Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics

Psychotherapy is an indispensable approach in the treatment of mental disorders and, for some mental disorders, it is the most effective treatment. Yet, psychotherapy is abound with ethical issues. In psychotherapy ethics, numerous fundamental ethical issues converge, including self-determination/autonomy, decision-making capacity and freedom of choice, coercion and constraint, medical paternalism, the fine line between healthiness and illness, insight into illness and need of therapy, dignity, under- and overtreatment, and much more. The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics explores a whole range of ethical issues in the heterogenous field of psychotherapy thereby closing a widespread perceived gap between ethical sensitivity, technical language, and knowledge among psychotherapists. The book is intended not only for a clinical audience, but also for a philosophical/ethical audience - linking the two disciplines by fostering a productive dialogue between them, thereby enriching both the psychotherapeutic encounter and the ethical analysis and sensitivity in and outside the clinic. An essential book for psychotherapists in clinical practice, it will also be valuable for those professionals providing mental health services beyond psychology and medicine, including counsellors, social workers, nurses, and ministers.

Manuel Trachsel (MD, PhD) has been trained in medicine (MD), clinical psychology (PhD), and philosophy/ethics at the University of Bern, Switzerland. He is the head of the Clinical Ethics Division at the University Hospital of Basel, the University Psychiatric Clinics Basel, and the Geriatric University Clinic FELIX PLATTER Basel, Switzerland. He is a Senior Research and Teaching Associate at the Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Dr. Trachsel's research areas include the philosophy and ethics of psychiatry and psychotherapy, the intersection of psychiatry and palliative care, ethical challenges with regard to coercive measures in psychiatry, clinical ethics support services in psychiatry, medical decision-making capacity, and informed consent. He is a published author of more than 70 scientific papers, book chapters, and books including articles in JAMA, The Lancet Psychiatry, The American Journal of Bioethics, The Journal of Medical Ethics, Jens Gaab is head of the Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the University of Basel, Switzerland. He conducts psychotherapy and placebo research and is mostly interested in the complex interplay between these two psychological interventions. Nikola Biller-Andorno is director of the Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland, which serves as WHO Collaborating Centre for Bioethics. She co-leads the PhD program “Biomedical Ethics and Law” and serves as Vice-President of the Clinical Ethics Committee of the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland John Z. Sadler, M.D. is currently a Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical Sciences and the Daniel W. Foster, M.D. Professor of Medical Ethics at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Sadler directs the Division of Ethics in the Department of Psychiatry and the Program in Ethics in Science and Medicine institution-wide. During his caree