Ethics and Legal Issues

1.01 Misuse of Psychologist’s Work

• if learn someone is misusing their work, take measures to correct it

1.02 Conflicts Between Ethics and Law, Regulations, or Other Governing Legal Authority
• if ethical conflict between ethics, law, or governing body, psychologist will:
o clarify nature of conflict
o make commitment to Ethics Code known
o take reasonable steps to resolve conflict consistent with APA code

1.03 Conflicts Between Ethics and Organizational Demands

• same as above but with organizational demands

1.04 Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations

• if ethical violation by another psychologist, talk to psychologist and attempt to resolve

1.05 Reporting Ethical Violations

• when can’t resolve ethical issue informally, will report to ethics or licensing boards
o exceptions: when psychologist reviewing another psychologist whose conduct is in
question; when confidentiality violated

1.06 Cooperating with Ethics Committees

• cooperate; not doing it is an ethics violation
• can defer adjudication

1.07 Improper Complaints

• don’t file complaints if there are facts that would disprove

1.08 Unfair Discrimination Against Complainants and Respondents

• if active ethics complaint, will not deny employment, advancement, admissions to academic
programs, tenure, or promotion
o does not apply if the ethics complaint was finalized and person found as having violated

2.01 Boundaries of Competence

• competence: what you know and know how to practice
o no hard-and-fast rule; base it on what you think you would be able to treat

2.02 Providing Services in Emergencies

• don’t necessarily need to have competence in emergencies since acting as first responder,
but once specialist/someone with competence is available, patient should be handed off

2.03 Maintaining Competence

• need to expand upon and maintain competence over time

2.04 Bases for Scientific and Professional Judgments

 • instruments and strategies used should be evidence-based
o if not, should not be only instrument or strategy used and should also use evidence-
based items

Kinds of witnesses:
• fact witness: testify based on what they witnessed
• expert witness: testify based on their expertise, such as psychology
o not just degrees or titles; years of experience can make someone an expert too
o if someone brought on to mention what was discussed in therapy, they would be a fact
witness and should not bring in information that would be solicited of an expert witness

2.05 Delegation of Work to Others

• Some psychologists pay other people to do certain things (e.g., administering a test and sending
the results while the psychologist will still write the bulk of the report)
o the psychologist is still responsible for what that other person writes and does)

2.06 Personal Problems and Conflicts

• e.g., if know that will be on vacation for a while and will be unable to see patients during that
time, should advise patients and refer them out in advance

3.01 Unfair Discrimination

• can be inadvertent discrimination
• can be addressed informally (i.e., talking to the harasser about how it makes you feel
uncomfortable) or formally (i.e., filing a complaint)

3.02 Sexual Harassment

3.03 Other Harassment

• based on gender, race, culture, etc.

3.04 Avoiding Harm

• if a psychologist does something that results in a client experiencing harm/distress, they are
violating this
o if they break another statute, chances are that they are also breaking this statute too →
will be on the test, to be referred to as part of your answer to a vignette

3.05 Multiple Relationships

• if, outside of the therapist-client relationship, the psychologist and client also have another
direct relationship (e.g., as student, supervisor, someone whose business psychologist is
invested in, etc.) or indirect relationship (e.g., as a sister-in-law, friend’s girlfriend, etc.), it
violates this statute
o will be on the test, to be referred to as part of your answer to a vignette
• multiple relationships are not necessarily bad (only if they are likely to lead to bias or harm)

3.06 Conflict of Interest

 • if realize that a conflict of interest occurred and was unavoidable (e.g., dating someone who is
the sister of a former client of yours), then you should have a conversation with client about it
o teacher says her gut would say to terminate both relationships in previous example
(breaking up with client’s brother and referring client out)
• do not ever do court-ordered psychological evaluations for your therapy clients
• should not do therapy and then do an evaluation (though there’s no problem with doing an
evaluation and then therapy)
o in the former case, the therapy you give prior to the evaluation can bias your POV

3.07 Third Party Request for Services

• clarify if there is a third-party involved and what the nature of the relationships with all parties
are

3.08 Exploitative Relationships

• don’t exploit your clients

3.09 Cooperation with Other Professionals

• cooperate with other professionals treating a client

3.10 Informed Consent

• in emergency situations, may be cursory at first so that can address problem
• In Florida, you can get verbal informed consent if there is a good reason why the individual you
are treating cannot give written informed consent
o you have to document it
• If therapy is court ordered, you do not need to get informed consent from your client, but you
probably should try to get informed consent anyway.

3.11 Psychological Services Delivered to or Through Organizations

• x

3.12 Interruption of Psychological Services

• You have to make accommodations for someone else to treat your clients if you pass away

4.01 Maintaining Confidentiality

• take all efforts to keep information confidential
o are things you can’t account for, like hackers, but you take the best effort to use
technology/software that are especially safe and secure

4.02 Discussing the Limits of Confidentiality

• part of informed consent process
• should discuss that you need to report abuse of a vulnerable popln. (children, handicapped, the
elderly) or potential harm to self or another person (duty to warn)

4.03 Recording
• if recording images or voices, need to have separate informed consent for that
 o cannot be part of regular informed consent packet (think about how much more serious
would be if client’s voice/person was leaked and how serious that would be)

4.04 Minimizing Intrusions on Privacy

• take all efforts to keep information private
o even if allowed to share information, ask yourself if you need to

4.05 Disclosures
• We can share/disclose confidential info. if we have consent
• can disclose if needed to provide your services, get consultations, protect someone from harm
(duty to warn), or obtain payment from client
o recommended you get signed informed consent regarding payment (can say that
information, like client’s name, may be shared if, for example, client’s card needs to be
charged)
o duty to warn:
▪ in FL, we are required to notify police but are encouraged to warn the potential
victim
▪ has to be identifiable victim
• doesn’t have to be an individual, can be a specific school, business,
facility, etc.
▪ Baker Act: when having an individual committed for his/her safety

4.06 Consultations
• can rely on other psychologists for their POV on clients, but keep information private and don’t
include identifiable information
o change demographic information of clients when talking about them with other
professionals
o only mention information that is necessary/relevant

4.07 Use of Confidential Information for Didactic or Other Purposes

• can get consent to share information for educational purposes but usually be better to
deidentify the information
o situations: teaching, conferences, group supervision, writing books, etc.
▪ if writing or doing a case study though should probably get consent from client

5.01 Avoidance of False or Deceptive Statements

• no information that you share (e.g., speeches, appearances in media, writing, business cards or
ads, etc.) should give false/deceptive statements
o even if someone else shares false information about you, you need take measures to
correct them
▪ e.g., a talk show host introducing you as someone that is “widely licensed” and
an “expert in neuropsychology” if you’re just licensed in FL and don’t know
much about neuropsychology
o should not list yourself as PhD. A.B.D. (All But Dissertation) because, if you haven’t done
your dissertation, you are not a PhD.
 ▪ if finish PhD program but have not been licensed yet, you’re not a psychologist
but may refer to yourself as a “post-doctoral psychology trainee”

5.02 Statement by Others

• paying others to promote you means that you’re responsible for what they say
• if something is an ad, it needs to say that it is
• don’t compensate media for publicity on what you do

5.03 Descriptions of Workshops and Non-Degree Granting Educational Programs

• need to be transparent with people attending a workshop about what they can expect from it

5.04 Media Presentations

• information shared in media should be accurate and based in science

5.05 In-Person Solicitation

• you should not solicit business in-person, going around talking to people and asking them if they
want to come see you
o not okay because is harder for people to say “No” in-person and therapy has risks
o if someone comes to you saying they’re struggling with mental health, it’s not same as
you soliciting people
▪ it’s okay for you to offer your services in these cases (but consider multiple
relationships and if this person is a friend, family member, close friend of a
family member, etc. that you should instead refer out)
o can use “collateral contacts” (facilitating referral from or to another individual)
▪ marketing idea: market to PCPs

6.01 Documentation of Professional and Scientific Work and Maintenance of Records

• document your work
• look at state statutes, legislation, etc. and what is required of you as far as record-keeping,
billing, etc.
o need to keep records for 7 years in FL

6.02 Maintenance, Dissemination, and Disposal of Confidential Records of Professional and Scientific
Work
• disposal: should “cross shred” information or use record disposal
• adhere to HIPAA: don’t FaceTime, send emails through Gmail, etc. (Zoom is HIPAA compliant
meaning that it would require a court order or consent for someone at Zoom to provide
information on video sessions)
o recommendation: adding disclaimer in email that information shared is confidential and
private as an extra layer of protection
• if no longer practicing or going to another practice, should facilitate transfer of medical records
to other psychologist your clients will be seeing

6.03 Withholding Records for Nonpayment

• can withhold records if a client hasn’t paid but cannot do this in cases of emergency or
hospitalization
 o e.g., client does an assessment he has not paid for and wants to see report; can deny
giving him the report until he pays

6.04 Fees and Financial Payments

• make your fees reasonable (in SoFlo is $120 to $175 cash pay rates for therapy hour; may be
different for testing)
• if you’re billing, you need to provide a diagnosis
• you can barter, but it’s not recommended

6.06 Accuracy in Reports to Payors and Funding Sources

• try to be accurate

6.07 Referrals and Fees

• if you’re splitting fees with someone else (e.g., a client spends 1 hour with you for individual
therapy and 1 hour with a therapist friend for couples therapy), you bill based on the services
you provided
o we should not expect referral fees
▪ we can instead consider referring patients to those that refer them to us

7.01 Design of Education and Training Programs

• psychologists that make education programs need to make sure that the programs are up to par

7.02 Descriptions of Education and Training Programs

• psychologists that make education programs need to make sure that the potential students
know what to expect with the program and that the info. is readily available

7.03 Accuracy in Teaching

• if a psychologist is a teacher and finds out that they were inaccurate in something they did/said,
they should try and correct it

7.04 Student Disclosure of Personal Information

• if psychologist is a teacher, cannot require that students disclose personal information related
to: sexual history, abuse, neglect, psychological treatment, and relationships with family or
others
o exceptions: program asked of that in its admissions/program requirements, info.
needed to determine if student can do training- or professionally-related activities

7.05 Mandatory Individual or Group Therapy

• if therapy required, potential teacher of a student cannot also be person providing therapy

7.06 Assessing Student and Supervisee Performance

• supervisors give feedback in a timely manner

7.07 Sexual Relationships with Students and Supervisees

• don’t do it (even just romantic relationships with no sex would be a dual relationship)
8.01 Institutional Approval
• psychologists doing research need approval from IRB before doing research

8.02 Informed Consent to Research

• need to give and receive back the informed consent prior to research
• needs to be in easy-to-understand language
• needs to include:
o purpose of the research
o right to decline to participate and to withdraw from research once participation begun
o foreseeable consequences of declining or withdrawing
o reasonably foreseeable factors that may be expected to influence willingness to
participate, such as potential risks, discomfort, or adverse effects
o prospective research benefits
o limits of confidentiality
o incentives for participation
o whom to contact for questions about the research and research participants’ rights

8.03 Informed Consent for Recording Voices and Images in Research

• same as 4.03 but as it pertains to research

8.04 Client/Patient, Student, and Subordinate Research Participants

• (this happens sometimes)
• researcher/psychologist needs to let individual know that the individual will not be affected in
his/her role as a client, patient, student, or subordinate if he/she drops out of the research
o is actually better for another researcher/psychologist involved in the research to
deidentify the data

8.05 Dispensing with Informed Consent for Research

• times when we do not need to get informed consent for research
o has to be reasonably assumed there will be no distress/harm AND involves:
▪ normal everyday educational practices (for adults… gets tricky when it’s for kids)
▪ methods of anonymous questionnaires, naturalistic observations, or archival
research
▪ looking at job effectiveness when there’s no risk to person’s job or
confidentiality
▪ research permitted by law

8.06 Offering Inducements for Research Participation

• compensation for participation in research cannot be too low (needs to be adequate to risk and
time spent) or too high (needs to be reasonable/not likely to be coercive)

8.07 Deception in Research

• don’t deceive unless:
o determined there’s no way to conduct research unless participants are deceived
o the perceived benefit > potential harm
▪ also, the research cannot cause physical pain or severe emotional distress
o deception is explained to participants as early as feasible
8.08 Debriefing
• debrief (correct misconceptions) participants after research
• if participant harmed, take steps to minimize harm

8.09 Humane Care and Use of Animals in Research

• care, use, and disposal has to be in compliance with laws
• psychologists need to be trained in humane care, use, and disposal of animals
o need to train all individuals under him/her as well
• minimize illness, pain, etc. of animals
• subject animals to pain, stress, or privation only when no alternative available
• if surgery involved, use anesthesia and minimize pain and chance of infection
• if animal to be killed, needs to be done quickly and minimizing pain

8.10 Reporting Research Results

• don’t fabricate data
• if errors in research, take steps to correct

8.11 Plagiarism
• don’t do it

8.12 Publication Credit

• authorship and order of authors’ names should be based on who did what amount of work
• doctoral dissertation: student is listed as primary author if wrote it

8.13 Duplicate Publication of Data

• don’t publish data twice
• if using same data twice, say so in your research study

8.14 Sharing Data for Verification

• share data with other psychologists that ask to use it
• psychologists that asked for data in order to verify claims made in the research cannot use the
data for other things

8.15 Reviewers
• if reviewing another psychologists’ research, respect that psychologists’ rights and
confidentiality

9.01 Bases for Assessments

• conclusions reached on assessments need to be:
o based on appropriate techniques and using multiple assessments if possible
o for someone we’ve personally assessed (and not someone that another person assessed
and that we are just reading a report about)
o if you’re only reading a record review or have limited info, you need to be upfront that
your findings are limited
9.02 Use of Assessments
• use assessments properly
• (try to) use assessments on the populations they’ve been validated on

9.03 Informed Consent in Assessments

• (same as for therapy in 3.10 but in this case for assessments)
• caveats
o if purpose of test is to determine decisional capacity
▪ do not need consent but need assent
o if consent is implied (e.g., you’re applying for a job and part of the application says you’ll
need to do an assessment)
o if using an interpreter for an assessment, you need to get consent

9.04 Release of Test Data

test data: raw and scaled scores, responses to test data and stimuli, and our notes or recordings about a
patient’s statement and behaviors during an assessment (i.e., anything recorded or written while doing
a test)
• question booklet that patient doesn’t write in is not test data, it is test material
• we do NOT have to turn over test data to an attorney that requests it (only have to comply with
subpoenas and court orders and, even then, there are ways not to (e.g., asking to turn it into a
third-party, impartial psychologist)
o we can even deny a client if they want us to turn over their test data to someone else or
give it to them

9.05 Test Construction

• if you make tests/assessments, make them based in science

9.06 Interpreting Assessment Results

• look at multiple tests and consider many factors when interpreting results
• if using automated interpretations, p

9.07 Assessment by Unqualified Persons

• should only be done if training someone and that person is being supervised
• qualified = have Dr in psychology
• competence = know what you’re doing
o not the same as qualified

9.08 Obsolete Tests and Outdated Test Results

• don’t use out-of-date test versions

9.09 Test Scoring and Interpretation Services

• if you use test scoring and interpretation services, you’re still responsible for their work
• use ones that are good
• psychologists who offer their scoring and interpretation services describe what they do in detail

9.10 Explaining Assessment Results

• explain results in a way that the client can understand
9.11 Maintaining Test Security
• keep test materials (not referring to test data, see 9.04) secure and private

10.01 Informed Consent to Therapy

• get informed consent as early as possible and give patient opportunity to ask questions
• inform patients of risk
• if trainee involved in therapy, patient needs to be made aware

10.02 Therapy Involving Couples or Families

• if therapy with couples or families, make sure it’s clear who the patient is
• those that can give legal consent, should be separated and individually give consent
o they can then give consent for minors
• if multiple relationships… (see previous statute)

10.03 Group Therapy

• make sure group understands limits of confidentiality, how they should hold confidentiality for
each other, and that the therapist is responsible to the group and the individuals in the group

10.04 Providing Therapy to Those Served by Others

• (applies to patients being served by other psychologists)
• talk to client about them having multiple risks if have multiple providers
• talk with other psychologist to discuss what’s going on (as long as patient approves you calling
the other psychologist)

10.05 Sexual Intimacies with Current Therapy Clients

• keep it in your pants, bucko

10.06 Sexual Intimacies with Relatives or Significant Others of Current Therapy Clients/Patients
• don’t have sex with relatives or close significant others of patients in therapy_

10.07 Therapy with Former Sexual Partners

• don’t do it

10.08 Sexual Intimacies with Former Therapy Clients/Patients

• don’t do it for at least 2 years and, even after 2 years, you still don’t do it unless special
circumstances apply

10.09 Interruption of Therapy

• we need to have provisions in place if we are going to be unavailable
o can be someone we refer them to or specific instructions to show them how to find
someone

10.10 Terminating Therapy

• if patient has reached max benefit, has plateaued for a long time, or is experiencing harm, you
terminate therapy
• you may terminate therapy if you’re threatened or put in danger by a client
o need to notify patient (can be via phone, email, in person, etc.) in a documented way
o try to provide a referral if possible
o try to consult with someone else to get an outsider opinion
• do pre-termination counseling to get them ready to terminate therapy and give a referral if
needed
o may also tell them how they can reach you/begin therapy again in the future if they find
they need it