WHEN FAMILIES PRESENT WITH CONCERNS ABOUT AN ADOLESCENTS EXPERIENCE OF SAME-SEX ATTRACTION

One of the unique challenges facing marriage and family therapists (MF Ts) occurs when families present with concerns about an adolescent's e xperience of same-sex attraction. When faced with this clinical scenar io, MFTs may have few resources to draw on to provide treatment in a c ompetent manner. The purpose of this article is to examine the America n Association for Marital and Family Therapy's Code of Ethics to explo re ways in which MFTs can provide services within the framework of exi sting ethical principles and standards for accountability and professi onalism Recommendations are made with reference to the ethical princip les of (a) professional competence and integrity and (b) responsibilit y to clients.