Ethical Dilemmas Related to Disclosure Issues: Sex Addiction Therapists in the Trenches

Therapists who treat sex addicts are often faced with ethical dilemmas. Almost every therapist has encountered some unexpected dilemma that has put us in a quandary and by its very nature calls for decisions that could challenge our code of conduct. In this article the authors describe several types of ethical dilemmas related to disclosure. The focus is on revelations made by the patient, the therapist or a third party. Disclosure was chosen as a focus of this paper because of its potential consequences and the possible risks when handled inappropriately. The authors illustrate their findings with insightful examples and give a broad range of possible solutions while describing the potential positive or negative outcomes. They give their opinions and their collective wisdom based on their own research and clinical practice. Several therapists also contributed to this article by generously stating their experiences.