Dictionary of Ethical and Legal Terms and Issues

The Essential Guide for Mental Health Professionals

Len Sperry

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781135926397
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Psychotherapy
• Index: Psychology

The professional practice of counseling and mental health can often be complex and litigious. While there are many professional ethics textbooks, there are few, if any, supporting resources to assist in mastering basic terminology, or to offer easy access to important legal opinions in everyday practice.

The Dictionary of Ethical and Legal Terms and Issues is an invaluable resource for students and practitioners alike who need to navigate that complexity. The book blends ethical, legal, and professional issues along with a dictionary for the mental health professional in one handy volume.

An essential resource in any professional library, this book will be of interest to anyone who needs a ready guide to the myriad ethical and legal terms and issues encountered in both training and practice.

Part I

Dictionary of Ethical and Legal Terms

A

abandonment

A practitioner’s unilateral discontinuation of needed services to a client without reasonable notice. Also refers to discontinuation without provision for or referral to adequate treatment.

abuse (adult)

Nonaccidental infliction of physical, sexual, social, or emotional harm or of economic exploitation of an adult. Some jurisdictions require mandatory reporting of such actions for older adults, that is, those over the age of 65.

abuse (child)

Nonaccidental infliction of physical harm to a child, continual psychological damage, or denial of emotional needs (neglect). Cf. adverse childhood experiences.

abuse allegation

A charge of abuse of an individual of a legally protected class, for example, child, disabled, or elderly.

academic accountability

The obligation to demonstrate academic, career, and/or personal/social outcomes resulting from student participation in school counseling programs.

accommodation

Cf. reasonable accommodation.

accreditation

The process whereby a professional educational program voluntarily undergoes review by a recognized accrediting body and is found to meet its standards for quality.

accrediting bodies

Organizations that review and certify that professional educational programs meet specific academic and/or practice standards. APA, CACREP, and ACSW accredit academic mental health and related programs.

actionable

Giving rise to a “cause of action.” Something or a situation for which a suit may be filed.

ADA

Cf. Americans with Disabilities Act.

administrative agency

A government body charged with administrating or implementing specific groups of legislation.

administrative law

Regulations and procedures that govern the operation of administrative agencies.

administrative safeguards

Safeguards required by HIPAA that limit access to protected health information to those authorized and to prevent those who are unauthorized, whether workforce members or others, from obtaining access to electronic protected health information. For example, an employer might allow only practitioners rather than all employees to have access to the computer files that contain diagnostic information or progress notes.

admissibility

Refers to whether a court is bound to receive or permit introduction of a particular piece of evidence, in accord with the requirements of the law of evidence.

adoption

The process in which ties to biological parents are legally voided or canceled and new legal ties to adopting parents are created.

advance directives

Written instructions, often called a living will, expressing individuals’ health-related wishes in the event they become incapacitated and are unable to make such decisions for themselves. It may include a durable power of attorney, which gives someone else the right to make such decisions. For example, an individual may wish to refuse being fed through a tube or may wish not to be resuscitated once dead. Also referred to as advance care directives.

adverse childhood experiences (ACE)

A term that encompasses abuse, neglect, exposure to family violence, and other forms of childhood adversity.

adversarial system

A system of law in the United States wherein the truth is believed to be best revealed through a contest in court between opposite sides of a dispute.

advocacy

The active espousing or pleading in favor of a legal position. The professional duty a lawyer has in the representation of a client. In legal proceedings, mental health expert witnesses should present their opinions objectively rather than plead the cause of a client. This differs from the duty of advocacy expected of a treating practitioner who pleads the interests of his or her patient/client.

affidavit

A voluntary statement of facts or a voluntary declaration in writing that an individual affirms or swears to be true before an official authorized to administer an oath.

affirmative defenses

Defenses recognized by the law, which, when introduced by defendants in a trial, will reduce or eliminate responsibility for acts.

agency liability

The legal theory holding that all individuals in an “agent” relationship can be held vicariously liable for each other’s official acts.

agent

An individual who represents or acts on behalf of another or an organization with a mutual agreement to do so.

alienation of affections

A civil wrong or tort that arises from the willful and malicious interference with a marriage relationship by a third party. This claim can be raised when a practitioner doing couples therapy is accused of interfering with a patient’s marriage.

alimony

Payments, temporary or permanent, that a court may order one spouse to make to another.

allegations

Unproven claims that a person has violated a law or is liable for wrongfully harming another individual personally or financially. Charges in a criminal indictment and the accusations in a civil complaint are referred to as allegations.

alternative counseling

Approach to counseling that involves interventions and models of treatment that are outside the usual and conventional purview of professional counseling practice.

alternative medicine

The utilization of medical or healing methods and interventions that are outside the usual and customary pattern of medical practice in place of conventional or mainstream medical interventions. Differs from complementary medicine.

American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA)

The primary professional body overseeing the practice of professional mental health counseling.

American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

A professional organization whose membership consists of certified/licensed in school counseling and others with unique qualifications and skills to address the academic, personal/social, and career development needs of students.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Federal legislation enacted in 1990 that bars employers from discriminating against disabled persons in hiring, promotion, or other provisions of employment, especially in the provision of reasonable accommodation in response to their disability.

amicus curiae

Literally, a “friend of the court.” One who has an indirect interest in a case and offers or is requested to provide information to the court in order to clarify particular matters before the court. A position paper filed in court by that individual or organization is referred to as an amicus curiae brief.

amnesia

A medical or psychological condition that results in the inability to recall all the relevant aspects of an event that one can reasonably be expected to recall.

analytical ethics

Branch of general or philosophical ethics that studies the nature of morality itself. Sometimes referred to as “meta-ethics.”

annulment

A legal or religious decree that a marriage never existed. A court hearing to determine whether an annulment should be granted is called an annulment proceeding.

applied ethics

The division of ethics that focuses on cases or situations and uses them to understand or develop standards, rules, and theories. Applied ethics is subdivided into professional ethics, clinical ethics, organizational ethics, environmental ethics, and social and political ethics.

Aquinas, Thomas

Medieval philosopher (1225–1274) whose major treatise, Summa Theologica, was a systematic synthesis of Christian theology based on his extension of the work of Aristotle. His ethical system is teleological, meaning that an individual always acts with a specific end (telos) in view, and that the telos is always good and that the highest good is God. Thus, for Aquinas, God stands at the heart of ethics.

arbitrating

A process wherein a negotiator or negotiators seek the judgment of individuals in resolving a dispute.

arbitration

An alternative dispute resolution process occurring outside a courtroom. Decisions made by arbitrators may or may not be binding on participants; however, decisions made in “binding arbitrations” are binding o...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Part I Dictionary of Ethical and Legal Terms
• Part II Ethical Issues and Considerations
• Part III Legal Issues and Considerations
• Appendix: Key Legal Cases and Legislation Impacting Mental Health Practice
• Index