Informed Consent Documents of Marriage and Family Therapists in Private Practice: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

This article describes a study involving informed consent documents (ICDs) of family therapists in private practice. Therapists' documents were obtained via email solicitation and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Seven conceptual categories were developed and are summarized. Findings suggest that there were both substantial consistency in the major areas of the documents but variance in their more detailed aspects. The latter was viewed as indicative of the subjectivity involved in creating ICDs and suggests that developing a universal document could be nearly impossible. Stylistic differences were also examined in relation to how they may reflect personal aspects of the therapists.