Ethical and Legal Considerations in Family Psychology: The Special Issue of Competence

Abstract

This chapter considers specific ethical and legal issues related to the practice of family psychology, focusing first on the special issue of competency for identification as a family psychologist and proceeding to introduce clinical factors from a legal and ethical perspective. Competence in Family PsychologyFamily psychology has been viewed as a distinct field since the inception of APA Division 43, and although its practitioners in psychology proudly identify with its distinctiveness, it is often difficult for others to distinguish it from the larger "family field." The latter includes the profession of family therapy (as embodied in the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy [AAMFT]), the modality of family therapy as practiced by other mental health professionals (social work, professional counseling, nursing, and psychiatry), and others in areas such as family life education, research, and sociology. There is, of course, much overlap, and just as a psychiatrist doing family therapy may be indistinguishable from a social worker practicing a specific type of family therapy, a psychologist trained in a family psychology post-doctoral fellowship may practice in comprehensive areas within the field very similarly to a PhD trained in an AAMFT family therapy program. Nonetheless, advances have been made in defining the specific realm of family psychology, and guidelines and certification actively identify competent family psychology specialists.What, then, is distinctive about ethical practice in family psychology? As in all ethical considerations, it is important to begin with applicable ethics codes, legal guidelines, and The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Family Psychology Edited by James H. Bray and Mark Stanton

Individual Therapy for Couple Problems: Perspectives and Pitfalls

“…Opinions vary widely about the therapist's responsibility to seek consent from an absent partner, ranging from the opinion that involvement of the partner is wholly subject to the attending client's right to self‐determination (Kaslow, ) to the opinion that treatment should not proceed without the absent partner's education about the risks of ITCP and that partner's written consent for the client to be treated individually (Wilcoxon, ). Involving a partner belatedly or intermittently in ITCP raises other ethical issues, for example, the role of the partner as a client or collateral participant, the choice of referral to a couple therapist versus change of treatment format with the individual therapist (Patterson, ) and the informed consent requirements inherent in both decisions.…”

In search of a global family psychology: Challenges and perspectives.

“…Continuing education through trainings or workshops, supervision, teaching, and research associated with families and other social systems is also an essential aspect of professional practice (Family Psychology Specialty Council, 2009; N. J. Kaslow, Celano, & Stanton, 2005;Patterson, 2009). Indeed, the specialty of family psychology entails .…”

“…As Northey (2009) noted, the international credentialing of family therapy is "difficult at best, and inappropriate at worst" (p. 312). In Exhibit 37.1, we present a brief review of some EXHIBIT 37.1 of the key international developments in family psychology (F. W. Kaslow, 2007;Nutt & Stanton, 2011;Patterson, 2009;Stanton, Sexton, & McDaniel, 2016). , 1962, p. 8).…”

Competencies in couple and family psychology for health service psychologists.

“…Openness is important because clinical outcomes or processes may not support the CFP specialist' s initial beliefs about problem etiology. CFP practice may require a higher degree of openness than other specialties, as bias may put the therapist at risk for aligning with one family member over another (Patterson, 2009). In primary care settings, CFP practice also requires flexibility in meeting the patient's and health care team's needs.…”

“…The CFP specialist can (a) treat all disclosed information as confidential, (b) consider no information as confidential, (c) keep only certain sensitive information confidential, or (d) keep it confidential only temporarily (Snyder & Doss, 2005). Some family psychologists advocate for full confidentiality for family members seen individually as part of couple or family therapy, and they maintain separate records for each member (Patterson, 2009). Others argue that CFP practitioners should never keep secrets, as doing so colludes with one family member over another, jeopardizing the systemic alliance and treatment efficacy (Thoburn & Sexton, 2016).…”