Using the Law: Practical Decision Making in Mental Health

Every day mental health professionals are faced with making practice decisions involving cultural, ethical, moral, regional, personal, and legal considerations. Using the Law shows readers how to resolve practice problems efficiently through a structured application of legal principles. Writing for various mental health professionals that face such complex decisions, Andrew B. Israel pulls from the codes of ethics of the American Psychological Association, the National Association of Social Workers, and the National Board of Certified Counselors. He presents a unified perspective that stresses the integration of the fundamental legal, ethical, cultural and pragmatic factors influencing practice. Written in a clear and direct style, this thoroughly revised and updated second edition includes a new chapter on reading judicial cases for mental health professionals and expands the treatment of the codes of ethics governing social workers, psychologists, counselors, and nurses.