HSP Ethics and Professional Standards 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A psychologist is treating a client who reveals they are being stalked by a former partner. The client refuses to involve law enforcement. What is the psychologist's PRIMARY ethical obligation?
- Immediately contact police on the client's behalf
- Respect autonomy while assessing danger and discussing safety planning collaboratively (Correct answer)
- Terminate services if the client refuses protective action
- Inform the stalker directly to cease their behavior
Correct answer: Respect autonomy while assessing danger and discussing safety planning collaboratively
Respecting client autonomy while engaging in collaborative safety planning balances beneficence with self-determination under APA ethics.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes 'bartering' in psychotherapy according to APA ethics?
- Accepting goods or services as payment, which is always prohibited
- Accepting goods or services as payment, permissible only when not clinically contraindicated and not exploitative (Correct answer)
- Exchanging referrals between professionals
- Trading sessions for professional supervision hours
Correct answer: Accepting goods or services as payment, permissible only when not clinically contraindicated and not exploitative
APA ethics permit bartering when it is not clinically contraindicated, not exploitative, and part of a clear agreement.
Question 3: A health service psychologist is asked by an insurance company to release a client's full treatment records. The client has signed a general release. What is the most ethical response?
- Release all records immediately since a release is signed
- Release only the minimum information necessary to meet the legitimate purpose (Correct answer)
- Refuse all releases to insurance companies regardless of consent
- Contact the client's attorney before releasing any records
Correct answer: Release only the minimum information necessary to meet the legitimate purpose
Even with a signed release, psychologists should disclose only the minimum necessary information, per APA Standard 4.04.
Question 4: A psychologist supervising a doctoral student discovers the trainee has been falsifying session notes. What is the FIRST appropriate action?
- Report immediately to the state licensing board without speaking to the trainee
- Address the issue directly with the trainee, investigate, and take corrective action including reporting if warranted (Correct answer)
- Ignore it since trainees are not yet licensed
- Transfer the trainee to another supervisor
Correct answer: Address the issue directly with the trainee, investigate, and take corrective action including reporting if warranted
Supervisors must address misconduct directly, conduct an inquiry, and take appropriate corrective action including mandatory reporting if required.
Question 5: Under HIPAA, which of the following is considered a 'covered entity'?
- A solo-practice psychologist who only accepts cash payments and no insurance
- A hospital billing department that transmits health information electronically (Correct answer)
- A life insurance company that collects health data for underwriting
- A psychologist who only provides expert witness testimony
Correct answer: A hospital billing department that transmits health information electronically
Health care providers who transmit any health information electronically in connection with covered transactions are HIPAA covered entities.
Question 6: A psychologist is invited to co-author a research paper by a colleague, but the psychologist contributed only minor administrative tasks. Publishing as co-author would constitute:
- Collaborative research, which is encouraged
- Ghost authorship, a form of scientific misconduct
- Honorific authorship, violating APA publication ethics (Correct answer)
- Appropriate acknowledgment if noted in a footnote
Correct answer: Honorific authorship, violating APA publication ethics
Listing someone as an author without substantive intellectual contribution is honorific authorship, prohibited under APA ethics Standard 8.12.
Question 7: When a psychologist's personal values conflict with providing services to a specific population (e.g., same-sex couples), the APA ethics code requires the psychologist to:
- Refuse service and explain personal values to the client
- Provide competent, non-discriminatory service or refer the client without abandoning them (Correct answer)
- Disclose their values upfront and let the client decide
- Seek religious exemption from professional ethics standards
Correct answer: Provide competent, non-discriminatory service or refer the client without abandoning them
APA ethics prohibit discrimination and require psychologists to provide competent care or refer clients to appropriate providers without abandonment.
HSP Ethics and Professional Standards 2
A psychologist is treating a client who reveals they are being stalked by a former partner.
The client refuses to involve law enforcement.
What is the psychologist's PRIMARY ethical obligation?