The Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologist outlines ten steps to assist ethical decision making. The purpose of this paper will be to apply the CPA Code to an ethical dilemma presented in class.
In the vignette presented, a school psychologist was seeing a grade 1 boy and became friendly with his father. The psychologist and the father dated for a few months. Once their relationship ended the father laid a complaint against the psychologist because their relationship constituted unprofessional behaviour. However, the psychologist defended herself by saying she was not “involved with a client” and considered her relationship with the father as part of her private life. The complete vignette can be found in the appendix. To avoid confusion, …show more content…
I will evaluate the psychologist decision (i.e., that her behaviour was not unprofessional because the father was not considered a client) and call attention to the decisions the school psychologist made and how they impacted her client. The vignette will be evaluated from the moment the psychologist is asked out for dinner by her client’s father. I will review the psychologist course of action and decisions along with the preferred course of action using the decision-making model. A few dilemmas are presented in the vignette. First, is the father considered a client? The Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (Canadian Psychological Association, 2000) defines a “client” as “an individual, family, or group (including an organization or community) receiving service from a psychologist” (p. 5). Second, when do private matters become professional problems? The Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (Canadian Psychological Association, 2000) states “… personal behaviour becomes a concern of the discipline only if it is of the nature that it undermines public trust in the discipline as a whole or raises questions about the psychologist’s abilities…”
In the vignette presented, a school psychologist was seeing a grade 1 boy and became friendly with his father. The psychologist and the father dated for a few months. Once their relationship ended the father laid a complaint against the psychologist because their relationship constituted unprofessional behaviour. However, the psychologist defended herself by saying she was not “involved with a client” and considered her relationship with the father as part of her private life. The complete vignette can be found in the appendix. To avoid confusion, …show more content…
I will evaluate the psychologist decision (i.e., that her behaviour was not unprofessional because the father was not considered a client) and call attention to the decisions the school psychologist made and how they impacted her client. The vignette will be evaluated from the moment the psychologist is asked out for dinner by her client’s father. I will review the psychologist course of action and decisions along with the preferred course of action using the decision-making model. A few dilemmas are presented in the vignette. First, is the father considered a client? The Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (Canadian Psychological Association, 2000) defines a “client” as “an individual, family, or group (including an organization or community) receiving service from a psychologist” (p. 5). Second, when do private matters become professional problems? The Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists (Canadian Psychological Association, 2000) states “… personal behaviour becomes a concern of the discipline only if it is of the nature that it undermines public trust in the discipline as a whole or raises questions about the psychologist’s abilities…”