BIOLOGICAL BASIS AND ETHICAL/LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY

Many studies have found that psychotherapy is as effective as psychopharmacology in terms of influencing changes in behaviors, symptoms of anxiety, and changes in mental state(Comprehensive Essay on Biological Basis and Ethical Considerations of Psychotherapy). Changes influenced by psychopharmacology can be explained by the biological basis of treatments. But how does psychotherapy achieve these changes? Does psychotherapy share common neuronal pathways with psychopharmacology?(Comprehensive Essay on Biological Basis and Ethical Considerations of Psychotherapy)

Psychotherapy is used with individuals as well as in groups or families. The idea of discussing confidential information with a patient in front of an audience is probably quite foreign to you. However, in group and family therapy, this is precisely what the psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner does. In your role, learning how to provide this type of therapy within the limits of confidentiality is essential.(Comprehensive Essay on Biological Basis and Ethical Considerations of Psychotherapy)

For this Discussion, you will consider whether psychotherapy also has a biological basis and analyze the ways in which legal and ethical considerations differ in the individual, family, and group therapy settings.(Comprehensive Essay on Biological Basis and Ethical Considerations of Psychotherapy)

Comprehensive Essay on Biological Basis and Ethical Considerations of Psychotherapy

The biological basis of psychotherapy is not comprehensively understood. However, studies have shown that psychotherapy is a comprehensive biological treatment considering it targets all biological regulators of brain responses to mental health issues (Javanbakht & Alberini)(Comprehensive Essay on Biological Basis and Ethical Considerations of Psychotherapy). By targeting all the biological regulators of brain responses to mental health conditions, psychotherapy contributes to the establishment of a sense of self and others. Individuals learn new experiences associated with internal, emotional, and cognitive regulation processes. A study by Scult et al. (2019) evaluated the alterations in functional connectivity related to emotional regulation therapy among major depressive and generalized anxiety participants. The study found that emotional regulation therapy contributes to changes in nodes of the salience network and default mode network to other regions in the brain. The changes were associated with the improvement of clinical symptoms among participants. These findings suggest that a successful therapy provides all-inclusive, lasting, and measurable changes in brain neurotransmissions.(Comprehensive Essay on Biological Basis and Ethical Considerations of Psychotherapy)

The legal and ethical considerations in psychotherapy are related to informed consent and confidentiality of patient information. Therefore, when administering individual, family, or group therapy, mental health personnel should provide the clients with information on the choice of therapy, duration of therapy, benefits, and side effects (Trachsel & Holtforth, 2019). In group and family therapy, informed consent is provided to all participants, while in individual therapy target patient is given informed consent. Unlike group therapy, family therapy constitutes individuals who know one another; usually, one individual with a problem affects others. Therefore, the affected individual should be provided with informed consent to allow others to be involved in their care.(Comprehensive Essay on Biological Basis and Ethical Considerations of Psychotherapy)

On the other hand, all participants in group therapy should agree to uphold the confidentiality of each other’s clinical data (Doshi et al., 2019). Consequently, those who disagree with the confidentiality rules should be excluded from group therapy. Moreover, mental health personnel should uphold the confidentiality of clients’ data in individual, group, or family therapy. (Comprehensive Essay on Biological Basis and Ethical Considerations of Psychotherapy)

References

Doshi, P. V., Robak, R. W., Grffin, P. W., & Ward, A. W. (2019). Confidentiality in Counselor Experiential Training Groups: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Counseling Research and Practice, 5(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.56702/UCKX8598/jcrp0501.3

Javanbakht, A., & Alberini, C. M. (2019). Neurobiological models of psychotherapy. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 13, 144. https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffnbeh.2019.00144

Scult, M. A., Fresco, D. M., Gunning, F. M., Liston, C., Seeley, S. H., García, E., & Mennin, D. S. (2019). Changes in functional connectivity following treatment with emotion regulation therapy. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 13, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00010

Trachsel, M., & Holtforth, M. G. (2019). How to Strengthen Patients’ Meaning Response by an Ethical Informed Consent in Psychotherapy. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1747. https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2019.01747