ABSTRACT
Ethical decisions commonly occur within the therapy relationship. The ability to make ethical decisions is therefore a vital tool in every therapist’s toolbox. While the concept of ethics may seem irrelevant at first glance, they are in fact vitally important.
In this chapter, drawing on her teaching and writing about ethical issues in counselling and therapy, Heather Dale explains how ethical decision-making is part of everyday life and how that knowledge can then be used in the therapy room. The link between personal and professional ethics is discussed, and three types of ethical codes (mandatory, utilitarian and virtue ethical codes) are explained.
Case studies and exercises are used to help the reader work out their own responses to ethical issues.
