The Moral Dimensions of Marriage and Family Therapy

(Paperback)

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This book examines marriage and family therapy as a moral paradigm. The author begins with an account of the wider social contexts in which therapy must work-within a social structure that is filled with prejudice and injustice. Lageman demonstrates that marriage and family therapists have responsibilities not only to their clients, but also to their society. This book synthesizes moral philosophy with therapeutic approaches, outlining the role of codes and ethics in therapy and assessing their value and limitations. Lageman consults duty-based ethics, beginning with Kant and developed by W.D. Ross, in order to clarify the duties of the therapist. He continues with a discussion of the 'rights' of the clients and the necessity of therapists' respect for them. He draws upon developmental moral theory (Kohlberg and Gilligan) and integrates it into the therapeutic process, helping to delineate the mandatory virtues of a marriage and family therapist. Contents: Preface; The Wider Contexts: Social Structure and Professional Ideologies; Ethical Issues Specific to Marriage and Family Therapy; Duties of Marriage and Family Therapists; Client Rights; Developmental Moral Theory; Character-Virtue Based Ethics; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Reviews

...the most conceptually sophisticated book yet published on moral and ethical issues in marriage and family therapy....I recommend it to teachers and students of family therapy. * Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Science *
Lageman moves to the moral issues surrounding the development of character and from there to the virtues needed by the therapist. This alone sets the book apart from mere legal treatises and makes it useful, even exciting, for the pastoral counselor orother religiously-focused practitioner or teacher. The book would be an excellent text in university, seminary, or training program. * Religious Studies Review *
Lageman moves to the moral issues surrounding the development of character and from there to the virtues needed by the therapist. This alone sets the book apart from mere legal treatises and makes it useful, even exciting, for the pastoral counselor or other religiously-focused practitioner or teacher. The book would be an excellent text in university, seminary, or training program. * Religious Studies Review *
...the most conceptually sophisticated book yet published on moral and ethical issues in marriage and family therapy....I recommend it to teachers and students of family therapy. * Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Science *

Author Bio

August G. Lageman, a Minister in the United Methodist Church, is the Executive Director of Pastoral Counseling Services in Maryland.