IngentaConnect Termination: Legal and Ethical Considerations for Marriage and Fa...

Authors: Rappleyea, Damon¹; Harris, Steven²; White, Mark²; Simon, Kimberly²

Source: American Journal of Family Therapy, Volume 37, Number 1, January 2009 , pp. 12-27(16)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

Every Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) must carefully plan how to initiate, convene, and terminate therapy. Determining how to ethically terminate therapy in a variety of therapeutic contexts can be challenging. Though termination is a common aspect of all therapeutic relationships, a lack of empirically based information on how to terminate therapy leaves practitioners alone in determining how best to end the treatment relationship. Furthermore, the subject of termination is discussed so scarcely in MFT literature that few authors have attempted to establish a standard for ethical termination. In the current climate of evidence-based services, predetermined session limits, and increased litigation for malpractice, MFTs must examine their termination procedures. This paper identifies the current available literature on termination and discusses the ethical and legal considerations for practicing MFTs as outlined by the AAMFT Code of Ethics (2004). Directions and suggested methods for future research are set forth.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/01926180801960617

Affiliations: 1: Marriage and Family Therapy, Department of Child and Family Relations, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA 2: Marriage and Family Therapy, Department of Applied and Professional Studies, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA

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Termination: Legal and Ethical Considerations for Marriage and Family Therapists