Therapists at Risk

Download or read book Therapists at Risk written by Lawrence E. Hedges and published by Jason Aronson. This book was released on 1997 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Therapists are at risk, and the risk is increasing. Well-meaning practitioners used to believe that if they were adhering to ethical codes, and doing their best, they didn't have to worry about being sued or brought before a licensing board. But numerous well-publicized cases, and even more settled outside the limelight of the press have changed all that. Therapists are now worried, and rightfully so. And all of this has happened at the same time that therapists are learning better ways to help very troubled patients who have often been severely abused and traumatized. Though these patients often require less rigid and more personal and creative approaches that may deviate from some proposed norm, they are also most often those who threaten legal action against their therapists. How does one engage intensely with these patients without being drawn into potentially destructive countertransference enactments? How does one remain a creative, spontaneous and helpful therapist while avoiding being pulled into a voracious and inhuman legal system? These are a few of the important questions addressed by this book.