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Values in Couple and Family Therapy

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy

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Synonyms

Ethics; Morals

Introduction

It has generally been agreed among couple and family therapists that therapy cannot be value-free. Simply by serving in the position of a couple or family therapist, one agrees to abide by the legal and ethical standards of the profession, which are reflective of a particular value set. The personal values of the clients or the therapist may create difficulty in session if they do not fully align with the values of the profession or with each other. Recent debate has focused on the degree to which therapists’ personal values can impact therapy.

Theoretical Context

There are values common to the field of couple and family therapy and then additional values specific to the model of therapy being used in a particular case. Consistent across the profession are the general values of autonomy (client self-determination), beneficence (actively doing good), nonmaleficence (avoiding harm), justice (treating all people fairly), fidelity (upholding...

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References

  • Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2013). Principles of biomedical ethics (7th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

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  • Caldwell, B. E. (2013). September/October). Whose conscience matters? Family Therapy Magazine, 12(5), 20–27.

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  • Caldwell, B. E., & Stone, D. J. (2016). Using scaling to facilitate ethical decision-making in family therapy. American Journal of Family Therapy, 44(4), 198–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doherty, W. J. (1995). Soul searching: Why psychotherapy must promote moral responsibility. New York: Basic Books.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. California State University Northridge, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Benjamin E. Caldwell

  2. Alliant International University, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Scott R. Woolley & Hye-Sun Ro

Authors
  1. Benjamin E. Caldwell
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  2. Scott R. Woolley
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  3. Hye-Sun Ro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benjamin E. Caldwell .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Jay Lebow

  2. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Anthony Chambers

  3. The Family Institute at Northwestern, Evanston, Illinois, USA

    Douglas C. Breunlin

Section Editor information

  1. California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Sean Davis Ph.D., LMFT

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

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Caldwell, B.E., Woolley, S.R., Ro, HS. (2016). Values in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_554-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_554-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8

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