Ethics
What this domain tests
Ethics items probe the architecture of the APA Ethics Code and how Nebraska converts ethical failure into disciplinary exposure. You need to know which provisions are enforceable and how to reason when duties collide.
Core rules and concepts
- Five General Principles (beneficence and nonmaleficence, fidelity and responsibility, integrity, justice, respect for rights and dignity) are aspirational.
- Ten Standards are enforceable. High-yield ones: 1.02 conflicts between ethics and law; 2.01 competence; 3.05 multiple relationships; 3.10 informed consent; 4.01–4.05 confidentiality and disclosure; 6.01–6.02 records; 9.01–9.11 assessment; 10.10 terminating therapy.
- Conflict rule: if law conflicts with the code, make known your commitment to the code and resolve the conflict responsibly.
- Document ethical decisions - the reasoning is the defense.
Worked example
A long-term client, recently widowed, gives you an expensive watch. Reasoning: the Ethics Code nowhere bans gifts, but the value, timing, culture, and likely meaning in the therapy matter. Discuss the gift and its meaning openly, consider whether accepting creates obligation or a multiple-relationship dynamic, consult a colleague, and document the decision. Declining with explanation or redirecting to a symbolic gesture are both defensible; silent acceptance is not.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating the aspirational principles as grounds for a complaint.
- "It was legal, so it was ethical."
- Breaching confidentiality through voicemail, unencrypted email, or shared waiting rooms without discussing the risk.
- Failing to plan for termination and abandonment.