actual people. Failing to respond to their messages is the same as neglecting one’s clients in face-to-face counselling.

Obligations to clients

1. We explain to our clients what we do so that they can decide whether they want to continue the correspondence or not.
2. We will not oblige anyone to disclose information about themselves that is not essential for the process of assistance.
3. We do not pressure clients with our activity or knowledge.
4. We do not force our clients to change their views or act in a certain way.
5. We do not counsel people who we know and we do not create personal relationships with those we counsel.
6. If another specialist could provide better assistance to the client, we will say so to the client and give them the necessary contact details.
7. We keep the information we learn about the client confidential. When discussing the case with the team or other specialists, we hide the data that would allow the client to be identified.
8. We do not keep a secret if keeping it would damage the life or health of the client or another person. We will only provide information to those who can help the person at risk at that moment.
9. We do not keep a secret if the customer requests its transmission.
10. When documenting our work, we only write down essential information and keep it separate from personal data.
11. We store records of cases in a way that prevents anyone from outside the team from accessing them both now and in the future.