Any specialist working with people should be guided by the moral and moral principles founded by modern society. In the case of psychology, such an attitude to ethics is even more important. However, ideals of behavior are not recorded anywhere, so it can be rather difficult to be guided by them. In our article you will learn about the principles of professional ethics of a psychologist, as well as the methods of humanity and respect for other people. We strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with this information.
What is the principle of mutual respect?
Every psychologist must respect the personal rights and freedoms of man, which are proclaimed by law and guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. If the specialist does not comply with these elementary norms, then it is unlikely to achieve trust on the part of the patient. The ethics of the counseling psychologist regarding mutual respect include several points, which will be listed below:
- The specialist is obliged to treat all his patients with equal respect, regardless of their socio-economic status, language, religion, race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, sexual orientation, physical qualities and so on. Of course, each client needs its own approach. However, it should be based on life circumstances that a person had to endure, and not on any of the above.
- The psychologist must do his utmost to avoid prejudice against any person. Patient data should not affect your attitude to it. Even if the specialist has a sympathy or a subjective opinion about the client’s behavior in a particular situation, this should not affect the further conclusions and treatment process. Otherwise, an initially incorrect strategy for psychological healing may be chosen.
- The psychologist must be able to properly organize the work process, so that during the study and analysis of the psychological health of the patient, the specialist does not accidentally harm his client. And this applies not only to his well-being, but also to his social status. If one of the patient's acquaintances finds out about his psychological problems, then he may lose confidence from certain people and forever lose confidence in society.
Also, the psychologist should do his utmost to avoid such treatment, which will lead to discrimination of the client for certain reasons. Most people look askance at those individuals who seek help from specialists in the field of psychology. If you give your client some strange homework, for example, without warning to kiss the person you like, then this can lead to sad consequences.
Confidentiality
One of the most important principles of a psychologist’s professional ethics is confidentiality, which must be respected under any conditions. Even if an employee from the prosecutor’s office comes to you and starts asking about what bothered your client, you have every right not to answer such questions, as this will be unethical. About what else includes the professional ethics of a psychologist, read the list below:
- Under no circumstances does a specialist have the right to divulge information obtained during work with a patient. Those secrets that the psychologist received from the client during confidential communication should not be intentionally or accidentally disclosed. If such information still needs to be told to someone, then this can only be done with the consent of the patient.
- Research results must be presented to third parties so that they cannot compromise your patient. Therefore, if you are engaged in the study of psychological science with your colleague, then as a result of the discussion of the disease, never utter any names and data that relate to the personal life of your client.
- The professional ethics of the teacher-psychologist includes the complete confidentiality of data from students or school students. That is, if you conducted a social or psychological survey in a certain group, then only you yourself and no one else should know about its results.
- If a specialist needs to demonstrate a specific case on the example of his patient, then it must be done in such a way that the information you said does not affect the well-being, dignity and honest name of your client.
- The specialist should not try to find information in the client that goes beyond the scope of professional tasks. For example, touching intimate topics very often negatively affects a patient’s trust in a specialist. Therefore, questions about sex and the like are best avoided.
Also, do not forget that if you store data about your patients on electronic or paper media, then this information should be well protected. Also an undeniable right of a client is a conversation with a psychologist face-to-face, without the presence of third parties.
Good faith and awareness
The meaning of the professional ethics of a practical psychologist is that in the process of treatment the patient does not get harm to his reputation. However, many clients do not even realize that they conscientiously agree to certain actions by visiting a specialist’s office. Therefore, the psychologist should inform his patient in advance about the following nuances, so that then an unpleasant incident does not occur:
- The psychologist is obliged to inform his patient about all the steps that should lead to a therapeutic effect. This is especially true in the case of inpatient treatment. The specialist must inform his client in advance about the possible risks of treatment and alternative diagnostic methods, including non-psychological ones.
- It is allowed to make audio and video recordings of the consultation with the patient only after the written consent of the client. The same goes for telephone conversations with the client. And even if you have such a record at your disposal, this does not mean that you can show it to third parties.
- Participation in psychological experiments and research should be completely voluntary. In no case does a specialist have the right to manipulate his patient in order to obtain any information from him. If the client gives his consent to the experiment, then all actions should be carried out by a specialist with extreme caution.
However, in some cases it also happens that the subject does not need to know that a psychological experiment is being conducted on him. In this case, it is worthwhile to carry out all actions with extreme caution and be sure to explain the situation to the client after the experiment.
Customer self-determination
What else is the meaning of the professional ethics of a practical psychologist? Of course, in the right of the client to enter into relationships with those people whom he considers worthy. In no case should a psychologist dictate to the client who they can trust and who is best to communicate with. In the following list you will find basic ethical principles regarding customer self-determination:
- The patient has the right to maintain maximum autonomy in the self-determination of his actions. In addition, the client can always sever all ties with a psychologist if he sees fit. The specialist should not put pressure on the patient by various psychological methods in order to derive his own benefit from cooperation.
- A client can be any person who considers himself fully capable. In the event of a lack of legal capacity, a decision to cooperate with a specialist may be made by parents, guardians, or other persons appointed by law.
- The psychologist has no moral right to impede the wishes of his client to bring another specialist to treatment. However, there are some exceptions to this rule, for example, if psychological assistance is provided to a prisoner, then the norms established by law are clearly observed.
Remember that regardless of the mental and physical abilities of the client, you should not have any influence on his self-determination. Also, do not forget that the professional ethics of the psychologist and professional responsibility are synonymous words. Therefore, you must unconditionally comply with even those rules that are not spelled out in any legal document.
Competency principle
The ethics of the psychologist’s professional activity is also based on the desire to provide the client with psychological support and cure the disease that bothers him. If the boundaries of specialist competence are not so wide, then this can take too much time. Therefore, the principle of professional competence, the structure of which is described below, must also be taken into account.
- The specialist must have comprehensive knowledge in the field of psychology, and also follow the code of ethics. During his work, the psychologist must constantly be guided by ethical principles and suppress his desire to begin to manipulate the client.
- If students or a group of patients acts as material for experiments, then the psychologist is obliged to carry out all actions in accordance with the code of ethics. If the level of competence of a specialist does not allow this, then it is best to refuse such experiments.
- The psychologist is personally responsible for the level of professional competence of the personnel who are subordinate to him. Therefore, if you decide to hire several young specialists to help you, then all responsibility for their actions rests with you.
Quite often, the psychologist has to work with representatives of various professions and social groups. A specialist should be tolerant of each of his clients and treat patients with maximum loyalty - this is one of the main principles of a psychologist's ethics. Otherwise, you risk losing the trust of customers and other professionals.
Limit your professional competency
The ethics of the psychologist’s work also lies in the fact that the specialist should be able to limit his activities within the framework of his own competence. Do not agree to work with seriously ill patients if you have insufficient knowledge and skills. This can negatively affect not only the patient’s condition, but also your reputation.
Any specialist has the right to conduct questionnaires, psychotherapy, trainings, studies, and so on. However, if the psychologist does this only to make his actions accountable, and not in order to help the patient, this can lead to a loss of confidence in such a psychologist.
A specialist in the field of psychology must be proficient in psychological conversation methods. With experience, these skills develop quite strongly, but if you do not understand the principles of any method, it is best not to use it, otherwise it may cause the client a feeling of dissatisfaction from communicating with a specialist.
Limit what you use
The specialist has the right to apply techniques that do not contradict the psychologist’s code of ethics. However, all these tools should adequately fit into the treatment process, and not satisfy the personal desires of a specialist to conduct a particular study. If your patient has trusted you and agreed to an experiment, then all actions should be as reliable, normalized and standardized as possible. Otherwise, this will lead to a deterioration in the patient’s well-being.
It is necessary to apply only those methods of interpretation and data processing that have received wide scientific recognition. The choice of methods should not be determined only by the addictions of the psychologist to a particular method of treatment. First of all, he must satisfy the personal sympathies of a client of a certain profession, social group or professional type. Otherwise, the experiment will not give true results.
Also, the psychologist does not have the moral right to distort in advance the primary data about the task that is used in the experiment or to provide deliberately incorrect and false information. If such a mistake was made by accident, then you should think about stopping the experiment, since the patient will already delve into its essence, and repeated activity will not bring true results.
Principle of primary responsibility
The professional ethics of the psychologist also consists in the fact that the specialist must do his utmost to avoid harming the psychological and physical health of his patient. When you sign a contract with a client, you guarantee him that your methods are disinterested and legitimate, therefore you should not abuse the use of your position for your own purposes.
The primary responsibility includes three principles:
- awareness of the specifics of the interaction of a specialist with a sick patient;
- a deliberate decision of a psychologist to conduct a research experiment;
- reducing the risk of trauma to the psychological health of the client.
If a young specialist observes these three points, then no problems should arise during communication with the patient. However, unfortunately, very often psychologists neglect them, believing that the information received is much more important than the client’s personal well-being. Remember that there is nothing more important than the health of your patient.
Principle of honesty
The ethics of a practical psychologist also includes the principle of honesty. Who will you trust more: a person who hides something from you all the time talking in riddles, or a person who is open in communication and not afraid to share his own thoughts? In psychology, the principle of honesty plays a huge role in establishing contact with the patient and his further treatment.
The psychologist must by all means avoid the opportunity to organize advertising for himself with the help of an influential patient. Even if the patient himself offers such services on a free basis, then you should refuse. The fact is that various marketing moves very often overestimate the quality of the goods or services offered, so if a client contacts you for such an advertisement, he will be deliberately set up to be a swindler and a scammer who only wants to get it to the core.
Making inferences also leads to building trust between the psychologist and the patient. Feel free to tell the client what you really think about him. Very few people in the psychologist’s office are offended by a specialist. However, if you do not hesitate to speak about your client in the context that he deserves, then the person will at a subconscious level understand that you can be trusted.
Straightforwardness and openness in communication
Well, the last principle of ethics of a practical psychologist, which we will consider today, is directness and openness. The specialist should not only be responsible for his actions, but also provide the patient with information about his treatment without any distortion. This is especially true in the case of research work or experiment on the client.
Many psychologists very often form their speech using various concepts and terms, however, such an action speaks only of your competence. If you want to build a trusting relationship with the patient, it is best to avoid various tricks during communication. Try to communicate with him in a simple language so that the client does not have to go after a consultation with you with a special terminological interpreter to understand what exactly you mean.
If it is still not possible to avoid distorted information, then the psychologist should try by all means to explain to his patient that he did not do this on purpose. Of course, it is better to avoid such situations, so as not to build a degree of trust again, but you should be able to accept your mistakes if you made them. This fact alone speaks of a psychologist as a professional in his field.
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Conclusion
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We hope that our article helped you understand what the ethics of a teacher-psychologist are like. A specialist who works with sick patients every day should be able to communicate with them correctly and build a trusting dialogue. No external factors can influence the behavior of a professional. Even if you conduct your activity among not very pleasant personalities, you should understand that communication with the patient is a very important stage of his treatment. What do you think about this?