Ethical Principles in AAT Flashcards

A client becomes overly attached to the therapy animal and asks to take the animal home overnight. What is the most ethical response?

Answer: Decline and redirect the attachment therapeutically

Allowing clients to take therapy animals home blurs professional boundaries and compromises the animal's welfare and structured role.

Which principle requires AAT practitioners to only practice within their scope of competence?

Answer: Beneficence

Beneficence includes acting within one's competence to ensure interventions genuinely help clients.

An AAT practitioner notices the therapy dog shows signs of stress mid-session. The ethically correct action is to:

Answer: Remove the animal immediately and address the client's needs otherwise

Animal welfare is a non-negotiable ethical obligation; a stressed animal must be removed from the session immediately.

Informed consent in AAT must include disclosure of which of the following?

Answer: Potential risks such as allergies, zoonotic disease, and animal unpredictability

Informed consent requires clients to understand all reasonably foreseeable risks associated with AAT, including health and safety considerations.

A colleague shares client session notes in a group chat to get peer feedback. This action violates which ethical principle?

Answer: Confidentiality

Sharing identifiable client information without consent in unsecured channels violates confidentiality obligations.

When is it ethically permissible to break confidentiality in AAT practice?

Answer: When there is imminent risk of harm to the client or others

Confidentiality may be breached only when legally or ethically required, such as when there is a credible threat of imminent harm.

Dual relationships in AAT are considered unethical primarily because they:

Answer: Compromise the practitioner's objectivity and exploit the client's trust

Dual relationships create conflicts of interest that can impair professional judgment and harm the therapeutic relationship.