EPA-1341 – Ethics in cognitive behavioral therapy supervision

Abstract

Objective The task of supervision is obvious – to increase the value of the therapeutic process in the client's best interest. There are many ethical questions rising in supervisors thinking about patients and also about therapist during CBT supervision. Aims The first aim was review the literature about ethics of CBT supervision and to compare the attitudes and belief about ethical questions in trainees of CBT a CBT supervision. The second aim was to find if there were any relations between ethical self-reflection and therapeutic skills of CBT trainee. Methods The first method was narrative review. A literature review was performed using the National Library of Medicine PubMed database, Scopus and Web of Science, additional references was found through bibliography reviews of relevant articles up to September 2013. Databases were searched for articles containing the following keywords: cognitive behavioral therapy, therapeutic relationship, training, supervision, ethics, self-reflection. The review also includes information from monographs referred to by other reviews. The second step was using the self-reflect questionnaire about ethical questions and assessment of the therapeutic skills of CBT trainees by their CBT trainers. Results Strengthening ethical self-reflections in supervisees is a valuable way of improving the development of ethical aspects of professional growth throughout all stages of their career. Training and supervision focused on self-reflection on ethical aspects are beneficial to both supervisees and their patients. Preliminary results show, that therapist with high level of ethical self-reflection are significantly better in therapeutic skills assessed by trainees.