ETHICS AND STRATEGIC THERAPY: A PROPOSED ETHICAL DIRECTION.

Although ethical criticisms have been leveled against strategic therapy for some time, the current intensification of such criticisms indicates the need for continued dialogue about ethical strategic practice. This article presents ethical directions in two broad areas often seen as inherent in the strategic approach: (a) conscious deception and (b) intervention outside client awareness. Emerging from a discussion of the clinical implications of a constructivist view and a meaning system vocabulary of client change, five ethical presuppositions are exemplified. The ethical concerns of manipulation, power, and control are also discussed.