Ethics & Professional Standards Flashcards
7 cards from real ACT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Ethics & Professional Standards flashcards as text
An ACT practitioner is working with a client who has begun dating someone the therapist knows socially. Which ethical principle is most at risk?
Answer: Boundary management
Multiple relationships that could impair judgment or harm the client represent a boundary management violation under professional ethics codes.
When a supervisee discloses they are experiencing psychological fusion with a client's narrative, the supervisor's ethical obligation is to:
Answer: Use ACT processes to help the supervisee develop defusion skills
Supervision in ACT contexts involves modeling the same psychological flexibility processes to help supervisees work through countertransference fusion.
A client's insurance company requests a detailed session-by-session progress report. The therapist's ethical duty is to:
Answer: Consult the client and release only information necessary for treatment authorization
Therapists must obtain client awareness and release only the minimum necessary information required by third-party payers.
In ACT, the ethical stance toward a client's religious values is best described as:
Answer: Accepting values as the client's own and integrating them into values clarification work
ACT's values work is explicitly non-prescriptive; the therapist honors the client's chosen values including religious ones without imposing external standards.
Which scenario best illustrates an ethical use of self-disclosure by an ACT therapist?
Answer: Briefly disclosing a relevant struggle to normalize the client's experience
Brief, purposeful self-disclosure that normalizes or models psychological flexibility is ethically appropriate; oversharing shifts focus away from the client.
A client in crisis texts the ACT therapist at 2 a.m. stating suicidal ideation. The therapist's primary ethical obligation is to:
Answer: Respond promptly and follow established safety protocol
Duty to protect requires prompt response to imminent risk, regardless of the communication channel or time of contact.
Informed consent in ACT specifically should include disclosure of:
Answer: The therapist's theoretical orientation and how ACT differs from CBT
Clients have a right to understand the therapeutic model being used, including how ACT differs from other approaches, so they can make an informed choice.