Confidential information may be disclosed without consent only as mandated by law or where permitted by law to provide needed professional services; obtain professional consultation; protect the patient, psychologist, or others from harm; or obtain payment for services. Under all circumstances only the minimum information necessary should be disclosed. 5. Advertising and other public statements : Rules 5.01–5.06 define what constitutes public statements and rules related to media presentations and educational programs. Psychologists do not solicit testimonials from current clients or solicit business from actual or potential clients. 6. Record keeping and fees : Rules 6.01–6.07 discuss the control, dissemination, and disposal of confidential records, and that records may not be withheld due to nonpayment if they are needed for emergency treatment. Financial arrangements must be consistent with the law; fees must not be misrepresented; anticipated limitations in financing for services must be addressed; and if a collection agency might be used, the client must be notified first and be given the opportunity to make prompt payment. Bartering may be used only if not clinically contraindicated or exploitive. Reports to payors must be accurate. When fees are divided with another professional other than in an employer– employee relationship, the division must be based on services provided and not the referral itself. 7. Education and training —Rules 7.01–7.07 cover the design and content of education and training programs. Limits and boundaries for requiring students to disclose personal information are discussed. If individual or group therapy is mandatory, the student must be allowed to receive services from a provider outside of the program. Assessment of student/trainee performance must be timely and specific, and sexual relationships with students are prohibited. 8. Research and publication : Rules 8.01–8.15 discuss obtaining informed consent in research and when it may not be required, use of inducements for research participation, boundaries on the use of deception, debriefing, humane use of animals in research, reporting results that are not fabricated or deceptive, avoiding plagiarism, accuracy in publication credit, and need to share data for verification. 9. Assessment : Rules 9.01–9.11 cover the use of assessments. Psychologists use assessment procedures that are appropriate for the situation, and they base opinions on information and techniques sufficient to substantiate the opinions. They use assessment instruments whose validity and reliability have been established for use with the population being tested and if these are not available, then the strengths and limitations of test results are described. They obtain Self-Assessment Quiz Question #4 Which ethical standard addresses when services can be provided in an emergency? a. Privacy and confidentiality. b. Competence. c. Human relations. d. Assessment. Boundary crossings and violations Professional boundaries are addressed in multiple sections of the Ethics Code. They help guide the psychologist in choosing appropriate behaviors to prevent harm to clients. Boundary crossings are deviations from practice that are harmless to the client and may also be therapeutic. Limited
informed consent for assessment except if testing is mandated by law, testing is implied as part of routine educational or organizational activity, or the purpose is to evaluate decisional capacity. Informed consent must include information about the purpose of the assessment, fees, any third-party involvement, and limits of confidentiality. The informed consent process must also provide an opportunity for the client to ask questions. Test data, including raw and scaled scores, client responses to questions, and psychologist notes and recordings, may be released to the client with appropriate client consent. Psychologists strive to maintain the security and integrity of test materials, including manuals, protocols, test questions, and test stimuli. Interpretation of results takes into account all the various test factors that may affect results. Use of outdated or obsolete tests should be avoided, and psychologists retain responsibility for the assessment when using scoring and interpretation services. Results are explained to the client unless clinically contraindicated. 10. Therapy: Rules 10.01–10.10 discuss informed consent to engage in therapy, which includes the anticipated course of therapy, fees, involvement of third parties, limits of confidentiality, and the opportunity for the client to ask questions. Roles and responsibilities of all parties are discussed with all parties in couples, family, and group therapy. Sexual relationships with current clients or close relatives, guardians, or significant others of current clients is prohibited. Therapy may not be terminated to circumvent this standard. Psychologists do not accept former sexual partners as clients. Psychologists do not have sexual intimacy with a former client for at least two years after termination of therapy and even then, the psychologist bears the burden of demonstrating that there has been no exploitation. Relevant factors to be considered include the amount of time since therapy terminated, the nature and intensity of the therapy, the circumstances of termination, the patient’s personal history and mental state, the likelihood of an adverse impact on the patient, and any statements or actions by the psychologist during therapy that suggested the possibility of a posttermination sexual relationship. Psychologists terminate therapy when the client no longer needs the service, is not benefitting from the service, or is being harmed by the service, or if the psychologist is threatened by the client or someone on behalf of the client. Of these broad areas, the most common reasons for licensing board complaints include sexual misconduct and other boundary violations; multiple relationship violations; breaches of confidentiality; and child custody disputes, especially when they are outside the provider’s competence (Novotney, 2016).
self-disclosure on the part of the therapist as a way of establishing rapport or normalizing a client behavior would be in this category. A boundary violation, however, is a deviation from practice that is clearly harmful or exploitive of the client (Jain & Roberts 2009).
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Book Code: PYCA2725
EliteLearning.com/Psychology
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