Ethical Considerations In Therapy

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Ethical Considerations
Considering that one of the fundamental ethical considerations in therapy is to do no harm, it is useful to comprehend which treatments increase the risk. Approximately 10% of all clients in therapy have detrimental clinical outcomes (Boisvert & Faust, 2003), and it has been suggested that relational interventions have a higher probability of doing harm (Lilienfeld, 2007). Lilienfeld (2007) devised a provisional list of potentially harmful therapies and suggested that therapies involving the therapeutic relationship may increase the risk of harm due to the potential for deterioration as a result of releasing powerful affect. More so, if not managed correctly, this highly emotive environment may produce negative emotions …show more content…

Informed consent is characterised as the client’s right to be made aware of, and understand, how the therapist intends to work with them (J. Sommers-Flanagan & R. Sommers-Flanagan, 2018). Several examples of this include the therapist’s training, treatment plan, the anticipated length of time for therapy, and the risks and benefits associated with therapy. The client will provide their consent via written and verbal discussion. Similar to congruence in the therapeutic relationship, keeping the client informed and by having an open and honest dialogue, the commencement of therapy can be empowering, thus leading to better overall outcomes (Harris & Robinson Kurprius, …show more content…

The dyads completed self-report measures based on therapist multicultural competency, the therapeutic relationship, and their satisfaction with the therapy. The outcome indicated a strong relationship between the client’s ratings of therapist multicultural competency, the therapeutic relationship, and treatment satisfaction. Clients were more empowered to discuss cultural differences and their own life changes, demonstrated more trust towards the therapist, and produced overall more favourable therapeutic outcomes. Albeit, several authors had suggested that it is essential to understand the potential harms associated with addressing cultural differences when the client did not bring it up themselves or concerned with other difficulties (Sue et al., 2009). As a result, the client may assume that the therapist lacks understanding, interest, or patience when dealing with their concerns (Speight & Vera, 2017). While the client may or may not have pronounced concerns surrounding their culture, what matters most is the meaning that they attach to it (Roche & Maxie,