Seeking consent: some thoughts about sharing a draft with a patient

ABSTRACT

An earlier version of this paper was read at the Journal of Child Psychotherapy Symposium on Ethical Publishing, 2022. The question under discussion was: how can we write about our patients in a safe and respectful way, while making a contribution to the development of our field. The author describes her experience of sharing a draft paper with a young person towards the end of the treatment, with a view to submitting the paper for publication. Some thought is given to the clinical and ethical complexity of this process, and the questions that arose through the process are explored. The paper proposes that it might sometimes be possible to aim for a collaborative form of writing that involves children, young people and families in writing up their stories.

KEYWORDS:

• Consent
• psychoanalytic writing
• patient involvement
• writing for publication
• confidentiality
• collaboration

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Alexandra de Rementeria for her encouragement to deliver the original presentation and to write this paper, and for her very helpful editorial work. I would also like to thank the presenters at the symposium, whose contributions inspired me to write up the presentation for publication.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. All identifying details have been anonymised, and the patient has given their consent to the publication of this paper, including an opportunity to read a draft.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gillian Sloan Donachy

Gillian Sloan Donachy is Principal Child Psychotherapist at NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, and Joint Course Lead for the Scottish Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training at Human Development Scotland.