ABSTRACT
My background as a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) practitioner is intimately linked to my professional training as a clinical and forensic psychologist. While I work to the British Psychological Society’s code of conduct and professional ethics, my own ethical perspective is fundamentally driven by a humanistic set of principles. These owe as much to Sartre’s existentialism as they do to the philosophy of science which can at times be challenging and contradictory. In this chapter I endeavour to outline the philosophical and theoretical considerations that form the basis of my cognitive behavioural practice and approach to relational ethics in conjunction with a knowledge base that, by necessity, contains a considerable element of ‘expertise’. These contradictions filter into my practice as I strive to be valuing of the humanity of clients and their experience while at the same time retaining a central theoretical basis that is avowedly directive.
