A professor of psychology at a university in a large metropolitan area would be at risk of violating several codes of ethics if he tells his abnormal psychology class that he is a psychotherapist in private practice and that they can come to him for therapy during the duration of the semester. Several problems can occur as a result of the professor’s solicitation of his service as a psychotherapist to his students (5.6, American Psychological Association, 2002). By assuming two professional roles with his students the professor is clearly engaged in multiple relationships (3.5, American Psychological Association, 2002). The students are at risk of being exploited by their professor. The professor has …show more content…
The professor is also at risk of providing a level of service that is of poor quality due to lack of time and or focus resulting from the extreme workload. The professor and the students will also need to discuss the fees and compensation expected by the professor. If the professor doesn’t disclose his expectations for compensation to his students then a dispute can arise (6.4, American Psychological Association, 2002). The fact that the professor is only offering his services during the semester also creates an issue with the possible interruption of therapy (10.09/10.10, American Psychological Association, 2002). The student may require additional therapy after the semester. This creates a situation of abandonment for the students.
Furthermore, if the professor does not have informed consent the students will be unaware of the nature of the therapy, the time frame, the potential risk, alternative treatments available, and fees associated with the service (10.1, American Psychological Association, 2002). Not having this information causes confusion for the students and the professor. This can lead to false expectations from both the students and the …show more content…
This has the potential of creating not just the perception of unfairness, but an actual bias by the professor for the students that he spends additional time with for therapy. The professor may unintentionally treat his students different based on the knowledge he acquires during a therapy session. It would be difficult to remain unbiased in a classroom setting if the professor is intricately aware of some of his students’ personal information without being privy to the same personal information from the students not participating in therapy. Specifically, the professor may not ask a student to speak in front of the class if he is aware of the student’s anxiety due to his relationship as a therapist, but he may unfairly ask a student with the same anxiety to speak in front of the class because he is not aware of his anxiety due to not having a relationship with the student as a