Ethical & Professional Considerations Flashcards
7 cards from real ACT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Ethical & Professional Considerations flashcards as text
A client who completed ACT for depression contacts their former therapist on social media requesting friendship. The therapist's best ethical response is to:
Answer: Decline and, if appropriate, offer a brief explanation consistent with professional boundaries
Post-termination social media relationships risk dual roles and exploitation; a respectful decline with brief explanation upholds professional boundaries.
In group ACT therapy, a member discloses information that another group member has shared, violating the group confidentiality agreement. The therapist should:
Answer: Address the breach therapeutically within the group and reinforce confidentiality expectations
Therapists address confidentiality breaches by group members therapeutically, reinforcing norms, rather than through punitive or administrative actions.
An ACT consultant is hired by a corporation to improve employee resilience. Employees are required to participate. Which ethical issue is most salient?
Answer: Voluntary versus coerced participation, which affects authentic consent
Mandatory participation undermines genuine informed consent, a foundational ethical requirement even in non-clinical organizational settings.
A therapist practicing ACT discovers a peer is marketing a proprietary 'ACT-based' program with fabricated outcome data. The therapist's professional obligation includes:
Answer: Reporting the peer to relevant ethics committees or licensing boards
Ethical codes obligate professionals to report colleagues who engage in unethical conduct such as falsifying research data.
When using metaphors and experiential exercises in ACT, the therapist must ensure that:
Answer: The client's cultural background and potential trauma triggers are considered before introducing exercises
Cultural competence and trauma-informed care require therapists to screen ACT exercises for cultural appropriateness and potential retraumatization.
A minor client's parents request full access to ACT session content, including private disclosures the teen made about peer relationships. The therapist should:
Answer: Balance parental rights with the minor's assent and clinical judgment about therapeutic harm
Ethical practice with minors balances parental legal rights against the minor's evolving autonomy and the clinical risk of disclosures that could damage the therapeutic relationship.
A therapist trained in ACT wants to offer services to clients with severe PTSD despite having no specific trauma training. This situation violates the ethical principle of:
Answer: Competence, because treating populations outside one's training is ethically prohibited
Practicing outside one's area of competence violates ethical codes; therapists must have appropriate training or supervision before treating specialized populations.