Ethics & Standards: The Basis of Psychological Practice - Essay Sample

Introduction

Fundamentally, ethics and standards form the basis of practice in Psychology. Ethics refer to principles that govern how a member of a particular profession ought to conduct themselves. Therefore, when it comes to therapy, they are the guidelines to the therapist or Psychologist that govern them how to conduct themselves when attending to their clients. Violating ethics leads to severe consequences, which include being sued by the clients (Barnes & Murdin, 2001). There are various ethics and code of conduct used by Psychologists and therapists when practicing. They are explicitly outlined in the American Psychological Association, which gives the guidelines of the code of conduct of the Psychologists and therapists. This paper will look into the ethical challenges Psychologists might face while working with clients and the American Psychological Association guidelines of each one of them.

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Hypothetical Family Description

To better understand these ethics and standards, how they come in and apply, let us look at a case that was presented to a psychologist. It is a case that involves a family of four: James (father), Rebecca (mother), and their two daughters Natalie and Candace. Rebecca has been in her marriage for eight years now. She is married to James, and they are all whites, and thus they have adopted the western culture. Together they are blessed with two beautiful daughters Natalie and Candace. About five months ago, Natalie was involved in a horrible road accident.

Background of the Family

Consequently, she sustained a brain injury. From that time, James and his wife Rebecca have to teach Natalie the basic things like talking, walking, and eating again, which are costing them a lot of time. It has cost them a tremendous amount of money visiting doctors, specialists for treatment regarding their daughter to make sure she is at least back on track.

At the moment, Natalie can talk although her speech is poorly articulated. She cannot walk well if she is not supported. Her mother has to help her when taking a shower, eating, and going up and down the stairs. She needs someone to be watching over her to help when she requires assistance, markedly, it has led to Rebecca quitting her job. Natalie's father has also cut his working hours to devote more time to support their beautiful daughters.

Consequently, this has led to a reduction in their income. The family is the middle class, which means they don't earn much. Cutting their working hours means that they will be more miserable, and already they have spent a significant amount of money through the treatment and medication of their daughter.

Rebecca says that Natalie has completely changed since she was involved in the road accident. The new Natalie is demanding, and apparently, she resists her mother's effort to help her. Rebecca laments that her daughter is no longer the one she used to have before. She feels overwhelmed to know that Natalie's condition will remain like that in her whole life. Seemingly, of late, Natalie favors her father more than her mother. James convinces Natalie more quickly to take a shower and eat, making Rebecca resent that her husband can control their daughter, and it will affect her role as Natalie's mother. It makes her feel less of a mother to Natalie. Rebecca responded angrily to James when he started advising her on how to handle their daughter Natalie. In her view, James is supposed to be on her side by supporting the efforts she is putting into helping their daughter and not to give her directions. Besides, it makes her feel like an inadequate mother. Since all this started, Rebecca says that James is not interested in having sex with her. On several occasions, she has initiated sex, but James is not involved. It makes her feel as if her husband has withdrawn from her, and now he has shifted all of his attention to his work and his daughters.

Rebecca is stressed in that she has very little time to interact with her other family and her friends. She narrates that her friends, family, and relatives have now distanced themselves from her. She doesn't talk to her friends anymore as a way of trying to avoid burdening them with her problems. Rebecca is having sleeping problems; also, she wakes up in the middle of the night and starts wondering how she will live with all these difficulties. She sees no end of these problems, and she is stressed about having these fights and conflicts in her family.

Ethical Challenges One Might Face Working With the Family Informed consent

Informed consent refers to giving the clients the information they need to know about the treatment that is proposed for them, remarkably, it helps them to decide on whether to provide the Psychologist with the go-ahead to proceed with the treatment or not. It is a requirement for all psychologists to provide informed consent to their clients before commencing the treatment on the client. Clients are informed about how the treatment will be. This typically entails the approach which will be used and how the approach works, any activities that it may involve for it to work and the time it may take, fees charged for the treatment, and the right to terminate the therapy (Schulz, 2000). The client is informed about how effective the treatment is, the risks, and any other remedies available. The Psychologist is supposed to obtain informed consent from the client early enough so that the client can decide whether to continue with the treatment before they find themselves deep in it.

There are two methods of obtaining informed consent, written and oral. The written process involves a client reading over information then commit to it by signing a hard copy which is filed and acts as proof of informed consent. In the oral method, it eases a discussion between client and Psychologist. The combination of the two ways is ideal in practice. It is imperative to mention that obtaining informed consent and documenting it benefits both the client and the Psychologist. Securing it in the right way protects the Psychologist from violation of ethics and legal liabilities that may come up.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality refers to ensuring that the client's information is protected from others; in addition, it involves making the client feel free to share their issues without fear that it will be shared with the third party. Nevertheless, there are confidentiality exceptions when it comes to therapy. The following are exceptions to confidentiality.

Psychologists work together as a team; they may consult with the other staff to try to give the best for the client. If there is evidence that the client is a danger to himself/herself or others, the Psychologist is required by law to report to the third parties mandated to ensure safety. This will prevent the client from harming self or others (Dewey & Alexander, 1998). A judge may issue a court order to provide information regarding the client, which may require the Psychologist to release the information; moreover, the court may also require the Psychologist to testify in a court of law. Confidentiality helps clients to trust their Psychologist and open up to them.

Cultural Awareness

Cultural awareness refers to being fully aware and respecting the person receiving your services languages, what they believe their behaviors and values which are different from yours as a psychologist. Psychologists who understand their own culture and how their beliefs and perceptions can affect their relationship with the client stand a better chance to respect their clients who have different views and ideas. Without cultural awareness, Psychologists will not be able to appreciate people from different races and cultures, which will, in turn, hinder them from helping their clients; they tend to use their perceptions to judge other people based on what they believe and what they do in their culture. Culturally competent psychologists will evaluate how their beliefs, views of things affect how they define one's behavior (Schulz, 2000). Through this, they take time to understand better their client's culture and how it would affect their relationship. This will help the Psychologist gain an insight into what happens in the client's lifestyle, understand the client's beliefs and how they perceive things, and not use his/her culture to judge the client. If the Psychologist is not fully aware of his or her culture and how it has influenced him/her and that of the client, it will be hard to appreciate and understand the difficulties the client is going through. Psychologists need to be mindful of how their values would affect how they practice when dealing with a client who has different benefits from theirs. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the practitioner to be open to change; moreover, the practitioner is supposed to be flexible to change his/her strategies to suit the client's needs. Becoming a diversity-competent psychologist is a process that takes time; it is not something that one arrives at once. It requires one to understand their race, ethnicity, and cultural identities.

In conclusion, Ethical codes are the guidelines which guide psychologists in their practice. It is required of them by law to adhere to these ethics, and violation of them has consequences, which may lead to loss of license to practice. Observing these ethics puts the psychologists on the safe side, primarily when a legal matter arises. The best way to safeguard oneself from the violation of these codes of ethics is by ensuring that, as a practitioner, you have heeded to these ethics. Without them, client rights will be compromised, which can cause more harm to them; thus, ethics helps both the client and the practicing Psychologist. People seeking services from the Psychologist have the responsibility to exercise precaution; they should ensure that the person they are seeking services from is licensed and qualified to offer the services he/she is purporting. Ethics should be fair enough and aim to protect the public who are consuming the services being provided by the Psychologists.

References

Barnes, F. P., & Murdin, L. (Eds.). (2001). Values and ethics in the practice of psychotherapy and counseling. Buckingham: Open University Press. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Values-and-ethics-in-the-practice-of-psychotherapy-Barnes-Murdin/2dd11dd9c139b07aaf1b3eac9f2fb21d3ae7931a

Dewey, J., & Alexander, T. (1998). The essential Dewey: Ethics, logic, psychology (Vol. 2). Indiana University Press. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Aix9y7FpiIsC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=ethics+in+psychology&ots=9UD4KzvbNS&sig=zLx9aJPQ5mHJoosifeLBLGg5pEw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=ethics%20in%20psychology&f=false

Keith-Spiegel, P., & Koocher, G. P. (1985). Ethics in psychology: Professional standards and cases. Crown Publishing Group/Random House. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1985-97634-000

Koocher, G. P., & Keith-Spiegel, P. (2008). Ethics in psychology and the mental health professions: Standards and cases. Oxford University Press. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=TBPu12z0f8oC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=ethics+in+psychology&ots=wkxOWLeLui&sig=YHp4qzww9VMCEo1RdaAccow_ons&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=ethics%20in%20psychology&f=false

Schulz, W. E. (2000). Counselling Ethics Casebook, 2000. Canadian Counselling Association, 700-116 Albert Street, Ottawa, Canada. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED457493