Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
Disability is a prevalent human condition that results in unique needs which require distinctive regulations and specialized therapeutic care. The disability rights movement resulted in a conceptualization as the result of social and environmental responses to individual impairment. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) has upheld this position and created a framework from […]
Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
Suicidal behavior is the most frequently encountered mental health emergency and is considered one of the most stressful aspects of clinical work (Bongar, 2002). The National Institute of Mental Health (2009) classifies suicide as a major, preventable public health problem. Recent research shows us that up to two-thirds of those who commit suicide have had […]
Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
Positive ethics focuses the psychologist on constantly striving to achieve the highest ethical standards of our profession (Barnett, 2007). It eschews efforts to do the minimum, to get by, to avoid negative outcomes. It is guided by a series of aspirational virtues that we strive to achieve throughout our careers (Knapp & VandeCreek, 2006). These […]
Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
In our training clinic, we see couples for an extended assessment phase that includes individual sessions with each partner in order to obtain information about each partner’s history and motivation for couple therapy. Meeting with partners individually can pose certain difficult ethical questions. For example, imagine you are a couple therapist meeting with one member […]
Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
Sexual orientation conversion therapy is highly controversial. Despite support from a minority of mental health professionals and religious organizations, the practice of conversion therapy has been criticized by many for being scientifically unsound and potentially harmful, reinforcing of societal heterosexism and homophobia, and in violation of fundamental ethical principles. This article provides a brief overview […]
Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
The practice of psychotherapy can be frightening when one considers the numerous and sometimes conflicting sources of duty and liability. Recently, we attended a continuing education program on ethics and risk management for psychologists. The speaker was a psychologist, not an attorney. After spending an hour or two on horror stories, the speaker provided a […]
Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
The intent of this article is to explicate some ethical considerations facing practicing psychologists in the era of evidence-based practices (EBPs) and to frame productive ways of thinking through such questions. At first blush, this may seem like an odd intellectual enterprise: Would not reliance on EBPs imply that a psychologist was practicing ethically, or, […]
Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
On the morning of December 5, 2002, three high school football players from Carson high school went on a field trip to the University of California, Los Angeles campus. The three men, Deshawn Carter Stringer, Jamar Dawson, and Chuwan Anthony, left the tour group and entered campus dormitories. After Stringer allegedly groped the buttocks of […]
Written by Blue Door Consulting on December 5, 2019
Over the past few decades, we have witnessed a growing appreciation on the part of family courts and health care systems that children and adolescents might play larger roles in decisions affecting their own welfare. Fortunately, at the same time, we have witnessed a growing body of developmental and clinical knowledge in psychology regarding the […]
Written by Joe Truesdale on March 30, 2016
Multiple Relationships Erica Wise, Ph.D. This is a companion article to our series of articles on ethical issues. Some of the most difficult ethical dilemmas faced by psychologists relate to the complex and conflicting roles and relationships in which we find ourselves. In this article, we hope to dispel ceertain misconceptions concerning multiple relationships: Any […]