Ethical issues in family therapy /

Not a superficial consideration of the subject matter. Although the book is specific to family therapy, much of the discussion is applicable to the field of psychotherapy in general. One editor is well versed in family therapy and the other in philosophy and social policy. Chapter authors represent a good mixture of family therapists and philosophers, and a consistent writing style makes this book enjoyable to read. Its major strength is that moral philosophers as well as clinical practitioners have been asked to look at the issue of ethics in family therapy. Consequently, the work goes beyond a conventional presentation of cases with instruction regarding what is ethical. Instead of being prescriptive, the contributors analyze the elements of difficult problems and raise important, cogent ethical issues-posing problems related to assumptions of causality, autonomy, trust, power, accountability, and consent. Given that this is the first book to focus on ethical issues in family therapy, it certainly is important for any academic library.-J.R. Thompson, Oberlin College