Читать книгу Ethics in Psychotherapy and Counseling - Kenneth S. Pope - Страница 23

In therapy for one year with Dr. Franks, Mr. Edwards experienced alcoholism and drank heavily for four years prior to therapy. Dr. Franks uses a psychodynamic approach but also incorporates behavioral techniques specifically designed to address the drinking problem.

Two months into therapy, when it became apparent that outpatient psychotherapy alone was not effective, Mr. Edwards agreed to attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings as an adjunct to his therapy. During the past nine months of therapy, Mr. Edwards had generally been sober, suffering only two relapses, each time falling off the wagon for a long weekend.

Now, a year into therapy, Mr. Edwards suffers a third relapse. He comes to the session having just had several drinks. During the session, Dr. Franks and Mr. Edwards conclude that some of the troubling material that has been emerging in the therapy had led Mr. Edwards to begin drinking again. At the end of the session, Mr. Edwards feels that he has gained some additional insight into why he drank. He decides to go straight from the session to an AA meeting.

One month later, Dr. Franks is notified that he is being sued. On his way from the therapy session to the AA meeting, Mr. Edwards had run a red light and had killed a mother and her child who were crossing the street. The suit alleged that the therapist knew or should have known his patient to be dangerous since he was driving while inebriated, and should have taken steps to prevent him from driving that day, specifically, as well as until his alcoholism no longer constituted a danger to the public.