Ethical Standards and Professional Conduct
Domain 3: Ethical standards and professional conduct
This domain tests the ethical floor the BSRB enforces: adopted standards, competence, informed consent, boundaries, multiple relationships, advertising, and termination. Kansas regulations incorporate professional ethics, and the Board disciplines conduct that harms or exploits clients even when no statute names it.
Core duties
- Practice within competence; obtain training or refer when a case exceeds it.
- Obtain and document informed consent: nature of services, risks and benefits, alternatives, fees, confidentiality limits, and technology use.
- Avoid multiple relationships that could impair objectivity or exploit a client. Not every dual role is prohibited, but the burden is on the psychologist to show it is not harmful.
- Sexual or romantic relationships with current clients are prohibited; do not treat former clients or close relatives in ways that create exploitative risk.
- Advertise accurately; do not use testimonials or titles that mislead; correct errors in public statements.
Discipline and boundaries
- Unprofessional conduct can include boundary violations, fraud, incompetence, abandonment, improper records, and confidentiality breaches.
- Consultation and documentation are the practical safeguards when a boundary question arises.
Worked example
A client offers free auto repairs in exchange for therapy. Barter is not automatically banned, but it creates exploitation and dual-relationship risks, especially if the client is financially vulnerable. The psychologist should decline unless the arrangement is fair, documented, culturally appropriate, and clinically sound; consultation is prudent. A secret barter arrangement that is not disclosed in the record is a discipline risk.
Traps
- Believing only sexual misconduct counts; exploitation and boundary drift also do.
- Treating informed consent as a one-time signature rather than an ongoing process.
- Assuming all dual relationships are prohibited; the real test is impairment, exploitation, and harm.