Standards of Acceptable and Prevailing Practice and Good Faith Clinical Judgment
The standard of care
The Board does not discipline every bad outcome. It asks whether the psychologist's conduct fell below acceptable and prevailing practice: what a reasonably prudent psychologist with similar training would do under similar circumstances. Sources include licensing statutes, Chapter 41, ethics codes, professional guidelines, research, and expert testimony. The standard is context-sensitive: emergency, forensic, child, and neuropsychological work impose different duties.
Good faith clinical judgment
Good faith is relevant but not a complete defense. A clinician may choose among accepted approaches and document the rationale. Judgment becomes vulnerable when it ignores red flags, exceeds competence, skips informed consent, or departs from accepted assessment and treatment protocols without justification. The Board examines the decision process, not just the label clinical judgment.
Documentation and consultation
Contemporaneous records should show presenting problem, assessment, diagnosis, plan, informed consent, risk assessment, and rationale for significant decisions. Consultation and supervision strengthen the record when the case is complex. Test selection must fit the purpose and population; using an instrument outside its validated range requires explanation.
Worked example
A psychologist treats a client with trauma symptoms using an unvalidated technique, does not assess suicidal risk despite disclosed self-harm, and keeps no treatment plan. The client deteriorates. Good intentions do not satisfy the standard. The failure to assess risk, use an accepted approach or justify departure, and document care supports a finding of below-standard practice and possible unprofessional conduct.
Traps
I meant well is not the test. Do not confuse the legal malpractice standard with Board discipline; the Board uses its own statutory grounds. Do not assume one theoretical orientation is required; the issue is competent, justified, documented care within scope.