Ethical Standards & Professional Practice Flashcards

A CBT-I practitioner is invited to speak at a conference sponsored by a pharmaceutical company that manufactures sleep aids. Ethical practice requires:

Answer: Disclosing the sponsorship relationship to the audience and ensuring content integrity is maintained

Transparency about financial relationships with industry sponsors is an ethical obligation; disclosure allows audiences to weigh potential bias.

When a CBT-I client presents with active suicidal ideation during treatment, the practitioner's primary ethical obligation is to:

Answer: Conduct a thorough safety assessment and implement an appropriate crisis intervention plan

Active suicidal ideation requires immediate safety assessment and crisis intervention regardless of the primary treatment modality, prioritizing client safety above protocol adherence.

A CBT-I trainee asks their supervisor to sign off on a session the supervisor did not observe or review. The ethical issue is:

Answer: Fraudulent documentation and violation of supervisory responsibility

Supervisors attesting to sessions they did not review constitutes documentation fraud and abdicates their ethical and legal duty to ensure client welfare under supervision.

A client asks whether the practitioner has ever personally suffered from insomnia. The most ethically appropriate response is:

Answer: Use professional judgment to determine whether limited self-disclosure would serve the client's therapeutic needs

Self-disclosure decisions in therapy should be guided by whether the disclosure serves the client's interests, not the practitioner's comfort or desire for relatability.

A practitioner using a group CBT-I format must address confidentiality by:

Answer: Establishing explicit confidentiality agreements among group members and explaining their limits

Group confidentiality requires clear agreements about expectations, but practitioners must acknowledge they cannot guarantee that all members will honor those agreements.

A practitioner becomes aware that a colleague is regularly using an unapproved sleep intervention and claiming it is CBT-I. The ethical obligation is to:

Answer: Address the concern directly with the colleague and, if unresolved, consult ethics resources or report to the appropriate body

Ethics codes generally require practitioners to first attempt informal resolution with a colleague and escalate to formal reporting only when the informal approach fails or the risk is severe.

Which statement correctly describes the ethical principle of justice in the context of CBT-I service delivery?

Answer: Ensuring fair and equitable access to CBT-I, including accommodations for underserved populations

Justice requires that practitioners work toward equitable access to effective care and avoid discriminatory practices that disadvantage vulnerable or underserved groups.