Doing the Right Thing: An Approach to Moral Issues in Mental Health Treatment

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Dr. Peteet has written a slim, unpretentious volume aboutmoral issues that face most psychiatrists every day. It is a wonderfulintroduction and a rich book.He starts with a quotation from Churchill: "There is only oneduty, only one safe course, and that is to try to be right" (p. 1).However, in our field, this effort is amazingly complex and difficult.Peteet asks enormously important questions: should apsychiatrist explore not only a patient’s denial, but also thepatient’s lack of empathy or limited capacity to feel guilt?’ ‹