Making therapy more transparent: On Kevin R. Smith’s therapeutic ethics

Abstract

This review essay describes, analyzes, and evaluates Kevin R. Smith’s two supplementary short books, The Ethical Visions of Psychotherapy (2021) and Therapeutic Ethics in Context and in Dialogue (2021). It describes the main purpose of the books—to develop the idea of therapeutic ethics—summarizes the content, analyzes Smith’s main approach and goals, and evaluates his success in developing therapeutic ethics. The main recommendation is that, while Smith builds on Charles Taylor’s work in illuminating ways, there are yet further resources available in Taylor’s philosophy for developing therapeutic ethics in more detail.