At Little Shadow we pride ourselves on upholding a set of values principles that provide quality assurance for all people looking to access support during the perinatal period. For us, these values principles help to create a unique environment where we work within a set framework to support the wellbeing of our clients. It means that any client, accessing our service in any location, has the confidence that our support is a safe, consistent, and a high quality place to land. In joining our community, counsellors provide the following quality assurances:
Requirements
Values Principles
01.
–
Professional Oversight
Current membership of a relevant professional body.
1.1
NZAC, NZAP membership, other relevant professional body membership or evidence of mentorship with a trusted, experienced professional.
1.2
This may include relevant supervision requirements and ongoing professional development requirements.
1.3
Practicing certificates will be requested annually to ensure ongoing membership with the relevant professional body.
02.
–
Cultural Safety & Intersectional Responsibility
A commitment to, and ongoing evidence of, an intersectional understanding of the maternal and 1st 1000 days space, and ongoing anti-racist learning and development. We acknowledge that this might look different within each individual practitioner’s code of ethics, complex personal identity, community and structural context. We acknowledge that this work is ongoing, fluid, and outside of a tick box context; rather it is a lens that we develop over time with a commitment to proactive, ongoing engagement.
2.1
Engaging with cultural supervision.
2.2
Ensuring you have completed relevant Te Tiriti training and are committed to upholding the mana o Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
2.3
Engagement with anti-racist learning and working with others to better understand the dynamics of difference and complexities of authentic, culturally safe engagement.
2.4
Knowledge and understanding of disability and accessibility issues and contexts in this space.
2.5
LGBTQIA+ literacy, knowledge and understanding, particularly within the context of welcoming a baby.
2.6
Acting in a safe, non discriminatory manner at all times, seeking professional/ supervisory support in a timely, responsive manner and having a strong framework for working with your client responsibly, in partnership, to determine whether you are the right fit for safe, responsive care.
3.1
Collaborative, collegial working relationships with other practitioners and partners.
3.2
Awareness of local providers, agencies and referral pathways to best support clients with specialist knowledge of what’s available to them in their local community.
3.3
An ongoing investment of time into cultivating these relationships.
03.
–
Strong Local Community Relationships
Strong community networks within the maternal and first 1000 days space.
04.
–
Agency & Consent
Upholding client agency, rights and working within a robust consent model at all times. The maternal and 1st 1000 days space is a saturation of information, advice and opinion. A core values position of Little Shadow is upholding client agency and drawing out the client’s own sense of competency, wisdom and innate knowledge during this time. For counsellors, these principles are covered within training and NZAC code of ethics. For other practitioners, this may require some engagement with, learning and practicing of different listening practices or some engagement with professional supervision from a counsellor and/or guiding practitioner to ensure an authentic embedding of these practices.
4.1
Upholding client agency through listening practices, ways of relating and working in partnership.
4.2
Ensuring an active, participatory consent model in your practice, and effective management of expectations for client agency and safety.
4.3
Working responsibly with respect and reverence for the client’s values, life stage and autonomy.
05.
–
5.1
Committing to supporting clients to access any available support with finances (e.g. MSD funding options, referring to funded counselling if appropriate) and proactively working together to ensure they understand your fees policy and payment requirements, so they are fully informed about any payments they need to make to procure your services.
5.2
Ensuring you are invoicing in a timely manner, and not letting overdue bills compile for clients at an already stressful time of life.
5.3
Providing evidence of ways that you have committed to equitable and fair support of Little Shadow clients - whether responsive, proactive referrals to other agencies that can better support clients with limited budgets, offering discounted rates for some clients experiencing inequities, offering time, information or support to local parent groups, or other support of people experiencing distress within this life stage who are facing adverse circumstances.
Commitment to enabling Equity & Accessibility in a financial context.
Little Shadow has a charitable focus and exists to meet a large need within our community - supporting families experiencing mild-moderate perinatal distress. Against many metrics, the first 1000 days is the most important time for establishing secure relationships and ensuring long term health and wellbeing throughout the rest of a baby’s life. Maternal and family wellbeing is an integral part of creating an environment that supports wellness for everyone. Often, structural and systemic issues create barriers to responsive care for people experiencing perinatal distress. Financial insecurity can play a huge part in reducing wellbeing at this time in life, often with long term implications.
You are required to provide evidence of these Little Shadow Values Principles operating within your practice to become a member of our practitioner community. We are available for support with all of these, and happy to guide you with resources, ideas and a sounding board for your practice at any time. We have the highest respect for, and trust in our practitioner community. We trust that should any conflicts arise with any of these Values Principles, that any member of our practitioner community would engage with us in a timely manner. We are proactive in maintaining Quality Assurance for our clients, and will check in with you from time to time about how you are managing these Values Principles in your practice.