Ethics And Standards For Professional Psychology

In the work of professional psychology, we have now a forray of theories, therapeutic techniques, and modern psychotherapies which has all too frequently ignore the spiritual element in human life. In Care of Souls, Dr David Benner recaptures the place of the spiritual in psychological work. Among the many benefits of the use of modern therapies and medical science, he has also emphasised putting God's priorities above one's own in the practice of Christian soul care.

There are many research studies conducted in the past that would not be considered ethical today. This essay will review two research methods, whilst taking into account the ethical standards of modern psychology. The focus of this essay will be; ‘Landis’ Facial Expressions Experiment 1924’ carried out by Carney Landis and ‘’Milgram’s Obedience Experiment’ carried out by Stanley Milgram. Both experiments were carried out under immoral circumstances and perhaps should never have been allowed to take place. Nowadays, neither would be considered acceptable.

Spirituality is defined in regards to health care and why spirituality is important to client care is discussed. Nursing care that can nurture a patient’s spirituality include quietly being there to listen to our patients, knowing when to seek a formally trained ministers assistance, and being willing to participate in their spiritual and cultural customs. Spiritual assessment tools can be utilized by healthcare providers to help assess a patient’s spiritual need and to help formulate an individualized plan of care. Three spiritual assessment tools are discussed: HOPE questions, FICA spiritual assessment tool, and the four FACTs spiritual assessment tool. Three personal examples of implementation of spiritual care are included in this paper.

Religion plays an important role in the lives of many people, and in such cases, religious principles and beliefs influence all aspects of their lives. With the increasing interest in spirituality in the community, the intersection of psychological services, religion and spirituality is likely to be a growth area in psychology (Plante, 2007). However, working with clients around religion and spirituality issues does present potential ethical challenges.

The code of ethics for both the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) create a framework by which Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) and Marriage and Family Therapists (MFT), respectively, determine their ethical boundaries in which to practice in the field of counseling. Though it is clear the code of ethics within this profession are not definitive nor concrete instructions to handle all ethical concerns and scenarios, they do serve a major purpose in helping professionals navigate ethical concerns that may arise (Corey, 2015). In addition to the professional ethics, “Christian mental health professionals are called to a higher ethic (Sanders, 2013, p. 27).” This goes without saying for the one whose life has been radically transformed because of what Christ accomplished on the Cross. However, in the context of a profession that restricts one’s personal values there remains a consistent thoughtfulness of the impact it has on one’s faith.

For health care providers to deliver the best holistic care that patients deserve, a thorough spiritual assessment must be included during their care. With more research showing a relationship between supporting a patient’s spirituality with their health and ability to cope with illness, it is now a requirement of organizations to include a spiritual assessment to maintain accreditation with The Joint Commission. The minimum required of a spiritual assessment by The Joint Commission is to determine the patient’s religion and

This article addresses 30 clinicians who are American Counseling Association (ACA) members view on the importance and their frequency of engagement in clinical behaviors in addressing spiritual/religious issues in counseling. One clear theme that emerged from the data was that the counselors tended not explicitly address spiritual or religious issues. Cashwell et al., (2013) questions why spiritual and religious behaviors are

Pardin, Plante, Sherman, and Stump (2000) that until recently the spiritual piece of treatment was rarely considered in the treatment process. However, within the aforementioned research study, findings indicated that individuals

In my analysis paper I will be discussing the issues in the involvement of psychologists in interrogations. Many of the current issues resort to an ethical or unethical question in regards of the American Psychological Association’s Code of Conduct. Are the practices of using inhumane techniques to gain enemy intelligence ethical or unethical? The use of psychologists in military interrogations has led to crossing the lines of being inhumane, which is against the Code of Conduct. This has been explained in many incidents in today’s interrogations against foreign enemies and detainees. The current controversy of this issue is not only a debate psychologically, but this also involves the government and politics surrounding the issue. There

Religion can be described as a way to convey the beliefs and inner spirituality system (Gill, Minton, & Myers, 2010). Spirituality on the other hand was defined as “an awareness of a being or a force that transcends material aspects of life and gives a deep sense of wholeness or connectedness to the universe” (Myers & Sweeney, 2005). Even with there being a difference between the two, there may be an issue with making religion/spirituality a mandatory part of treatment and that is, not everyone may want to incorporate any sort of religion/spirituality into their treatment. To address this issue, a research study by Diallo (2013) was conducted on whether or not a client would be willing to include religion or spirituality in counseling. If the clients were willing, their preferences of the counselors’ knowledge of their religion/spirituality and their background were

The APA code of ethics is a formidable resource for addressing professional ethics, code 2, competence; psychological professionals providing services will practice within the boundaries of their education and training (APA, 2005). Maintaining competence represents code 2.03, this ethical code requires that the practitioner continue their competencies with continuing education, seminars or remaining current with professional psychology peer groups (APA, 2005). Code 3.10 Informed consent and 3.06 Conflict of interest, are vital to I/O psychologists, there can be a confusion when working with individuals as to crossing a line of informed consent and conflict of interest (APA, 2016). Employees may feel a level of confidentiality

This article discussed the importance of assessing the client’s spiritual and religious relationships in conjunction to holistic therapeutic approaches. These assessments are geared to help the practitioner to develop therapeutic strategies that will be best suited for the client. It can be difficult to incorporate religion and spirituality with an individual due to the varying differences of religious beliefs, cultures, traditions and rituals. It is also important for the clinician to understand that even if two people profess the same religion and denomination, there spirituality may be totally opposite.

There it is imperative that every kind of counselling should borrow issues of spirituality for purposes of effectiveness. The issue to be analyzed again is whether cognitive therapy can also be used to address counselling issues that are of spiritual nature. The answer to this issue lies in different areas such as client, the therapist, the nature of cognitive therapy and the spiritual nature of client-therapist relationship.

Spirituality is a delicate topic, and some may not be open to talking about their beliefs. Spirituality is generally understood to be an essential aspect of being human (Lyndo-Lam, 2012). Assessing the spiritual needs of patients is a key component in the nursing process. A compassionate and thoughtful nurse can make a patient feel more secure, making it easier for him to express his spirituality. The participation of both patient and health care provider is vital in promoting spiritual health. The main focus of a spiritual assessment is to gather information regarding the patient’s spiritual needs in order incorporate them into the plan of care, so as to treat

Throughout history, human rights have always been a controversial topic. People cannot seem to decide who is granted certain rights, although human rights are supposed to be given to every person regardless of any possible discriminatory factor. Although there have been significant improvements in human rights since the 1950s, scientists can still do more to include human rights in scientific research.