Ethics & Professional Practice Flashcards
7 cards from real CBT 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 Practice flashcards as text
A CBT therapist's client follows them on social media and comments publicly on the therapist's personal posts. The most ethical response is to:
Answer: Address the social media contact in session and establish clear boundaries around online interaction
Social media contact with clients blurs professional boundaries and should be addressed therapeutically, with clear policies established about online interactions.
Which scenario describes an ethical use of self-disclosure in CBT?
Answer: Briefly disclosing a relevant personal experience to normalize the client's struggle when clinically appropriate
Ethical self-disclosure is purposeful, brief, and client-focused — used to normalize or strengthen the therapeutic alliance, not to meet the therapist's needs.
A CBT therapist is working with a client who holds religious beliefs that differ significantly from the therapist's own. The ethical approach is to:
Answer: Respect the client's beliefs and integrate them into culturally sensitive treatment
Ethical practice requires respecting clients' religious and cultural beliefs and incorporating them sensitively into the therapeutic approach rather than dismissing or challenging them.
What is the ethical significance of obtaining a clinical supervisor's approval before terminating a high-risk client?
Answer: It ensures the termination decision is clinically sound and protects against abandonment claims
Consulting a supervisor before terminating a high-risk client ensures clinical judgment is sound and protects against charges of patient abandonment while safeguarding client welfare.
A CBT therapist learns that a current client was previously in therapy with a colleague and that the prior therapy ended badly. What is the most ethical stance?
Answer: Allow the client to share their experience while maintaining objectivity and avoiding disparaging the former therapist
Therapists should allow clients to process prior therapy experiences while maintaining objectivity and professional respect, never disparaging colleagues based solely on a client's account.
In CBT practice, what is the ethical requirement regarding continuing education?
Answer: Therapists must maintain and expand competence through ongoing education and training throughout their careers
Ethical standards require therapists to engage in ongoing professional development to maintain and enhance competence as evidence-based practices and knowledge evolve.
A client who has completed CBT successfully contacts the therapist six months later asking to be friends. What is the most ethically sound response?
Answer: Decline and explain that post-therapeutic friendships compromise the integrity of the prior therapeutic work
The power differential inherent in the therapeutic relationship persists after termination, making post-therapy friendships ethically problematic and prohibited by most professional codes.