Is long-term psychotherapy unethical?
Subtitle: toward a social ethic in an era of managed care
By: Carol Shaw Austad ; foreword by Nicholas A. Cummings.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass Publishers
Published: 1996
Place of publication: San Francisco
Language: eng
Number of pages: 283
Subjects: Brief psychotherapy -- Moral and ethical aspects.; Managed mental health care -- Moral and ethical aspects.; Psychotherapy -- Social aspects.
Description: In this provocative and very persuasive book, professor and clinical psychologist Carol Shaw Austad demonstrates that numerous studies have indicated long-term therapy to be no more effective in its outcomes than short-term therapy. Austad argues that in an age when limited resources are attempting to provide universal care for millions of individuals and families who need and deserve treatment, a more accountable system of intermittent, short-term therapy is clearly more ethical and fair.

The book is filled with solid research, illustrative clinical examples, and interviews that demonstrate the effectiveness of good managed care. In addition, the author outlines a new model of behavioral health care in which the criteria and priorities for psychological services are driven by societal needs and resources.

Is Long-Term Psychotherapy Unethical? makes a persuasive case for the cost-saving, practical, and goal-oriented use of short-term therapy and challenges the profession to provide behavioral health care that is widely available, responsible, and ethical. Therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and mental health clinicians will find this intriguing book a touchstone as our behavioral health care systems continue to evolve.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.