Rights of clients, responsibilities of therapists.

Abstract

Historically, ethical codes for therapists were drawn up to protect the professions from regulation by external agencies. Implicit in the ethical codes, however, is a model for the client-therapist relationship that fosters the goals of mental health. Just as ethical codes have been given specific content in standards for providers of psychological services in human service facilities, ethical codes can be given specific content in the client-therapist relationship. Therapists need to take responsibility for incorporating ethical standards into their practices so that clients' rights will be an integral part of therapy. We present four illustrative situations: providing clients with information to make informed decisions about therapy, using contracts in therapy, responding to clients' challenges to therapists ' competence, and handling clients' complaints.

Informed consent bij psychotherapie

“…Ook andere modelcontracten voor psychotherapie (zie bijvoorbeeld Hare-Mustin, Marecek, Kaplan & Liss- Leinsson, 1979) vallen in de categorie moeilijk tot zeer moeilijk. Het argument dat dit veel hoger opgeleide psychotherapieclie¨nten aanspreekt, is discriminerend voor minder geschoolde clie¨nten, die juist meer uitleg verdienen.…”

Multicultural Incompetence and Other Unethical Behaviors: Perceptions of Therapist Practices

“…This may be especially true of racial and ethnic minority individuals who may be weary of seeking mental health services as a result of the systemic oppression they have faced (Hare-Mustin et al, 1979;Sue & Sue, 2008). Thus, ensuring that consumers are knowledgeable about ethical practices, including multicultural competence, is imperative if mental health providers are to fulfill their ethical responsibility to clients (Claiborn et al, 1994;Fennig et al, 2005;Hare-Mustin et al, 1979). In addition, a difference in understanding between professionals and nonprofessionals regarding ethical practices in the therapeutic process could result in client dissatisfaction, impasses, or premature termination (Pomerantz & Grice, 2001).…”

“…The perspective of nonprofessionals is important given that their impressions of the therapeutic process and knowledge of their rights as clients may impact their level of comfort with seeking and utilizing psychological services (Hare-Mustin, Marecek, Kaplan, & Liss-Levinson, 1979). This may be especially true of racial and ethnic minority individuals who may be weary of seeking mental health services as a result of the systemic oppression they have faced (Hare-Mustin et al, 1979;Sue & Sue, 2008).…”

“…The perspective of nonprofessionals is important given that their impressions of the therapeutic process and knowledge of their rights as clients may impact their level of comfort with seeking and utilizing psychological services (Hare-Mustin, Marecek, Kaplan, & Liss-Levinson, 1979). This may be especially true of racial and ethnic minority individuals who may be weary of seeking mental health services as a result of the systemic oppression they have faced (Hare-Mustin et al, 1979;Sue & Sue, 2008). Thus, ensuring that consumers are knowledgeable about ethical practices, including multicultural competence, is imperative if mental health providers are to fulfill their ethical responsibility to clients (Claiborn et al, 1994;Fennig et al, 2005;Hare-Mustin et al, 1979).…”

An Ethic of Possibility: Relationship, Risk, and Presence

“…In these vignettes, as in much of the writing about ethics, ethical problems are most often presented as separate from clinical work. For example, there are chapters about informed choices and contracts (Hare-Mustin, Maracek, Kaplan, & Liss-Levinson, 2003), dealing with suicidality (Baerger, 2003), and dealing with "difficult clients" (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 1998). Although some recent books on ethics present the importance of the therapist-client relationship (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 1998), there is very little emphasis in the psychological literature on the ethics of relationship and how ethical rules play themselves out (or fail to) in living relationships.…”