Orals Area 2: General Rules Of Professional Conduct

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Purpose of the rules of professional conduct:

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constitute the standards against which the required professional conduct of a psychologist is measured

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Scope of the rules of professional conduct:

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shall apply to the conduct of all psychology and school psychology licensees and applicants, including the applicant's conduct during the period of education, training, and employment that is required for licensure

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Violations of the rules of professional conduct:

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constitutes unprofessional conduct and is sufficient reason for a reprimand, suspension or revocation of a license, or denial of either original licensure or reinstatement of licensure

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Aids to Interpretation of rules of professional conduct

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Ethics codes and standards for providers promulgated by the APA, the Canadian PA, and other relevent professional groups shall be used as aids in resolving ambiguities that may arise in the interpretation of the rules, except that those rules of professional conduct shall prevail whenever any conflict exists between these rules and any professional association standard.

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Response to written inquiry regarding compliance with law or rule received by the board:

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a psychologist or school psychologist, or an applicant for licensure, shall provide a written response within a reasonable period of time not to exceed 60 days

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Negligence: (6):

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1. a psychologist or school psychologist shall be considered negligent if her behaviors toward her clients, supervisees, employees or students, in the judgment of the board, clearly fall below the standards for acceptable practice of psychology or school psychology

2. Misrepresentation of Qualifications: shall not misrepresent directly or by implication her professional qualifications such as education, specialized training, experience, or areas of competence

3. Misrepresentation of affiliations: shall not misrepresent directly or by implication her affiliations or the purposes or characteristics of institutions and organizations with which the psychologist is associated.

a. shall not claim either directly or by implication professional qualifications that differ from actual qualifications, including use of a degree or title that is not relevent to training or that is issued by an educational institution not meeting accreditation standards, she shall not misrepresent affiliation with any institution, organization, or individual, not lead others to assume she has affiliations that she does not have. Responsible for correcting a client or public media who misrepresent her professional qualifications or affiliations, if she has knowledge of the misrepresentation.

b. shall ensure that her name is included as the responsible psychologist when her psychological services are listed, advertised, or otherwise announded to the public in any form, including, but not limited to, letterhead, brochures, internet websites, telephone listings, business cards, or newspaper or other media advertisements.

c. shall not include false or misleading information in public statements concerning psychological services offered.

d. shall not associate or permit her name to be used in connection with any services or products in such a way as to misrepresent them, the degree of her responsibility for them, or the nature of her association with them

4. Solicitation of business by clients: shall not request or authorize any client to solicit business on behalf of the psychologist or school psychologist.

5. Promotional Activities: a psychologist associated with the development, promotion, or sale of psychological devices, books, or other products shall ensure that such devices, books, or products are not misrepresented as to qualities, performance or results to be obtained from their use.

6. Maintenance and Retention of records:

a. services to client or billed third party payer shall maintain a record that includes:

i - presenting problem
ii - date and purpose of each service contact
iii - fee arrangement
iv- any test or other evaluative results obtained
v - test data
vi - copy of any test or other evaluative reports prepared as part of the professional relationship
vii - notation and results of formal contacts with other providers
viii - authorizations by the client for release of records or information

b. to meet the requirements, shall ensure that each data entry in the record is maintained for a period of not less than 5 years after last date of service rendered, or not less than the length of time required by other regulations. the general record or summary shall be kept for no less than 12 years after last date of service

c. shall store and dispose of written, electronic, and other records of clients in a manner as to ensure confidentiality. licensees shall make plans to facilitate appropriate transfer and to protect conficdentiality for withdrawal from position or practice. shall report to board on biennial registration the name, address, and phone number of person knowlwedgeable about transfer and custody records and responsibility for records in event of licensees absence, emergency, or death

d. in the event a complaint has been filed, shall provide the original or a full copy of the client file or other client identifiable documents to the board upon request, provided that the request is accompanied by a copy of a release signed by the client.

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Welfare of the client (13)

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1. Conflict of interest: when between client and psychologist's employing institution, the psychologist shall clarify the nature and direction of her loyalties and responsibilities and keep all parties concerned informed of her commitments.

2. Sufficient Professional Information: a psychologist rendering a formal professional opinion or recommendation about a person shall not do so without substantial professional client information.

3. Informed Client: shall give a truthful, understandable, and reasonably complete account of a client's condition to the client or to those responsible for the care of the client. Shall keep the client fully informed as to the purpose and nature of any evaluation, treatment, or other procedures, and of the client's right to freedom of choice regarding services provided.

4. Dependency: Due to inherently influential position, shall not exploit the trust or dependency of any client, supervisee, evaluee, or other person with whom there is a professional psychological role

5. Informed Choice: shall accord each client informed choice, confidentiality, and reasonable protection from physical or mental harm or danger

6. Media: psychological services for the purpose of diagnosis, treatment, or personalized advice shall be provided only in the context of a professional relationship, and shall not be given bymeans of public lectures or demonstration, mail, newspaper or magazine articles, radio or television programs, or similar media

7. stereotypes: shall not impose on a client any stereotypes of behavior, values, or roles related to age, gender, religion, race, disability, nationality, or sexual orientation that would interfere with the objective provision of psychological services to the client.

8. Termination/alternatives: shall terminate a professional relationship when it is reasonably clear that the client is not benefiting from the relationships, and shall offer to help locate alternative sources of professional services

9. Referral: shall make an appropriate referral of a client to another professional when requested to do so by the client

10. Continuity of Care: shall make arrangements for another appropriate professional or professionals to deal with the emergency needs of her client, as appropriate, during periods of foreseeable absence from professional availability

11. Interruption of Services

a. makes reasonable efforts to play for continuity of care in the event services are interrupted by factors such as license holder's illness, unavailability, relocation, or death, or the client's relocation or financial limitations.

b. a psychologist entering into employment or contractual relationships shall make reasonable efforts to provide for orderly and appropriate resolution of responsibility for client care in the event that the employment or contractual relationship ends, with paramount consideration being given to the welfare of the client. a psychologist who serves as an employer of other psychologists has an obligation to make similar appropriate arrangements.

12. Practicing While Impaired: shall not undertake or continue a professional role when the judgment, competence, and/or objectivity is impaired due to mental, emotional, physiological, pharmacological, or substance abuse conditions. If impaired judgment, competence, and/or objectivity develops after a professional role has been initiated, shall terminate the professional role in an appropriate manner, shall notify the client or other relevant parties of the termination in writing, and shall assist the client, supervisee, or evaluee in obtaining services from another appropriate professional

13. Unforeseen Multiple Relationships: if determines that, due to unforeseen factors, a prohibited multiple relationship has developed, he or she shall take reasonable steps to resolve it with due regard for preserving the welfare of the person with whom there is or was a professional psychological role.

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Remuneration: Financial Arrangements: (5)

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1. all financial arrangements shall be made clear to each client in advance of billing, preferably within the initial session but no later than the end of the second session, unless such disclosure is contraindicated in the professional judgment of the licensee. if not made by end of second session, psychologist bears the burdon of demonstrating that the client was not harmed as a result of non-disclosure

2. shall not mislead or withhold from any client, prospective client, or third-party payer, information about the cost of her professional services.

3. shall not exploit a client or responsible payer by charging a fee that is excessive for the services performed or by entering into an exploitative bartering arrangement in lieu of a fee

4. the primary obligation of a psychologist employed by an institution, agency, or school is to persons entitled to services. shall not accept a private fee from such person unless policies make explicit provision for private work with its clients by members of its staff. in such instances, the client or guardian shall be fully apprised of available services and all policies affecting her, prior to entering into a private professional relationship

5. when providing services to a pool of subscribers thru a 3rd party payer capitation arrangement, who is thus being paid on other than a strictly fee-for-service basis, shall disclose that info in writing to each client member of the subscriber pool at the beginning of the relationships. shall describe the nature of the reimbursement arrangement including that the 3rd party payer has established a set dollar amount that will be paid regardless of cost or frequency of the services provided

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Remuneration: Improper Arrangements (4)

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1. shall neither derive nor solicit any form of monetary profit or personal gain as a result of her professional relationship with clients or immediate ex-clients, beyond the payment of fees for psychological services rendered. - token gifts are permitted

2. shall not use her professional relationship with clients or immediate ex-clients to derive personal gain, other than thru fees for professional services or for any other person, or any organization from the sale or promotion of a non psychology-related product or service

3. shall neither give nor receive any commission, rebate, or other form of remuneration for referral of a client for professional services, without full disclosure in advance to the client of the terms of such an agreement

4. shall not bill for services that are not rendered. may bill for missed appointments that were not cancelled in advance if this is part of the financial arrangements made

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Multiple Relationship:

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when in a professional psychological role and is in another relationship with the same person or entity or with an individual closely associated with the person or entity.

Depending on timing and nature of one's interactions before or after the establishment of a professional psychological role, multiple relationships can result in exploitation of others, impaired judgment by clients, supervisees and evaluees, and/or impaired judgment, competence and objectivity of the psychologist.

psychologists actively identify and manage interpersonal boundaries to ensure that that is no exploitation of others and that professional judgment, competence, and objectivity within one's professional psychological roles are not compromised.

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Prohibited Multiple Relationships:

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a. shall not
i. undertake a professional psychological role with persons with whom she has engaged in sexual intercourse or other sexual intimacies
ii undertake a professional psychological role with persons with whom she has had a familial, personal, social, supervisory, employment, or other relationship, and the professional psychological role results in: exploitation of the person; or, impaired judgment, competence, and/or objectivity in the performance of one's functions as a psychologist or school psychologist.

b. shall not
i. engage in sexual intercourse or other sexual intimacies; or, verbal or nonverbal conduct that is sexual in nature with any current client, supervisee, evaluee, or with any person closely associated with a current client, supervisee, or evaluee
ii - establish any personal, financial, employment, or other relationships with any current client, supervisee, or evaluee, or with any individual closely associated with a current client, supervisee, or evaluee and the non-professional role results in: exploitation of the person; or, impaired judgment, competence, and/or objectivity in the performance of one's functions as a psychologist or school psychologist

c. shall not
i - engage in sexual intercourse or other sexual intimacies; or, verbal or nonverbal conduct that is sexual in nature with any person with whom there has been a professional psychological role at any time within the previous 24 months
ii - enter into any persona, financial, employment or other relationships (other than reestablishing a professional psychological role) with any person with whom there has been a professional psychological role at any time within the previous 24 months and the non-professional role results in: exploitation of the person; or, impaired judgment, competence, and/or objectivity in the performance of one's functions as a psychologist or school psychologist

d. shall not terminate or interrupt a professional role with any person for the purpose, expressed or implied, of entering into a sexual, personal, or financial relationship with that person or any individual closely associated with that person.

e. prohibition of b and c above extend indefinitely beyond 24 months after termination of the professional role if the person, secondary to emotional, mental, or cognitive impairment, remains vulnerable to exploitative influence

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Assessment Procedures (6)

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1. shall treat the results or interpretations of assessment regarding an individual as confidential info.

2. shall accompany communication of results of assessment procedures to a client with adequate interpretive aids or explanations in language these persons can understand.

3. shall include in her report of the results of a test or assessment procedures any reservations regarding the possible inappropriateness of the test for the person assessed.

4. if offering an assessment procedure or automated interpretation service to other professionals shall accompany this offering with a manual or other printed material that fully describes the development, rationale, evidence of validity and reliability, and characteristics of the normative population. shall explicitly state the purpose and application for which the procedure is recommended and identify special qualifications required to administer and interpret. Any advertisements for the assessment procedure or interpretive service are factual and descriptive. considered professional-to-professional consultation. shall make every effort to avoid misuse of such assessment reports

5. preparation of personnel reports and recommendations based on test data secured solely by mail is unethical, unless such appraisals are in integral part of a continuing client relationship with a company, as a result of which the consulting psychologist has intimate knowledge of the client's personnel situation and can be assured thereby that her written appraisals will be adequate to the purpose and will be properly interpreted by the client. reports must not be embellished with such comprehensive analyses of th
e subject's personality traits as would be appropriate only after intensive interviews with the subject

6. shall choose only appropriate tests and give them only for a justifiable purpose to the benefit of the client.

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Test Security

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psychological tests and other assessment devices shall not be reproduced or described in popular publications in ways that might invalidate the techniques. Does not include test data. Make reasonable efforts to maintain the integrity and security of test materials and other assessment techniques consistent with law and contractual obligations. Access is limited to persons with professional interests who will safeguard their use.

a. Sample items made up to resemble those of tests being discussed may be reproduced in popular articles and elsewhere, but scorable tests and actual test items shall not be reproduced except in professional publications

b. responsible for the security of psychologist tests and other devices and procedures used for instructional purposes

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Test Interpretation (3 things)

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1. test scores, like test materials, may be released to another person or organization only in a manner that adheres to the client's rights to confidentiality

2. test results or other assessment data used for evaluation or classification are communicated to employers, relatives, or other appropriate persons in such a manner as to guard against misinterpretation or misuses. When interpreting and communicating assessment results take into account the purpose of the assessment as well as various test factors, test-taking abilities, and other characteristics of the person being assessed, such as situational, personal, linguistic, and cultural differences, that might affect professional judgments or reduce the accuracy of interpretations, and significant limitations of interpretations are indicated.

3. always respect the client's or guardian's right to know the results, the interpretations made, her conclusions, and the bases for her recommendations.

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Confidential Information:

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Information revealed by an individual or individuals or otherwise obtained by a psychologist, where there is reasonable expectation that it was revealed or obtained as a result of the professional relationship between the individual(s) and the psychologist.

Such info is not to be disclosed by the psychologist without the informed consent of the individual(s)

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Confidential Information (6)

Concerning the actual data - folder itself - reports, etc.

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1. when rendering services as part of a team or when interacting with other appropriate professionals concerning the welfare of a client, may share confidential information about the client provided that reasonable steps are taken to ensure that all persons receiving the information are informed about the confidential nature of the information being shared and agree to abide by the rules of confidentiality.

2. when any case report or other confidential info is used as the basis of teaching, research, or other published reports, shall exercise reasonable care to ensure that the reported material is appropriately disguised

3. shall ensure that no diagnostic interview or therapeutic sessions with a client are observed or electronically recorded without first informing client, where the sensitivity of the material requires it, obtain a written consent.

4. shall limit access to client records and shall ensure that all persons working under her authority comply with the requirements for confidentiality of client material

5. shall continue to treat all info regarding a client as confidential after the professional relationship has ceased.

6. when more than one party has an appropriate interest in services rendered... shall clarify to all parties the dimensions of confidentiality and professional responsibility that shall pertain in the rendering of services.
i. such clarification is specificially indicated, among other circumstances, when the client is an organization or when the client has been referred
ii. shall clarify with individual receiving services because of a 3rd party referral whether, and under what conditions-including costs, info or feedback will be provided to the individual receiving services.

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Protecting Confidentiality of Clients:

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under same umbrella of a privilege as those between physician and patient. intended to protect the interest of the client by encouraging free disclosure and preventing such disclosure to others.

The client holds and may assert the privilege

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Factors concerning Protecting Confidentiality of Clients: (7)

Concerning laws, and communication of info

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1. shall not testify concerning a communication made to her by client. may testify by express consent of client or if deceased, the the express consent of surviving spouse or executor. if client voluntarily testifies, may be compelled to testify on the same subject. if client files a claim against psychologist, such filing shall constitute a waiver of privilege with regard to the care and treatment of which complaint is made.

2. court decisions construing the scope of physician-patient privilege, are applicable to this privilege between psychologist and client.

3. may disclose confidential info without informed written consent when judges that disclosure is necessary to protect against clear and substantial risk of immenent serious harm being inflicted by the client on self or other person. may disclose only to appropriate public authorities, potential victim, professional workers, and family of the client.

4. shall safeguard confidential info obtained int he course of practice, teaching, research, or other professional duties. With exceptions as required or permitted by statute, shall disclose to others only with informed written consent of the client.

5. at beginning of relationships shall inform client of legal limit of confidentiality. when services to more than 1 patient during a joint session, at the beginning clarify to all parties the limits of confidentiality

6. may release confidential info upon court order to conform with state or federal laws, rules, or regulations

7. shall be familiar with any relevant law concerning the reporting of abuse of children or vulnerable adults.

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Competence (7 things)

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1. Limits on practice: to those specialty areas in which competence has been gained through education, training, and experience. If important aspects of client's problem fall outside boundaries of competence, then assist client in obtaining additional professional help

2. Specialty Standard of Care: exercise sound judgment and care in determining what constitutes her areas of competence. a guiding principle is that one who undertakes practice in a given specialty area will be held in the standard of care within that specialty while practicing in the area.

3. Maintaining Competency: in the areas in which she practices, through continuing education, consultation, and/or other training, in conformance with current standards of scientific and professional knowledge.

4. Adding New Services and Techniques: when developing competency in a new area or in a new service or technique, shall engage in ongoing consultation with others and shall seek continuing education in the new area, service, or technique. Inform any new client whose treatment will involve a newly developing service or technique of its innovative nature and the known risks concerning those services

5. Limits on Practice Under School Psychologist License: shall not practice beyond the scope of the school psychologist license

6. Referrals: shall make or recommend referral to other professional, technical, or administrative resources when such referral is in the best interest of the client.

7. Interprofessional Relations: shall neither establish no offer to establish a continuing treatment relationship with a person receiving psychological assistance from another professional, except with the knowledge of the other professional or after the termination of the client's relationship with the other professional

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Violations of Law:

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1. violation of Applicable Statutes: shall not violate any applicable statute or administrative rule regulating the practice of psychology or school psychology

2. Use of Fraud, Misrepresentation, or Deception: shall not use in obtaining a psychology or school psychology license, in taking licensing examination, in assisting another to obtain license or to take licensing exam, in billing clients or third-party payers, in providing services, in reporting results, or in conducting any other activity related to the practice of psychology or school psychology

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Aiding Illegal Practice (4 things)

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1. Aiding Unauthorized Practice: shall not aid or abet another person in misrepresenting professional credentials or in illegally engaging in the practice of psychology or school psychology

2. Delegating Professional Responsibility: shall not delegate professional responsibilities to a person not qualified and/or not appropriately credentialed to provide such services.

3. Providing Supervision: shall exercise appropriate supervision over supervisees

4. Reporting of Violations to Board: if substantial reason to believe another licensee or supervisee has committed an apparent violation of the statutes or rules that has substantially harmed or is likely to substantially harm a person or organization shall so inform the board in writing; however, when the info regarding such a violation is obtained in a professional relationship with a client, shall report it only with written permission of the client. shall advise the client of the name, address, and telephone number of the state board of psychology and of the client's right to file a complaint. Shall make reasonable effort to guide and/or facilitate the client in the complaint process as needed or as requested by the client. Nothing relieves from the duty to file any report required by applicable statutes.