Marriage and family therapy with low-income clients: Professional, ethical, and clinical issues

Economic stress greatly increases the likelihood of mental health issues occurring within a family. Although this is widely known within the mental health profession, there is a lack of literature that assists therapists in working effectively with low-income clients. As a result, marriage and family therapists may be ill equipped to meet the needs of those in poverty, and may even be conducting therapy that is ethically unsound. The authors of this article discuss several ethical and professional issues regarding therapy with families in poverty. A number of suggestions are presented for improving the effectiveness of therapy with low-income clients. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.