Helen Coale, LCS LMFT, is a licensed marriage and flimily therapist and social worker at the Atlanta Area Child Guidance Clinic in Atlanta. Georgia. An experienced supervisor and psychotherapist for children, adolescents, adults, and families, she has published oii such topics as family therapy, divorce and remarriage, child welfare, brief therapy, use of humor and ritual in therapy, and the interface between psychotherapy and the law.

• Contents PrefaceAcknowledgments Chapter 1. Introduction: Ethical Contexts, Ethical Rules What Is Context? The Relevance of Context to Professional Ethics Problems with Rule-Based Ethics The Impossibility of Functioning Ethically in an Unethical Profession Summary Chapter 2. The Crisis of Meaning in Psychotherapy and the Vulnerable Therapist Loss of Meaning The Gods of Individualism, Narcissism, and the Marketplace The Themes of Victimhood and Survivalism From Individual to Social Pathology The Mental Health Professions’ Reponse to the Crisis of Meaning The Need for Transformation in the Mental Health Professions Summary Chapter 3. Social Constructionism and Its Implications for the Mental Health Professions The Evolution of Social Constructionism Psychotherapists: Latecomers to Social Constructionism Implications of Social Constructionism for Psychotherapy Summary Chapter 4. Language: Some Theoretical Considerations Language: The Meaning Maker Classical Theories of Language The Social Construction of Language Categories, Prototypes, and Idealized Cognitive Models Language Development in Children The Power to Define Good and Bad, Sane and Mad Summary Chapter 5. Diagnosis: The Power to Name The Social Control Functions of Diagnosis Professional Resistance to Feminist Revisions of Diagnosis Institutional Self-Preservation: A Hidden Agenda of DSM The Accomodation of Other Disciplines to the DSM Summary Chapter 6. Social Constructionism’s Challenge to Traditional Mental Health Beliefs: Some Addtional Examples Ideas About the Self Ideas About Child Development and Developmental Stages Ideas About Feelings Ideas About Intelligence Ideas About Family Summary Chapter 7. The Language of Professional Ethics: Some Buzzwords Touch in Psychotherapy Boundaries Dual Roles The Risks of Risk Management Summary Chapter 8. Legal Vulnerability: Context Incidence of Complaints Against Psychotherapists Factors Contributing to the Legal Vulnerability of Therapists Summary Chapter 9. Licensing Boards, Malpractice Actions, and Profiles of Complaints Licensing Boards Malpractice Actions Profiles of Complaints The Mental Health Professions as Incestuous Systems Summary Chapter 10. Psychological Vulnerability Values, Beliefs, and Practices Practice Context Life-Cyle Issues Sudden and Unpredictable Crises and Events Unique Aspects of Therapist History, Character, and Emotional Life Increased Psychological Vulnerability in a Context of Anxiety and Litigiousness Summary Chapter 11. Alternatives to Traditional Models Feminist Ethics Social Constructionist Ethics The Ethics of Communal Welfare Ethics by Character of the Therapist Summary Chapter 12. Toward an Ethic of Multiplicity and Mutuality Honoring All Voices Mutuality Summary Chapter 13. Toward an Ethic of Care, Compassion, and Character Care and Compassion in the 1990s Context Care and Compassion: Essential Components in the Client-Therapist Relationship Care and Compassion: The Self of the Therapist Care and Compassion for Colleagues The Character of the Therapist Summary Chapter 14. Toward Transformation Problems in Our Current Approaches to Ethics Alternative Ethical Models The Ethical Therapist Toward an Ethical Perspective at the Institutional Level References Index

Helen Coale, LCS LMFT, is a licensed marriage and flimily therapist and social worker at the Atlanta Area Child Guidance Clinic in Atlanta. Georgia. An experienced supervisor and psychotherapist for children, adolescents, adults, and families, she has published oii such topics as family therapy, divorce and remarriage, child welfare, brief therapy, use of humor and ritual in therapy, and the interface between psychotherapy and the law.

• Contents PrefaceAcknowledgments Chapter 1. Introduction: Ethical Contexts, Ethical Rules What Is Context? The Relevance of Context to Professional Ethics Problems with Rule-Based Ethics The Impossibility of Functioning Ethically in an Unethical Profession Summary Chapter 2. The Crisis of Meaning in Psychotherapy and the Vulnerable Therapist Loss of Meaning The Gods of Individualism, Narcissism, and the Marketplace The Themes of Victimhood and Survivalism From Individual to Social Pathology The Mental Health Professions’ Reponse to the Crisis of Meaning The Need for Transformation in the Mental Health Professions Summary Chapter 3. Social Constructionism and Its Implications for the Mental Health Professions The Evolution of Social Constructionism Psychotherapists: Latecomers to Social Constructionism Implications of Social Constructionism for Psychotherapy Summary Chapter 4. Language: Some Theoretical Considerations Language: The Meaning Maker Classical Theories of Language The Social Construction of Language Categories, Prototypes, and Idealized Cognitive Models Language Development in Children The Power to Define Good and Bad, Sane and Mad Summary Chapter 5. Diagnosis: The Power to Name The Social Control Functions of Diagnosis Professional Resistance to Feminist Revisions of Diagnosis Institutional Self-Preservation: A Hidden Agenda of DSM The Accomodation of Other Disciplines to the DSM Summary Chapter 6. Social Constructionism’s Challenge to Traditional Mental Health Beliefs: Some Addtional Examples Ideas About the Self Ideas About Child Development and Developmental Stages Ideas About Feelings Ideas About Intelligence Ideas About Family Summary Chapter 7. The Language of Professional Ethics: Some Buzzwords Touch in Psychotherapy Boundaries Dual Roles The Risks of Risk Management Summary Chapter 8. Legal Vulnerability: Context Incidence of Complaints Against Psychotherapists Factors Contributing to the Legal Vulnerability of Therapists Summary Chapter 9. Licensing Boards, Malpractice Actions, and Profiles of Complaints Licensing Boards Malpractice Actions Profiles of Complaints The Mental Health Professions as Incestuous Systems Summary Chapter 10. Psychological Vulnerability Values, Beliefs, and Practices Practice Context Life-Cyle Issues Sudden and Unpredictable Crises and Events Unique Aspects of Therapist History, Character, and Emotional Life Increased Psychological Vulnerability in a Context of Anxiety and Litigiousness Summary Chapter 11. Alternatives to Traditional Models Feminist Ethics Social Constructionist Ethics The Ethics of Communal Welfare Ethics by Character of the Therapist Summary Chapter 12. Toward an Ethic of Multiplicity and Mutuality Honoring All Voices Mutuality Summary Chapter 13. Toward an Ethic of Care, Compassion, and Character Care and Compassion in the 1990s Context Care and Compassion: Essential Components in the Client-Therapist Relationship Care and Compassion: The Self of the Therapist Care and Compassion for Colleagues The Character of the Therapist Summary Chapter 14. Toward Transformation Problems in Our Current Approaches to Ethics Alternative Ethical Models The Ethical Therapist Toward an Ethical Perspective at the Institutional Level References Index