CODE OF ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR
PSYCHOLOGY PRACTITIONERS
PRINCIPLES:
I. Respect for the Dignity of the People
- Always consider the differences between cultures,
ethnicities, religions, histories, social structures, etc. It
also includes moral consideration of and respect for
the dignity of the people.
- respect for the unique worth and inherent dignity of all
human beings
- respect the diversity among people
- respect customs and beliefs of cultures
- free and informed consent
- privacy of individuals, families, groups, and
communities
- fairness and justice
II. Competent Caring for the Well-being of the people
- requires the application of knowledge and skills that
are appropriate to the nature of a situation within the
social and cultural context
- requires ability to establish interpersonal relationships
that enhance potential benefits and reduce potential
harm
- Adequate self-knowledge of how one’s values,
experiences, culture, and social context might
influence one’s actions and interpretations.
- active concern for the well-being
- Respect the abilities of individuals to make decisions
for themselves.
III. Integrity
-
Based on honesty, and on truthful, open, and accurate
communication.
Complete openness and disclosure of information
must be balanced with other ethical considerations.
-
Confidentiality
avoid incomplete disclosure of information
maximizing impartiality and minimizing biases
avoid conflict of interest
IV. Professional and Scientific Responsibilities to Society
-
responsibilities include contributing knowledge about
human behavior and to the person’s understanding of
themselves
conducting its affairs within the society in accordance
with the highest ethical standards
allow promotion of the well-being of society
protect such knowledge from being misused, used
incompetently, or made useless
should be ethical and consistent with the promotion of
the well-being of society
promote the highest ethical ideals in the performance
of scientific activities
GENERAL ETHICAL STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES
I. RESOLVING ETHICAL ISSUES
a) Misuse of works – if it happens that there is a
misuse of work, it shall take appropriate and
reasonable steps to correct or minimize the effects
of such misuse or misrepresentation.
b) Conflicts between Ethics and Law,
Regulations or other Governing legal Authority
– shall take appropriate action to resolve the
conflict. But if the conflict cannot be resolved by
any such means, they must adhere to the law,
rules and regulations of the governing legal
authority
c) Conflicts between Ethics and Organizational
Demands - shall take endeavour to make this
code of ethics known to the organization. Shall
d)
e)
f)
g)
declare their commitment and adherence to this
code when resolving conflicts
Action on Ethical Violations – If there are
potential harm to a person/organization,
practitioners shall take further action to report such
violation to the appropriate institutional authorities
Cooperating with the Ethics Committee – shall
cooperate with the ethics investigation and
proceedings conducted by the Board and/or the
Psychological Association/s to which they belong
Improper Complaints – shall refrain from filing
baseless and malicious ethical complaints
Unfair Discrimination Against Complainants
and Respondents – shall not discriminate against
complainants and respondents in any ethical
complaint.
II. COMPETENCIES
a) Boundaries Of Competences
- shall provide teach, and conduct research
only within the boundaries of their
competencies, based on their education,
training, supervised internship, consultation,
study or professional experience.
- shall make appropriate referrals
- must undertake relevant education, training,
supervised experience, consultation, or
thorough study
- may provide the service for which they do not
have existing competences, as long as they :
o have
closely
related
prior
training/experience, and
o make reasonable effort to obtain the
competences required by undergoing
relevant
research,
training,
consultation, or thorough study.
b) Providing Services In Emergencies
- shall make available their services in
emergency situations to individuals when the
necessary mental health services are not
available
c) Maintaining Competence
- shall undertake continuing education and
training to ensure that their services continue
to be relevant and applicable
d) Bases For Scientific And Professional
Judgements
- shall base their work on established scientific
and professional knowledge of the discipline
e) Delegation of Work to Others
- they have to delegate work to employees,
supervisees, or research or teaching
assistants or when using services of others,
such as interpreters, they shall take
reasonable steps to:
o avoid delegating such work to
persons who have a multiple
relationship with those being served
that would likely lead top exploitation
or loss of objectivity
o assign only those people who are
expected to perform competently
f) Personal Problems and Conflicts
– shall refrain from initiating an activity when
they know or anticipate that there is a
substantial likelihood that their personal
problems or schedules will prevent them from
performing such activities in a competent
manner
– when they already aware of personal
problems that may interfere with the workrelated duties, they shall take appropriate
measures
(obtaining
personal
consultation/assistance, making referrals and
determining whether they should limit,
suspend, or terminate work-relate duties
III. HUMAN RELATIONS
a) Unfair Discrimination – they shall not discriminate
against persons based on age, gender, gender identity,
race, ethnicity , culture, national origin, etc. or for any basis
contrary to what is prescribed by law
b) Sexual Harassment – shall not engage in sexual
harassment as defined in the Philippine Anti-Sexual
Harassment Act (R.A. No. 7877)
c) Other Harassments – shall not knowingly harass or
demean person with whom they interact in their work
d) Avoiding Harm – shall take reasonable steps to avoid
harming their clients/patients, students, supervisees, etc.
e) Multiple Relationships – shall refrain from entering into
multiple relationships if it could impair their objectivity,
competence, or effectiveness in performing their work.
f) Conflict of Interest – shall refrain from taking on a
professional role when personal, scientific, legal, financial,
or other interests or relationship could reasonably be
expected to impair their objectivity, competence, or
effectiveness in performing their functions
g) Third-party Request for Services -