Main description:

While on some issues couple and family therapists have an exquisitely clear direction from professional codes of ethics, others fall under gray areas that instead rely on therapists making reasoned ethical decisions. Therapists need to develop ethical sensitivity to potential ethical issues in order to decrease their risk in practice, and increase their maneuverability in the therapy room. In "Ethics and Professional Issues in Couple and Family Therapy", Lorna Hecker and her contributing authors address various clinical scenarios that demonstrate the complex ethical situations couple and family therapists face every day. Some points discussed in this holistic book include boundary, power, and privilege issues, along with unique ethical issues in practicing therapy with children. Risk issues when working with potential danger, suicide, and partner violence are also explored. Each chapter sensitizes readers to potential ethical issues and provides a model for ethical decision making that best promotes good on behalf of clients. Couple and family therapists will find this text an invaluable and inexhaustible resource.

Contents:

Hecker, Introduction. Hecker, Ethical Decision Making. Nestor, Steiner, Stewart, Legal Issues. Hecker, Sori, Ethics in Therapy with Children in Families. Piper, Treyger, Power, Privalege, and Ethics. Young, Sexuality, Boundaries, and Ethics. Timmons, Bryant, Platt, Netko, Ethical and Clinical Issues With Intimate Partner Violence. Netko, Platt, Bryant, Hecker, Risk Factors and Suicide. Kmitta, Mannino, Managing Risk With Potentially Dangerous Clients. Durtschi, McClellan, The Self of the Therapist. Parsons-Rozycki, Ford, Multicultural Issues, Spirituality and Religion. Becerra, Manick, Hecker, Ethics, Legal, and Professional Issues in Mediation and Parent Coordination. Ramisch, Ethical Issues in Clinical Practice. Negash, Hecker, Ethical Issues Endemic to Couple and Family Therapy. Graff, Hecker, E-Therapy: Developing an Ethical Online Practice.