ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of how practitioners can document the process of informed consent within a natural context of forming and strengthening the therapeutic alliance. It addresses how the doctrine of informed consent has changed psychotherapy practice; and legal and ethical bases for informed consent. The chapter presents key questions that psychotherapists may wish to answer and document when providing clients with opportunities for informed consent; and practical strategies for documenting informed consent in patients’ records at each stage of treatment. It also provides a case example that illustrates the process, throughout various stages of therapy, in the documentation of informed consent. One of the biggest changes in psychotherapy practice has been the evolution of the doctrine of informed consent. Methods for documentation of informed consent vary, but a narrative form is clearest. Signed treatment plans are effective strategies to document patients’ collaboration and consent to treatment.
