Informed consent revisited: An updated written question format.

Abstract

This article presents an updated version of M. Handelsman and M. Galvin's (1988) suggested written format for facilitating informed consent to psychotherapy. Significant changes in the psychotherapy profession during the past 15 years, and the revisions regarding informed consent in the American Psychological Association's (2002a) ethics code, form the rationale for this revision. Like the original, this form is a thorough list of questions that clients have a right to discuss with their psychologists. This revised version, which is intended to be illustrative rather than prescriptive, includes new questions addressing insurance/managed care issues, manualized and evidence-based psychotherapy, and psychopharmacology.