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Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine (IBME) Psychiatric and Psychotherapy Ethics (PAPE) Research Group

Informed consent in psychotherapy

informed consent

Short description

From a legal as well as ethical point of view, healthcare professionals are obliged to obtain informed consent of patients. But what should informed consent mean in psychotherapy? An appropriate informed consent which includes an agreement about goals and tasks is instrumental for augmenting mutual trust and contributes substantially to the formation of a strong therapeutic alliance as a central component of a successful psychotherapy. Rather than implicitly consenting to psychotherapy, a patients with preserved decision-making capacity should be provided with transparent and customized information in order to voluntarily consent to a psychotherapeutic treatment. 

Collaboratoring universities – persons

  • Columbia University, New York - Prof. Paul S. Appelbaum, MD
  • University of Basel, Switzerland - Prof. Jens Gaab, PhD
  • University of Bern, Switzerland – Prof. Martin grosse Holtforth, PhD
  • Harvard University, Boston, US – Dr. Charlotte Blease, PhD
     

Involved PAPE group researchers

Publications

  • Blease, C., Kelley, J. M., & Trachsel, M. (2020). Patient information on evidence and clinical effectiveness of psychotherapy. In M. Trachsel, S. Tekin, J. Gaab, N. Biller-Andorno, & J. S. Sadler (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
     
  • McKean, A., Trachsel, M., & Croarkin, P. (2019). The ethics of informed consent for psychotherapy. In M. Trachsel, S. Tekin, J. Gaab, N. Biller-Andorno, & J. S. Sadler (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Psychotherapy Ethics. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Published Online First.
     
  • Trachsel, M., & grosse Holtforth, M. (2019). How to strengthen patients’ meaning response by an ethical informed consent in psychotherapy. Frontiers in Psychology. 10:1747.  doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01747
     
  • Biller-Andorno, N., & Trachsel, M. (2019). No exceptionalism for informed consent in psychotherapy. Swiss Medical Weekly, 149:w20146.
     
  • Trachsel, M., & Biller-Andorno, N. (2019). Informed consent for psychotherapy includes much more than the setting. Swiss Medical Weekly, 149:w20058.
     
  • Blease, C., Kelley, J., & Trachsel, M. (2018). Informed consent in psychotherapy: implications of evidence-based practice. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 48(2), 69-78.
     
  • Haberstroh, J., Gather, J., & Trachsel, M. (2018). Informed consent, capacity assessment, and advance planning in treatment and research. GeroPsych: The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry, 31(2), 55–56.
     
  • Trachsel, M., & Gaab, J. (2016). Disclosure of incidental constituents of psychotherapy as a moral obligation for psychiatrists and psychotherapists. Journal of Medical Ethics, 42, 493-495.
     
  • Blease, C., Trachsel, M., & grosse Holtforth, M. (2016). Paternalism, placebos, and informed consent in psychotherapy: the challenge of ethical disclosure. Verhaltenstherapie / Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 26, 22-30.
     
  • Trachsel, M., grosse Holtfoth, M., Biller-Andorno, N., & Appelbaum, P. S. (2015). Informed consent for psychotherapy: still not routine. The Lancet Psychiatry, 2(9), 775-777.