Justice in psychotherapy

Justice is one of the fundamental concepts of right ordering of human relationships. Justice is a regulative idea for the arrangement of society preceding the law and already seen in animals; the sense of justice is observed as early as in young children. The ability to altruistic behavior, sense of fairness, reciprocity and mutual help are probably genetically determined as a disposition, which may further develop or be deformed by education. Although justice issues are common in psychotherapy, they may not be reflected and processed in the course of therapy. In psychotherapy, justice issues appear directly in what the client says (mostly about injustice), but more frequently the issues are implicitly contained in complaints and stories against a background of conflicts and problems. They may be related to the client's story, his or her problems with other people, and the therapeutic process itself, including client´s selection of therapy, therapeutic relationship, and therapeutic change strategies. By increasing receptiveness to the issue of justice, the therapist may help improve the therapeutic process. Problems with justice between the therapist and the client may be revealed by honest therapist self-reflection or high-quality supervision.