The author addresses the ethics of psychotherapy in terms of the
interface between science and ethics, the goals of treatment, the
therapeutic relationship, and special issues of confidentiality and
therapist-patient sex. He considers the problems of multiple therapeutic
modalities, dual allegiance of the therapist, the therapeutic use (and
abuse) of power, and issues of dependency and suggests ways to maximize the
clinician's exercise of ethical choices. Ethical dilemmas in psychotherapy
are not entirely soluble; ultimately, the therapist, guided by his or her
profession as a group, will be able to find answers to the complex problems
that inevitably arise.
Abstract Teaser