Ethical Issues in Counselling and Psychotherapy: The Background

Ethical issues have their roots in the belief systems of individuals and society. Codes of ethics are seen as attempts to ensure that behaviour accords with these belief systems. An outline model is presented which highlights some aspects of beliefs, feelings and conscious and unconscious processes, and their effects upon the conscious behaviours of the individual. Aspects of social change and context are briefly considered, together with the subsequent effects upon beliefs and ethics, and issues of responsibility.     

Empirical Research on Ethical Issues in Pediatric Research

Although there is usually agreement about the ethical principles that should govern research on children, there may be little agreement on how those principles should be interpreted into research procedures in some instances. Empirical research on ethical issues that arise in research on children can often elucidate ways to improve on existing research practices and ways to resolve debates about best practices. Following in the success of evidence-based medicine, evidence-based ethical problem solving in human research can enable investigators to avoid such poor alternatives as doing nothing, endlessly debating, or acting on the basis of hunch or time-honored but dubious research practices. A variety of approaches to evidence-based ethical problem solving are illustrated in this article.     

Ethical Issues in Observational Family Research

Ethical issues raised by the increasing reliance on observational technology in family research are discussed. The tensions between scientific advancement and participant welfare are highlighted by delineating the process of observational research and the nature of the relationship between family scientists and the families they study. Guidelines are proposed for ethical decision making regarding potential child abuse, suicidality, informed consent, confidentiality, and debriefing.     

Ethical Considerations for Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists in Psychotherapy Research Trials

Psychotherapy research studies, which balance the pursuit of knowledge with the provision of treatment, can place unique demands on clinicians, patients, and research staff. However, the literature on ethical considerations in psychotherapy trials is minimal. The current paper depicts CBT community standards of practice in the context of two NIMH-funded treatment trials of major depression, both involving CBT and medication. We describe issues that arose; discuss the ethical considerations involved; and describe our course of action, along with our rationale.     

论家系遗传学研究中的伦理问题

在家系遗传学研究中,尊重个人同意是首要原则,家族同意是个人同意的有益补充.家族成员间的利益冲突导致了基因保密权与知情权的冲突,保护个人基因隐私的同时需兼顾其他成员的利益.利益分配应平等惠及家族所有成员.在当前形势下,立法保护与提高基因技术水平尚需时日,可行方法是建设家系资源库并规范管理.     

干细胞研究及其伦理学问题

干细胞是动物体内一种独特的基本细胞类型。干细胞分化时,有些成为特殊类型的细胞,另一些仍维持干细胞,准备替代机体衰老和损伤的细胞。这些干细胞本身能够复制,以供机体终生组织更新的需要。最基本的多能干细胞存在于早期胚胎中,科学家们成功分离和培育干细胞的报告,为退行性疾病主损伤甚至致合性疾病的治疗带来了新的希望,然而,与此同时也引起了世界范围的关于使用人类胚胎和死亡胎儿进行研究的伦理大争论。     

Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Research: Developmental Issues

Describes developmental issues that pose current challenges to the design of treatment outcome investigation with children and adolescents. Normal childhood development and the development of childhood disorders are discussed using the transactional model of development. Challenges in diagnostic decision making, the selection of the most appropriate treatment regimen, and the measurement methods are highlighted. Recognition of the need to study child treatments through long-term follow-up periods underscores the need for resolution of these developmental issues.     

Ethical Considerations in Psychotherapy Effectiveness Research: Choosing the Comparison Group

The primary purpose behind effectiveness research is to determine whether a treatment with demonstrated efficacy has utility when administered to the general population. The main questions these studies are meant to answer are these: Can the typical patient respond to treatment? Is the treatment acceptable to the typical patient? Can the treatment be administered safely and in its entirety in the typical treatment setting? Is the treatment under study significantly better than the community standard of care both from a cost and outcome perspective? Answering these questions is meant to provide sufficient information to providers and policymakers so that effective interventions can be adopted and become the new community standard.

For this research to make a meaningful impact on a provider and policymaker's decision to change the status quo, study interventions should be compared to the existing community standard of treatment, often referred to as treatment as usual (TAU). From an ethical perspective, this decision may not always be the safest choice. In some populations, TAU may mean no treatment at all, and in others TAU may be worse than withholding treatment. The effectiveness researcher is then caught between the pull to do no harm and the need for research to have an impact on change. The purpose of this article is to highlight certain conditions when TAU is ethically acceptable and to discuss alternatives when TAU may be an unethical treatment condition. For purposes of precision, we focus exclusively on psychotherapy effectiveness research rather than system-intervention research or medication-intervention research.     

新冠疫情中公共卫生监测伦理问题研究

公共卫生监测作为我国疫情防控的重要手段,在此次突发重大传染病疫情中被广泛应用,取得了很好的疫情防控效果。但在实施过程中也暴露出隐私保护、知情同意、公众参与、污名化等伦理问题,通过对公共卫生监测的主要伦理问题进行分析,揭示其产生的原因,并提出解决伦理难题应该遵循的伦理原则及对策,包括在遵循效用原则、尊重原则、互助原则、不伤害原则等伦理学原则的基础上,进一步完善隐私保护及数据安全共享方案,保障监测主体的知情同意权,倡导与弘扬守望相助公民伦理精神,合法普及科学知识及强化公众教育等措施。

     

Ethical Issues in Gerocounseling

Recently, there has been a tremendous increase in the attention paid to counseling older adults and the importance of maintaining sound ethical practices in professional counseling. Unfortunately, to date there has been little movement to combine the two areas and examine the unique ethical issues faced in gerocounseling practice. To address this void, the authors enumerate some ethical dilemmas they have encountered in gerocounseling, examine the American Association for Counseling and Development (formerly American Personnel and Guidance Association) Ethical Standards (1981) that are pertinent, and suggest options for handling the conflicts raised.     

Beyond Data Collection: Ethical Issues in Minority Research

This article examines ethical concerns surrounding research on minority issues. Specifically, it addresses whether researchers have an obligation to consider (a) the impact that minority research can have on vulnerable populations and (b) their own backgrounds before conducting or assessing minority research for publication. The article argues for such an obligation mainly from a consequentialist perspective and then explores possible strategies for assessing and meeting that obligation. Finally, it explores the possible negative secondary effects of those strategies and censorship concerns.     

Piercing the Veil: Ethical Issues in Ethnographic Research

It is not unusual for researchers in ethnography (and sometimes Institutional Review Boards) to assume that research of “public” behavior is morally unproblematic. I examine an historical case of ethnographic research and the sustained moral outrage to the research expressed by the subjects of that research. I suggest that the moral outrage was legitimate and articulate some of the ethical issues underlying that outrage. I argue that morally problematic Ethnographic research of public behavior can derive from research practice that includes a tendency to collapse the distinction between harm and moral wrong, a failure to take account of recent work on ethical issues in privacy; failure to appreciate the deception involved in ethnographers’ failure to reveal their role as researchers to subjects and finally a failure to appropriately weigh the moral significance of issues of invasion of privacy and inflicted insight in both the research process and subsequent publication of research.

Religious Issues in Secularly Based Psychotherapy

Because many potential clients have religious as well as secular concerns, secular counselors and psychotherapists are striving to become more empathic and competent in treating religious individuals. This article discusses some issues and implications involved in working with religiously committed clients in secularly based counseling.     

Indian Perspective on Psychotherapy: Cultural Issues

India is in a state of transition between massively transformed ‘modern’ lifestyles on one hand and the influence of traditional values and customs on the other. In view of the current realities of urbanization, migration, globalisation and societal transformation, the mental health treatment needs have become complex. The article highlights the existing mental health issues and traces the development of various psychotherapeutic techniques in India. An effort has been made to look into the basic tenets of the Indian culture which have a bearing on the conceptualisation and practical application of psychotherapy in the Indian setting. The cross-cultural relevance and adaptability of western psychotherapies in multi-ethnic and collectivistic Asian culture are discussed. In view of the differences between the eastern and western approaches to mental health, challenges in culturally-responsive adaptations are highlighted. It is seen that psychological interventions among masses are beneficial if indigenous approaches based on paradigms like themes from Gita, are cross-fertilized with western psychotherapy. However, there is a need to generate empirical evidence for indigenization of psychological treatments.     

Nonrelativist Ethical Standards for Goal Setting in Psychotherapy

A number of authors have commented on the topic of mandated reporting in cases of suspected child maltreatment and the application of this requirement to researchers. Most of these commentaries focus on the interpretation of current legal standards and offer opinions for or against the imposition of mandated reporting laws on research activities. Authors on both sides of the issue offer ethical arguments, although a direct comparison and analysis of these opposing arguments is rare. This article critically examines the ethical arguments made by authors on both sides of the debate. The conclusion is reached that researchers should be mandated reporters of child maltreatment because the current arguments do not justify their exclusion from current ethical and legal standards. The author makes recommendations for the ethically responsible conduct of research in regard to this topic and legal implications are discussed.