The Importance of Research for Therapists Part 4
A presenting case
Unless the practitioners maintain a focus within a relatively narrow range of presenting habits and conditions, invariably it will be necessary for them to locate and evaluate information concerning presentations with which they are unfamiliar. The existing current body of knowledge may inform about some obscure presentation and perhaps the cluster of symptoms associated with it. The models of successful and less successful interventions may all be readily available for the therapists’ consideration.
It would be wrong, ethically indefensible and probably litigious for a practitioner to launch into service provision in an area beyond his/her professional competence. Establishing material on outcome evaluations, either for public purposes or for private use may, for example, be important where clients feel they have not received appropriate services. Such evaluations are equally important in the professional development of practitioners. The application of reliable and valid measures, where assumptive threats and limitations are minimised, demands continued practise and skill refinement.
It is imperative that in the presentation of a case history/study that the boundaries of confidentiality are maintained. It would not be without precedence for a client to object to the use of their information in a published piece after the event as the client in question can be identified by others.
