DOES LEGALLY MANDATED CONSENT TO PSYCHOTHERAPY ENSURE ETHICAL APPROPRIATENESS - THE COLORADO EXPERIENCE

We analyzed a sample of 356 forms containing information that Colorado law legally requires both licensed and unlicensed therapists to discl ose to clients. The majority of forms contained the legally mandated i nformation; fewer forms contained ethically desirable information. The average readability grade level was 15.74, corresponding to upper-lev el college, and 63.9% of the forms reached the highest (most difficult ) readability grade of 17+. Therapists are obeying the law, but do not appear to be taking advantage of the opportunity to provide their cli ents useful information in an accessible way.