Ethical Issues in Psychology

Práce Psychoterapie, etika a věda je věnována zkoumání etiky a etických závazků v rámci vybraných teorií psychoterapie, a to jmenovitě v „Na klienta orientované terapii“ Carla Ransoma Rogerse a „Kognitivní terapii“ Aarona Temkina Becka. Autor práce nejprve poukazuje na obecné vymezení psychoterapie s ohledem k teorii vědy, které by poskytlo pomoc při samotné koncepci přístupu k etice v rámci psychoterapeutických teorií. Následně představuje hlavní problémy etiky ve vztahu k empirickým poznatkům. Předkládá nejznámější argumenty proti přechodu mezi deskripcemi a preskripcemi a návrh na jejich překonání podaný Peterem Singerem. V části o etice také předkládá problematiku etických závazků ve vztahu k teorii osobní identity. Poslední dvě části práce jsou pak věnovány vybraným teoriím psychoterapie. Ty jsou nejprve představeny a vymezeny pomocí základních principů a podmínek terapeutického procesu, které určili jejich zakladatelé, a následně srovnány na několika příkladech situací, které jsou chápány jako eticky problematické. V diskusi a závěru autor obhajuje alternativní možnost ospravedlňování etických soudů v etice psychoterapií a srovnává ji s pojetím etických kodexů v současné psychologii.
(The paper Psychotherapy, ethics and science is discussing ethics and ethic commitments in selected theories of psychotherapy, namely in the „Client-Centered Therapy” of Carl Ransom Rogers, and in the „Cognitive therapy“ of Aaron Temkin Beck. The author of the work at first presents the general definition of psychotherapy in consideration to theory of science, which can be used in the main conception of approach to ethics in the psychotherapeutic theories. Afterwards he introduces principal problems of ethics, in relation to empirical knowledge. He presents the most well-known arguments against the conversion of descriptions to prescriptions and vice versa, as well the proposal to the overcoming of these arguments, made by Peter Singer. In the part, which is dedicated to theoretic questions of ethics, the author also mentions the problems of ethic commitments in relation to theory of personal identity. The last two parts of the paper are then dedicated to selected theories of psychotherapy. These theories are introduced and demarked by fundamental principles and conditions of therapeutic process, which their founders established, and then they are compared in the context of some examples of situations, which are perceived as ethically problematic. In the discussion and conclusion of the work, the author defends alternative approach to possibility of justifying ethical judgments in ethic of psychotherapy, and compares it with concept of ethical codex in present psychological discussion.)

Content & Focus: This paper will discuss the importance of professional and ethical guidelines for both Qualified Counselling Psychologists and Counselling Psychologists in Training when working in the field of trauma. It will also explore some of the challenges therapists may face when taking these guidelines into account. This paper will present a case vignette on how vicarious traumatisation may present, as well as how it may affect therapists before moving on to discussing how for some people trauma can lead to vicarious resilience. This paper questions if it should be compulsory to introduce trauma awareness courses prior to psychologists working with trauma survivors or within professional training programmes and concludes with suggestions of how therapists may prevent and/or manage vicarious trauma including the importance of self-care.

There is an absence of comprehensive, systematically gathered data concerning psychologists' beliefs about and compliance with ethical principles, and we know little about which resources are valued as effective in guiding appropriate behavior. A national sample of psychologists provided data regarding the degree to which they engaged in each of 83 behaviors and the degree to which they considered each behavior to be ethical. Examples of the 83 behaviors are: treating homosexuality per se as pathological; accepting a client's decision to commit suicide; discussing clients (without names) with friends; engaging in sexual fantasies about a client; going into business with a client; breaking confidentiality if a client is suicidal; charging a client no fee; making a custody evaluation without seeing both parents; hugging a client; signing for hours a supervisee has not earned; filing an ethics complaint against a colleague; performing forensic work for a contingency fee; altering a diagnosis to meet insurance criteria; breaking confidentiality to report child abuse; inviting clients to a party or social event; accepting goods as payment; seeing a minor client without parental consent; telling a client "I'm sexually attracted to you"; terminating therapy if a client cannot pay; asking favors from clients; using a law suit to collect fees; lending money to a client; becoming sexually involved with a former client; and engaging in sex with clinical supervisees. Twelve of the behaviors were very difficult for participants to evaluate on the basis of ethics. Seven of the 83 behaviors were practiced by over 90% of the participants; 16 by fewer than 10%. Colleagues, the APA Ethical Principles, and internship training were rated as the most helpful resources in guiding behavior; state and federal laws, published research, and local ethics committees were rated least helpful.

A search through a large state's psychology-licensing disciplinary records for a 28-month period identified the 22 cases in which sex with a client had led to disciplining a therapist. Information is presented about offender age, gender, and marital status; for each case, the number of clients involved and whether they were adults or minors are provided.

An overview of the historical sources of ethical reasoning, giving clinical practitioners a structured method for analysis of ethical dilemmas and moral pluralism typically encountered in the practice of psychiatry. This review will appeal to the psychiatric practitioner who is faced with ethical decisions about which reasonable practitioners may and do disagree, while providing tools and sample cases that facilitate the process of analysis and justification of decision-making.

Five-part series of films noirs by American, British, and Japanese directors. The series will chart the postwar attitudes toward treating clinicians and their patients, with an attention to the shifting boundaries between them. 5.0 CE/CME/CEU/Professional Development Credits (Ethics) if the series is attended in its entirety (or 1.0 hour per film).

The integrated model of mental health recommends nowadays the collaboration between psychiatrists, psychotherapists and clinical psychologists. It is currently the agreed model in the managed health care system in the West and research has shown that mixing the medical model with the psychological model both in theory and practice elicits the best outcomes and guides the client towards recovery. In this paper I will challenge this view on a particular area of psychopathology, mild and moderate depression and anxiety, showing that in these particular situations, 15-20 sessions of psychotherapy are sufficient and efficient for recovery and there is no further need for medicating the client, unless the client himself desires this particular type of psychiatric approach. I will also focus on a target group, pregnant women who fear toxic reactions for the fetus and don’t consider taking antidepressant and anxiolytic medication out of fear of adverse reactions. I will also explore the eth...

ABSTRACT: In a nationwide survey of members of APA Division 29 (Psychotherapy), which had a 48% return rate (N = 481), 10% of the respondents re-ported sexual contact as students with their educators; 13% reported entering sexual relationships as educa-tors with their ...

ABSTRACT: There is an absence of comprehensive, sys-tematically gathered data concerning psychologists' beliefs about and compliance with ethical principles. Further-more, we know little about which resources are valued as effective in guiding appropriate behavior. Survey ...