Overview

"Therapists once promised patients ""Everything you tell me will remain in this room."" Today, they can keep that promise only if they are willing to break the laws that now require them to disclose information without patient consent. Most avoid such civil disobedience by placing limits on confidentiality; but ethically speaking, this 'conditional' confidentiality can be difficult to practice. The Ethics of Conditional Confidentiality: A Practice Model for Mental Health Professionals is a guidebook designed to help therapists and other mental health professionals navigate the ethical and legal maze surrounding confidentiality. At its core is a practical Confidentiality Practice Model-a step-by-step guide for clarifying the ethical and legal issues that make the ethics of conditional confidentiality so complicated. Ethics codes represent the 'ethical floor,' which is the minimum standard of behavior about confidentiality. The goal in this book is to encourage reaching for the 'ethical ceiling,' by protecting confidentiality to the extent legally possible and not disclosing patients' confidences just because certain laws would allow them to be disclosed. The Ethics of Conditional Confidentiality demystifies confidentiality for therapists, clinical supervisors, educators, ethics consultants, attorneys who represent mental health professionals, clinicians, and administrators, and is an ideal supplemental ethics text for graduate courses. It is also useful for establishing confidentiality policies in any clinical setting and training program."

Full Product Details

9780199752201

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Reviews

"""No one has written more thoughtfully, knowledgeably, and realistically about confidentiality than Mary Alice Fisher. She has rescued the ethics of confidentiality after they have been all but hopelessly confused with legal mandates, risk management, and impractical guidelines. This book is unsurpassed in helping us think through the hard questions we encounter in practice, work through conflicting values, and find creative ways to meet our responsibilities. It deserves to land on the required reading lists in all graduate programs and find its way into the libraries of all clinicians, from those just starting out to the most experienced."" -- Kenneth S. Pope, Ph.D., ABPP ""Dr. Fisher has created a comprehensive guide to confidentiality for mental health professionals in a highly digestible and readily useable form. Practitioners and students alike will quite easily find answers to their questions on best practices and management of confidential material. I recommend this as interesting reading and an important practical reference work."" -- Gerald P. Koocher, Associate Provost and Professor of Psychology, Simmons College ""With the constant changes in ethical and legal circles regarding many areas of patient care, frequent updates are vital to give practitioners an understanding of the history of such issues, as well as the current climate and anticipated future directions. This work is ambitious in its attempt to pull this off, and it does a remarkably decent job of meeting the author's goals. Challenging concepts are discussed thoroughly, with a practical bent relevant for mental health providers across specialty or training. What may be the most useful is the last chapter, Ethics-Based Staff Training About Confidentiality. This work should find a place on the shelf of any provider practicing in healthcare."" -- DOODY'S ""This book is an outstanding resource for mental health professionals in all areas of professional practice. It is clearly written, easily understood, very practical in its focus, and, actually, a very interesting and engaging read. In keeping with a focus on prevention and on avoiding ethical missteps, I recommend that every mental health clinician read and regularly use this excellent book. Doing so is in keeping with the general principles of the American Psychological Association (2010) ethics code that guide us to aspire to the highest possible levels of competence and conduct in our professional roles. The Ethics of Conditional Confidentiality is an outstanding resource that can help us make great strides toward achieving these goals."" -- PsycCRITIQUES ""Mary Alice Fisher's book is comprehensive and thought provoking. . . the sort of book really worth dipping into, and bringing to the attention of colleagues.""--Elizabeth Shaw, Psychotherapy in Australia"

No one has written more thoughtfully, knowledgeably, and realistically about confidentiality than Mary Alice Fisher. She has rescued the ethics of confidentiality after they have been all but hopelessly confused with legal mandates, risk management, and impractical guidelines. This book is unsurpassed in helping us think through the hard questions we encounter in practice, work through conflicting values, and find creative ways to meet our responsibilities. It deserves to land on the required reading lists in all graduate programs and find its way into the libraries of all clinicians, from those just starting out to the most experienced. -- Kenneth S. Pope, Ph.D., ABPP Dr. Fisher has created a comprehensive guide to confidentiality for mental health professionals in a highly digestible and readily useable form. Practitioners and students alike will quite easily find answers to their questions on best practices and management of confidential material. I recommend this as interesting reading and an important practical reference work. -- Gerald P. Koocher, Associate Provost and Professor of Psychology, Simmons College With the constant changes in ethical and legal circles regarding many areas of patient care, frequent updates are vital to give practitioners an understanding of the history of such issues, as well as the current climate and anticipated future directions. This work is ambitious in its attempt to pull this off, and it does a remarkably decent job of meeting the author's goals. Challenging concepts are discussed thoroughly, with a practical bent relevant for mental health providers across specialty or training. What may be the most useful is the last chapter, Ethics-Based Staff Training About Confidentiality. This work should find a place on the shelf of any provider practicing in healthcare. -- DOODY'S This book is an outstanding resource for mental health professionals in all areas of professional practice. It is clearly written, easily understood, very practical in its focus, and, actually, a very interesting and engaging read. In keeping with a focus on prevention and on avoiding ethical missteps, I recommend that every mental health clinician read and regularly use this excellent book. Doing so is in keeping with the general principles of the American Psychological Association (2010) ethics code that guide us to aspire to the highest possible levels of competence and conduct in our professional roles. The Ethics of Conditional Confidentiality is an outstanding resource that can help us make great strides toward achieving these goals. -- PsycCRITIQUES Mary Alice Fisher's book is comprehensive and thought provoking. . . the sort of book really worth dipping into, and bringing to the attention of colleagues. --Elizabeth Shaw, Psychotherapy in Australia

This work should find a place on the shelf of any provider practicing in healthcare. Doody's Notes, July 2013

<br> No one has written more thoughtfully, knowledgeably, and realistically about confidentiality than Mary Alice Fisher. She has rescued the ethics of confidentiality after they have been all but hopelessly confused with legal mandates, risk management, and impractical guidelines. This book is unsurpassed in helping us think through the hard questions we encounter in practice, work through conflicting values, and find creative ways to meet our responsibilities. It deserves to land on the required reading lists in all graduate programs and find its way into the libraries of all clinicians, from those just starting out to the most experienced. -- Kenneth S. Pope, Ph.D., ABPP <br><p><br> Dr. Fisher has created a comprehensive guide to confidentiality for mental health professionals in a highly digestible and readily useable form. Practitioners and students alike will quite easily find answers to their questions on best practices and management of confidential material. I recommend this as interesting reading and an important practical reference work. -- Gerald P. Koocher, Associate Provost and Professor of Psychology, Simmons College <br><p><br>

Author Information

Mary Alice Fisher, Ph. D., is Founding Director of The Center for Ethical Practice, Inc., Adjunct Assistant Professor in the University of Virginia Curry Programs in Clinical and School Psychology, and a clinical psychologist in private practice in Charlottesville, VA. For over 25 years Dr. Fisher has provided workshops, seminars, and consultation for mental health professionals on topics related to ethical issues in clinical practice.

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