Quote:
Originally Posted by Lauliza
The OPs T would have been ethically required, not legally required, to refer her to someone else who has expertise in EDs. It is the therapist's obligation to work in the best interest of the client and to provide the best care possible. If they can't, ethical guidelines require the refer the client to another, more qualified T. The OP said that she her weight was low enough to cause hair loss and she wasn't menstruating, so this is serious.
There is no specialized training to work with someone with an eating disorder, but clinicians gain expertise through hours of experience. You can say you counsel people on the Autism spectrum, and you don't need special certifications to do so, but most would agree people on the spectrum will benefit most from a T with a lot of experience and knowledge. And it sounds to me from the OPs post that this is a significant issue that needs prompt attention (hair loss and missed periods are signs that her body is suffering). Of can you have the right choose your own treatment, but it also sounds like the OP wanted more direct help than she was getting.
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the key here is whether the treatment provider feels they.......are .....capable of treating the client they do not .....have ... to refer the person to someone else....ethically nor legally.
kind of strange for a treatment provider to sit down with a client and say yes I can work with people with eating disorders and Im qualified to do so but Im going ot refer you to someone else anyway...
thats like telling someone who was raped yes we can work on your having nightmares about your rape I can do that for you but even though Im a state licensed therapist qualified to treat all kinds of mental disorders and problems Im going to send you on to someone else who also works on this. good bye....
whats the sense in being a mental health treatment provider if you are going to refer your clients off to someone else even though you know you are qualified and can work with the problems brought to you. no sense at all. thats why here in NY it is not an ethical problem nor a legal one for treatment providers to decide yea this is something I can work with. Here in NY treatment providers are trained to work with all mental disorders, all issues like depression eating disorders, what ever. Sure we have a limited few, probably about as many places as you can count on one hand that are inpatient facilities that treat one or two mental disorders but over all here in NY treatment providers must be qualified to work with all mental disorders, they can choose if they want to who they are going to work with and who they arent, just like the patients/clients can choose who they want to work with given their financial means.