Ethical Considerations When Conducting Individual Therapy With Older Adolescents Exposed to High-Conflict Parenting

High-conflict parenting (HCP) can exact a tremendous toll on the mental health and well-being of the youth involved. This article briefly reviews the literature on the impact of HCP on youth and treatment approaches established to optimize intervention outcomes. This is followed by a specific focus on common ethical and clinical issues that arise when delivering individual therapy to older adolescents (i.e., ages 15- to 17-years-old) who are experiencing HCP. Utilizing brief case vignette examples, important tensions (e.g., protecting an adolescent's privacy while responding to their requests to advocate on their behalf) and possible resolutions are highlighted. The article concludes with several recommendations for working with older adolescents and their parents from an individual therapy framework. Public Significance Statement This article highlights the intricacies, challenges, and benefits of treating older adolescents exposed to high-conflict parenting in individual counseling. Further, it introduces several ethical and clinical challenges common to this enterprise as well as a methodology for clinicians to process and resolve these challenges.