Dealing with ethical difficulties is an inevitable part of clinical practice, yet few therapists actively prepare themselves for this important task. As a result, clinicians may find themselves unprepared when a ethical issue, or ethical crisis arises, in their own work, or that of their colleagues. This workshop is therefore designed to develop “ethical muscles” to be in shape so that one will be ready to confront ethical issues optimally.

The workshop will begin with active imagination techniques asking questions such as, “What is the worst thing a therapist can do?” It will explain why Codes of Ethics are ineffective in prevention of ethical violations nor do they stimulate ethical awareness. Moreover, most ethical dilemmas are not black or white, but lie in what Primo Levi called “the grey zone”.

Using actual dilemmas brought by participants and the presenter, we will explore the depth psychology of ethical difficulty and violation. Dilemmas may include dealing with sickness, in yourself or a colleague; understanding when it is ethically right to stop therapy; when you discover that a patient is a sister of another patient etc. The goal of the workshop is to begin a process of stimulating ethical awareness, both in individuals as well as in the community as a whole.

This workshop will be recorded, but live participation is encouraged for an optimal learning experience.

Bibliography

Abramovitch, Henry (2007):  Stimulating Ethical Awareness during Training.

Journal of Analytical Psychology, 52, p. 449-461

Jung, C.G.: Adaptation, Individuation, Collectivity,  CW. Vol. 18 (1916]

A Psychological View of Conscience,  CW. Vol. 10 (1958)

Good and Evil in Analytical Psychology, CW Vol.10 (1959)

Neumann, Erich: Depth Psychology and the New Ethic (1949)

Proulx, Carole: On Jung’s Theory of Ethics, (1994) Journal of Analytical Psychology, 39, 1, 101 - 119.

Ross and Roy, ed.: Cast the First Stone (1995), Ethics in Analytical Practice