Thou shalt not commit adultery.
-Exodus 20:14, KJV
Divorce Minister’s Take On the Ethics of AAMFT
For those who are unfamiliar, the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) is a–if not THE— major professional association for marriage therapists in the United States.
You can read their ethics statement by clicking (here).
Today’s post is to highlight a major oversight–IMO–in their code of ethics:
Nowhere in their code of ethics will you find a prohibition of adultery for their members except if the adultery partner is a client or somehow connected to a client.
As a pastor and faithful spouse, I find this oversight incredibly disturbing.
This professional association is essentially saying–by this glaring omission in their code of ethics–that they are willing to professionally endorse as a member in good-standing a marriage therapist who is actively committing adultery.
Think about that!
A member therapist of the AAMFT could theoretically be counseling an infidelity-ravaged couple while cheating on her own husband without any fear of being in violation of the AAMFT code of ethics (provided the affair partner isn’t a client or connected to one).
This is part of the reason Christian pastors view the secular counseling world with suspicion:
The AAMFT is not willing–apparently–to encode a personal ethic into their professional association for marriage therapists that all major religions agree upon–i.e. adultery is ethically wrong and thereby incompatible ethically for a professional who dispenses marriage advice.
That said, I do appreciate the world of psychology and know good therapists exist. However, this is a major glaring ethical omission that faithful spouses need to be aware of when choosing to seek help.
Personally, the last thing I would want as a faithful spouse is to seek help from a therapist who is actively cheating on his or her spouse.
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*A version of this post ran previously.
