Psychotherapy Ethics in Twentieth-Century Literature
Type
book section
Date Issued
2020
Author(s)
Abstract (De)
Ethical issues arising in the practice of psychotherapy, such as confidentiality, boundaries in the therapeutic relationship, and informed consent, figure prominently in a range of twentieth-century literary texts that portray psychotherapy. This chapter analyzes the portrayal of these conflicts, but also stresses that they are often marginal to the overall plot structures of these narratives and that literary depictions of psychotherapy are often vague or even inaccurate concerning key characteristics of psychotherapeutic practice. Focusing on examples that either illustrate professionalism and the absence of ethical challenges in psychotherapy, or take up the ethical reservations that fueled anti-Freudianism or the anti-psychiatry movement, the chapter proposes that selected literary depictions of psychotherapy can play a key role in sensitizing therapists to the complex make-up of ethical dilemmas as well as illustrating the cultural and historical contexts of these dilemmas.
Language
English
Book title
The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
261606
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
open.access
Name
Psychotherapy Ethics Literature.pdf
Size
393.92 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
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