Ethics Flashcards
When obtaining assent from a child and the child says “no” to participating
(consent vs. assent)
-Consent of parents overrides assent if there is a benefit to the child participating.
-Assent overrides consent if there is benefit to the child should they participating.
Who can be a psychologist’s professional executor?
-licensed psychologist or licensed health professional.
Goal of APA accreditation is to
Protect the well-being of the public and the interest of students.
The purpose of a psychological autopsy is to
clarify the manner of death when the manner is equivocal (ambiguous).
When a client ( who is a inmate) discloses they will harm another inmate, you should
inform appropriate prison officials
When there is ethical responsibility & legal requirements
the psychologist may comply with legal requirements when doing so does not violate human rights.
Rules on storing research data
- The length and where is determined by the institute or funder.
-recommended 5 years.
Can you require students to be in therapy (individual or group)?
-yes, but they should be able to choose who the therapist is, and should be someone outside the university.
Privilege is ?
the legal requirement to protect client confidentiality in court testimony, depositions, and other legal proceedings.
Rules on accepting contingency fees
Accepting contingent fees should usually be avoided
When assessing mental competence and having to report to the court
provide the court only with information that is relevant to the person’s mental competence.
should the person disclose other information, you are not authorized to release that information.
Potential limits of confidentiality should ordinarily be discussed with a therapy client
at the outset of therapy and subsequently as needed.
When debriefing research participants about the nature and results of a research study, they should be told
as soon as possible but, in some cases, debriefing may not be necessary.
APA may take action against a member not only when a complaint has been filed against him or her but also when a member
has been expelled or suspended from an affiliated state psychological association or convicted of a felony
(not a misdemeanor)
Mark Martinez is a graduate student in clinical psychology and is on-staff at a behavioral health clinic. He notices that the clinic’s most recent newspaper ad lists staff members and their credentials and identifies him as “Ph.D. (Cand.).” This designation of Mark’s credentials is:
unacceptable even if it accurately identifies his status.
Psychologists may refuse to release a client’s test results to the client when
they believe that doing so may cause imminent serious physical harm to the client
psychologists can use of deception in a research study if
it’s justified by the study’s prospective value and participants are allowed to withdraw from the study at any time.
When clients whose fees are paid for by an insurance company do not show up for their appointments or cancel an appointment within less than 24 hours, a psychologist bills the insurance company for the appointment. This is:
unacceptable because she’s providing inaccurate information to the insurance companies.
psychologists ethical requirements with regard to obtaining informed consents for research
Informed consents are not necessary when the study involves investigating normal educational practices
When a study uses deception and also causes physical or severe emotional pain this is
unethical
Stoltenberg and McNeill’s (2010) integrated developmental model (IDM) of supervision describes a supervisee’s stages of development in terms of three characteristics
-motivation
-self-other awareness
-autonomy
Principles
- Beneficence & Nonmaleficence
(benefit others and reduce harm) - Fidelity & Responsibility
(relationship of trust and aware of responsibility to
public) - Integrity
(honesty and accuracy in education, science and practice) - Justice
(Fairness to all and equal opportunity) - Respect for peoples rights and dignity
(privacy, confidentiality and rights)
Situations that can’t be resolved informally
- when psychologist violation is related to addiction or drugs.
- Serious emotional disturbances or mental illness
- Due to incompetence
- Confrontation is too risky
When you want to work with a population you have little experience with, you should
- Take training
- Seek supervision
- Consultation*** (typically the best response)
When having to provide services (not competent in population or treatment) during a crisis and no other alternatives are available, you should
Provide services until crisis has passed or alternative treatment options become available.
When working with client(s) who need interpreters
- Use certified interpreters by national organizations
- Obtain consent
- Have written consent
*if family member offers to interpret, still seek out a professional and decline the family members offer.
When can a psychologist “discriminate” and refer for services?
-When they believe a client’s identity or diagnosis may be negatively affected by their services.
-Can refuse to see clients who they perceive as being unwilling or unable to pay fees.
What is sexual harassment?
-unwelcome, offensive or creates hostility
-Becomes sexual harassment if the psychologist is made aware the behavior being sexual harassment once and then proceeds to continue with the behavior.
-Quid-pro-quo (“you engage in sexual acts and I’ll pass you on the exam”)
When don’t psychologist engage in multiple relationships?
When the relationship effects our:
1. objectivity
2. competence
3. risk to create harm
If you are asked t completing an assessment for Custody when previous or currently treating a child and/or their family members
- It is unethical conduct the assessment
- Refer to another psychologist
When there is a Third-Party requesting services
- Inform the person being assessed / treated of the
nature of the service - Identify who the client is (typically those who
request services, company, attorney, court) - Inform them of the services and how information
will be used. - Inform them of the limits to confidentiality
Who is typically the client in a forensic case?
-court
-lawyer
-law firm
-agency / entity or party
What are the EXCEPTIONS to not needing to give informed consent?
- court ordered
- research using deception (provided in the
debriefing) - observational research (naturalistic observation
where there is no risk for identifying)
Language & Consent
Obtain consent using reasonably understandable language
When someone is incapable of giving consent
- provide an explanation
- consider their best interest
- seek assent
- obtain permission from legal guardian
When requested to provide both forensic and therapeutic services
- Try to refer to another provider for one of the services.
*if not possible, minimize conflict during this time
**When providing assessment and needing to provide crisis treatment, pause on assessment and provide therapy.
Gottlieb - Decision Making model for multiple
relationships
3 factors to consider when entering into multiple relationship
- power differential
- duration of relationship
- clarity of termination
Conflict of interest
- refrain from a professional role that would effect objectivity, competence or effectiveness.
- cause exposure of person or organization
- harm or exploitation
- psychologist has financial state
Minors don’t need consent when
- alcohol or drug addiction
- STI
- life threatening circumstances
- not needed in ER when client is at significant risk of harming / or further harm
When a client dies
Can only release client information when given permission from client’s executor/ state administrator or legal representative.
Working for the military
- Adhere to Department of Defense rules
- Provide detailed description of limits of confidentiality.
*confidentiality can never be guaranteed.
When a client is in prison and reports homicidal ideation towards an identifiable person outside prison
Duty to protect is not warranted, unless they are going to be released soon.
Advertising and reporting your degree
-Can only claim degree earned from a regionally accredited educational institute or basis of psychological license.
-If you have more than one degree, can only advertise the degree that is associated with psychology degree and clinical services.
*Cannot advertise yourself as a PhD (Candidate) prior to earning your degree.
*Only list the University or program in which the degree was obtained form. (If working at a university as a professor and also providing clinical services, on a business card you can only provide university that the degree was obtained form. You cannot advertise the university you work at as it is not associated with your degree).
Statements made in the media
Must be based off of professional knowledge
Cannot indicate professional relationship via media
*if a therapist provides question and answer to those via TV they must establish that it is not a professional relationship and all information provided is not treatment.
Solicitation
cannot solicit at uninvited circumstances from actual or potential clients and those who are prone to undue influence.
*this excludes asking family members to participate in the treatment for a client.
- There is a exception for crisis intervention
Record keeping for adults vs. children
Adults = keep for 7 years after last session
Children = keep for 3 years after last session or until they turn 18 years old (and you have stopped working with them).
Bartering
Is acceptable when not exploiting or contraindicated to treatment.
*Cannot have a client provide a service that creates a conflict of interest or multiple relationship (i.e., asking a client to baby sit or having a client provide house repairs)
Psychological research does not need to ask for consent when
- permitted by law
- does not cause harm
- studying routine educational practices
- studying factors related to job or organizational effectiveness.
- using anonymous questionnaires or naturalistic observations or archival research.
Do not need informed consent for video or recording of subjects when the study uses:
- naturalistic observation
- observation do not cause harm or identification
- deception and consent of use the recording is obtained during debriefing.
When can deception be used ?
- when other alternative are not available
- justified by scientific and applied value
- cannot deceive participants at any time if the experiment causes pain or harm.
- Participants are allowed to withdraw their data
- Participants are informed as early as possible of deception and purpose of the study.
Publishing in multiple journals
Cannot republish previously published data
-only with proper acknowledgement
-can publish in multiple journals with proper citing
of previous publications.
When asked to provide your published data by other psychologist
- share with professionals who want to reanalyze data
- ensure confidentiality is protected before sharing
Providing recommendations when assessing someone with outdated test
Do not provide conclusions or recommendations for results based on out dated tests.
Exceptions to getting informed consent for assessment
- mandated by law
- testing is implied by educational institutional or organizational activity
You can refusing to release test info to client if
releasing test data to a client or third party may prevent harm or misuse (as long as permitted by law)
Termination with a client
- when client is no longer benefiting from services
- provide pretermination treatment (except when threatened or in danger by client)
- provide referrals
What are considered Malpractice Claims?
1.established professional relationship
2.breach of duty
3.harm to client
4. harm associated with breach of duty
Responding to Subponea
- check to see if its is valid
- if valid contact client
- if authorized, released needed info with consent
- if not authorized; contact parties to see if they will withdraw or limit request.
- if request denied; contact the court (informal letter or formal request to quash the subponea)
- if requested to provide info in court/ deposition, don’t have client’s authorization, assert psychotherapist- patient privilege. - can only reveal info with client consent or court ordered.
Fact vs. Expert witness
Fact witness:
-testify what they have seen or observed
-cannot give opinions
-cannot respond to areas they do not have knowledge of.
Expert witness:
-person with education/training/experience
-offers opinion
-answers hypotheticals
*A psychologist can be both a Fact and Expert witness, however, it is not recommended and they must inform the courts of the potential limitations to this arrangement to see if alternative options are available. If not, they may proceed with caution being both fact and expert witness.
Person Centered Supervision
-focus on relationship vs. process of supervision.
-empathy, genuineness, unconditional postive regard.
CBT- Supervision
-check-in
-build bridge from last supervision
-setting agenda
-summarizing and homework
Developmental Supervision Model
-Supervisee progresses through stages
Integrated developmental model (3 levels)
- Supervisor develops structure and skills
(focused on self, limited self-evaluation) - Supervisor shares responsibilities, less structured
(better able to focus on client and demonstrate empathy.) - Supervisor fosters independence
(stay focused on client while attending to own reactions)
Process-based models
“social role models”
A. uniformly classify events occurring in supervision
B. Discrimination Model
- 3 focus areas for supervisee
1. intervention skills
2. process/conceptualization skills
3. personalization skills
-3 supervisor roles
1.educator
2. counselor
3. consultant
A therapist can deny clients access to their protected health information when they believe that access is:
reasonably likely to endanger the life or physical safety of the client or other person.
When applying to journals for publication
Psychologist can only apply to 1 journal at a time.
*unethical to apply to multiple journals at a time.
