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Ethics in Person-Centered Psychiatry

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Person Centered Psychiatry

Abstract

The Ethics of Person-centered Psychiatry (PCP) considers the person as central in psychiatric practice but recognizes it not only in the singular but also in the plural (i.e., people in society). Thus, PCP resonates not only with approaches that insist on the well-being of the individual vis a vis benefit to society (like the Helsinki Declaration on Medical research) but also with approaches like the Utilitarian theory of Jeremy Bentham in which an act is considered ethical if it gives pleasure to most people (societal perspective). Ancient Greek perspectives, modern perspectives, phenomenological contributions, the phenomenological perceptions of Max Scheler, the perspectives of H.-G. Gadamer, and Karl Jaspers are briefly reviewed. The person-centered perspective in Psychiatry as exemplified in the Madrid Declaration is further discussed, as well as the values-based ethical perspectives. It is concluded that person-centered perspectives are closely associated with Ethics and that this relationship provides fertile ground for discussion under clinical and philosophical vistas. The issue of priority of certain ethical principles vis a vis other ethical considerations in clinical psychiatric practice is one of the important issues to be discussed within this framework.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    George N. Christodoulou MD, PhD

  2. Nelson Mandela Professor of Philosophy and Psychiatry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

    C. W. Van Staden MBChB, MMed (Psych), MD

  3. University Lecturer, Director of Research, Program on Ethics, Professionalism, and Health, Department of Philosophy, University of Brest, Brest, France

    D. Jousset MD, PhD

  4. Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Texas A & M Health Science Center, College of Medicine, Round Rock, TX, USA

    M. Schwartz MD

  5. Full Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Southern California Campus, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    A. Mishara PhD, PsyD

  6. Hellenic Psychiatric Association, 11 Papadiamantopoulou str., 11528, Athens, Greece

    George N. Christodoulou MD, PhD

Authors
  1. George N. Christodoulou MD, PhD
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  2. C. W. Van Staden MBChB, MMed (Psych), MD
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  3. D. Jousset MD, PhD
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  4. M. Schwartz MD
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  5. A. Mishara PhD, PsyD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to George N. Christodoulou MD, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Psychiatry, New York University Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

    Juan E. Mezzich

  2. Laboratory Ethics, Professionalism, University of Western Brittany, Bohars, France

    Michel Botbol

  3. Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    George N. Christodoulou

  4. Department of Psychiatry, WASHINGTON UNIV SCH MED Department of Psychiatry, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

    C. Robert Cloninger

  5. Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Coral Gables, Florida, USA

    Ihsan M. Salloum

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Christodoulou, G.N., Van Staden, C.W., Jousset, D., Schwartz, M., Mishara, A. (2016). Ethics in Person-Centered Psychiatry. In: Mezzich, J., Botbol, M., Christodoulou, G., Cloninger, C., Salloum, I. (eds) Person Centered Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39724-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39724-5_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-39722-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-39724-5

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