Legal Issues in Counseling Hedges,

Legal Issues in Counseling Hedges, Lawrence. E. (2006). Facing the Challenge of Liability in Psychotherapy. Jason Aronson. This slim but important volume deals with every psychotherapist's worst nightmare -- the threat of a lawsuit from a patient or a state licensing agency. Ultimately, the author Lawrence E.

Hedges' aim is to counsel the therapist how to avoid such an impingement to his or her professional practice, and to provide advice to enable the therapist to practice his or her trade as freely as possibly, without incurring an unnecessary risk of a lawsuit. The book begins first with how to meet with the challenge of a subpoena that may threaten a patient-therapist relationship as well as deal with potential litigation and sanctions.

The breadth of the legal as well as psychotherapeutic material that is covered over the course of the text underlines Hedges is well-versed with both the ethical requirements of the profession of psychotherapy and the law. Hedges believes that the tradition of his profession counsels discretion and the need to protect the client's confidentiality, although some controversial legal interpretations may differ, particularly California state law where Hedges is a practitioner and a legal consultant to psychoanalysts.

The author is ever-mindful of how many of the issues that psychotherapy deals with in particular, such as childhood trauma, can present unwitting legal minefields. Although the challenges of psychoanalysts are the focus of the book, because of the unique nature of his book's subject, it could be of use to any therapist dealing with potential legal problems. Hedges is equally capable of deconstructing the implications of a Supreme Court decision about privilege such as Jaffe v.

Redmond (1996) as well as examining how transference in the psychoanalytic relationship can present a legal challenge for the innocent therapist. Hedges has both provided professional treatment to patients receiving analysis as well as professional legal advice to colleagues facing lawsuits. Hedges also provides a section about how to deal with charges brought about by state licensing boards as well as the judicial system.

He gears his book to the perspective of a therapist who may feel confident that he or she has been practicing ethically, but may be uncertain of the best way to deal with the law. He stresses that, merely being ethical as a therapist does not mean that the therapist can be sure that he or she can avoid litigation. The law and patient's troubled psyches can be fickle, Hedges notes from his own and colleague's personal experience.

He contrasts the perspective of the current state of the law and most judges with how therapists view their practice. Above all, Hedges attitude can best be summarized with the title of one of his chapters -- practice defensively. Hedges takes a strong stand on what he sees as intrusion by the state into the personal relationship between client and therapist, and interference of professional organizations.

He believes that only if patients feel they can speak to their therapists in an unburdened fashion can they really heal under the care of a therapist. Unfortunately, the litigious climate of America has resulted in increasing scrutiny of the therapeutic relationship, particularly in matters pertaining to juveniles. However, Hedges' book is mainly.