Current Ethical Issues in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy

The Webster Unabridged Dictionary [1] defines ethics as 1) ‘‘a system of moral principles,’ ’ 2) ‘‘the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a partic-ular class of human actions or a particular group..’ ’ These principles and rules are specified further by the American Psychiatric Association and particularized by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychia-try. They serve to bind child and adolescent psychiatrists to a code that supports the professionalism and quality care that are necessary to gain the trust of children, families, and the society at large. The treatment of children is based upon the precepts of first, to do no harm, second, to do what is in the best interest of the child, third, to protect the privacy of the child’s communications, fourth, to respect the child as well as the family regardless of race, religion, socioeconomic status, education, or intellectual level, and fifth, to promote and support the highest level of development and autonomy in the child [2]. Addition-ally, we must resist pressures to control the child and coerce compliance a