Ethical Versus Unethical Decision Making

Ethical Versus Unethical Decision Making

There are various common reasons for unethical decision-making among psychology professionals. The two common reasons for unethical decision-making among most psychotherapists are a lack of understanding of ethical principles and personal beliefs.

Understanding ethical principles is important and a major competence in psychotherapy as it includes considering the potential consequences of actions before making decisions. The failure to understand the ethical principles may be due to ambiguity of the principles in relation to a particular case or the therapist’s incompetence. On the other hand, personal beliefs may lead to biased decisions that may knowingly or unknowingly compromise the ethical principles of psychotherapy. For instance, the belief that a therapist is responsible for upholding the principle of beneficence may provide care that conflicts with the patient’s autonomy. Both the lack of understanding of ethical guidelines and personal beliefs may contribute to ethical dilemmas leading to unintentional unethical decisions.

Risk management and ethical mindfulness posturing can play a role in a therapist’s decision-making process, which can help prevent unethical decision-making. Risk management involves assessing and identifying potential risks and their impact on a project and implementing various measures to minimize them (Willumsen et al., 2019). Psychotherapy can involve understanding and considering the potential harmful consequences to a client and the psychologist related to the psychologist’s decisions and actions. On the other hand, ethical mindfulness posturing can help psychotherapists make decisions using a more reflective and proactive approach than reacting to decisions’ outcomes. A mindful approach to ethics of daily life improves awareness of the potential consequences of the moment-by-moment practice, which can encourage intentional ethical choices (Percy & Paré, 2021). Therefore, risk management and ethical mindfulness posturing guide psychologists in assessing and considering the potential risks associated with their decisions and actions, hence ensuring they minimize such risks.

References

Percy, I., & Paré, D. (2021). Narrative Therapy and Mindfulness: Intention, Attention, Ethics. Part 1. Guilford Press Periodicals, 40(3), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1521/JSYT.2021.40.3.1

Willumsen, P., Oehmen, J., Stingl, V., & Geraldi, J. (2019). Value creation through project risk management. International Journal of Project Management, 37(5), 731–749. https://doi.org/10.1016/

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PROMPT: After reviewing your module resources, identify and discuss the most common reasons for unethical decision-making among psychology professionals. In your response, explain how risk management and ethical mindfulness posturing can play a role in a therapist’s decision-making process.

THREE PARAGRAPHS ANSWERING THE INITIAL PROMPT
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In response to your peers, discuss the conditions under which a professional will be more vulnerable to making unethical decisions.
THEN ONE DETAILED PARAGRAPH EACH
ANSWERING THE CLASSMATES BELOW

Hi all, my name is Hannah, and I am currently enrolled in the M.S. Psychology program with a focus in childhood developmental studies. I currently work as an RBT with children who have autism, and my long-term goal is to be a Child Psychologist and work in the diagnostic area of psychology. The human brain has always fascinated me and I look forward to a career in this field.

The most common reasons behind unethical decision-making typically fall into three categories: Competence, Lack of Self Awareness, and Insensitivity (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 2016, p. 9). Examples of these categories include cases 1-11 in our text, where Dr. Partway was misdiagnosing multiple clients and later admitted to having almost no training in the field, a huge competency ethical violation (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 2016, p. 10). Cases such as cases 1-21 demonstrate too loose boundaries within the lack of self-awareness category between therapist and clients, where the therapist did not maintain ethical boundaries with her clients by holding sessions at her home and allowing clients to do work for her to “pay off” the cost of appointments (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 2016, p. 13). Lastly, Insensitivity in ethical practice is demonstrated in cases such as cases 1-24, where the therapist makes an insensitive comment to an unemployed mother in regards to how he believes she should not be worried about him being late to an appointment because she does not have a job (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 2016, p. 14).

When faced with ethical decision-making dilemmas, one of my favorite undergraduate professors consistently said to check in with a supervisor if you are faced with a dilemma. This is something that has always stuck with me and something I have taken into my career. Risk management can play a role in ethical decision-making by acting as an antecedent to avoid ethical dilemmas, where the “central focus becomes self-protection against the hazards of delivering professional services” (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 2016, p. 6). Examples of risk management include holding sessions in an office setting, keeping careful notes and records, and consulting with colleagues about difficult clients with confidentiality Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 2016, p. 6). Risk management and ethical mindfulness posturing can play a role in the decision-making process by reducing risk before it happens and allowing the therapist to take action to protect oneself in an ethical dilemma. Ethical mindfulness posturing includes taking on clients and accepting the risk of taking on said client while also being confident in one’s training and credentials to take on this client. Referring back to competency, not taking on clients that may have behaviors or a diagnosis they are not familiar with may help therapists in managing risk and further assisting in ethical mindfulness posturing.

Koocher, G. P., & Keith-Spiegel, P. C. (2016). Ethics in Psychology and the Mental Health Professions: Standards and Cases (4th ed.). New York Oxford University Press.

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Textbook: Ethics in Psychology and the Mental Health Professions: Standards and Cases, Chapter 1

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