Ethics and Imagination in Psychological Practice

This essay discusses ethics in psychotherapy and the limitations of a codified, rational decision-making model for understanding ethical clinical practice. The role of imagination in the development of ethical meaning-making and understanding is explored, and the limits in this regard of the America...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Humanistic psychologist 2022-03, Vol.50 (1), p.107-120
Main Authors: Jungwirth, Jeb, Walsh, Russ
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
American Psychological Association
Clinical Practice
Decision Making
Ethics
Human
Imagination
Philosophy
Psychotherapists
Psychotherapy
Treatment Guidelines
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Summary:This essay discusses ethics in psychotherapy and the limitations of a codified, rational decision-making model for understanding ethical clinical practice. The role of imagination in the development of ethical meaning-making and understanding is explored, and the limits in this regard of the American Psychological Association's (2017) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct are discussed. In particular, the view of therapists as solely rational agents applying ethical rules in a logical, formulaic manner is called into question for its failure to account for the value of imaginative thought, empathy, and tolerance of contradiction in clinical practice. The works of Continental philosophers such as Foucault, Ricoeur, and Kearney are presented as offering a human science counterpoint to the conventional ethics model outlined in the guidelines of the American Psychological Association. A dialectics of practice, bridging rational decision making and the virtues of imagination, is proposed as a more experientially faithful and clinically relevant alternative that can expand our practical understanding of ethical psychotherapy.
ISSN:0887-3267
1547-3333
DOI:10.1037/hum0000218