ethics in psychological assessments

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Grand Canyon University *

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May 8, 2024

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Ethics in Psychological Assessments Georgia J O’Neal College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Grand Canyon University Assessment, Tests, and Measurements Professor Victoria Evans-Fulton April 17, 2024

Ethics in Psychological Assessments Psychological assessments are significantly important in the counseling field. Assessments assess an individual’s abilities, personalities, behaviors, strengths, and weaknesses. These assessments give insight into how a counselor can help a client because they can measure where someone is struggling and allow the counselor segway into assisting the client on their level. However, like every aspect of counseling, there needs to be a level of ethical standards upheld. Therefore, it is significantly important for counselors who plan to utilize assessments to understand multicultural and diversity issues that may arise; how to avoid ethical issues; assessment of behaviors through cultures or subcultures; and how a client’s development may differ the impacts assessment choice. Arising Issues The counseling field utilizes assessments to aid clients; however, the more these clients open-up the more vulnerable they are. Therefore, there are safety measures put in place to protect the clients and the counselors from arising issues. There are three main types of issues that arise when utilizing assessments. This includes consideration of ethical, multicultural, and diversity issues that may arise prior to, during, and after assessments (Cohen, Schneider, & Tobin, 2022). Ethical, Multicultural, and Diversity Issues While all issues would fall under the ethical umbrella there are some significant ethical issues that can drastically impact a client. First, a counselor must be within their scope and abilities according to E.2.a. Therefore, a counselor must be trained and deemed competent in the assessment they wish to administer. A counselor may be working with a client that requires a personality test; however, if the counselor is not trained, they will not be equipped in providing or determining the results of the assessment which will make them out of compliance of E.1.b,

E.3.b, and E.5.a. Not adhering to this guideline would leave the client at an increased risk of inadequate diagnosis and wrongful practices (ACA, 2014). For instance, someone who requires a parenting assessment would need to have a counselor who has been trained in parenting assessments. Second, counselors must also be aware of their own opinions, values, and beliefs. The arising issue is unethical because if a counselor does not leave those opinions, values, and beliefs at the door they may stem over to a client which can result in a misdiagnosis (ACA, 2014). For instance, an individual who committed a murder may be requested to have an assessment completed. The counselor must not lead to assumptions, biases, or opinions; it should be just factual. Lastly, according to E.8 within the Code of Ethics, counselors must recognize the effects of age, color, culture, disability, ethnic group, gender, race, language preference, religion, spirituality, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class. Counselors who are not aware of such are at risk of stereotyping, being biased, and misdiagnosed (Wendt, Gone, & Nagata, 2015). For instance, a counselor completing an IQ assessment may need to adjust adequately to assess a client who is from a lower socioeconomic background. Avoiding Ethical Issues It is impossible to avoid all issues when working as a counselor. However, there are strategies to lessen the risk and chances of contributing to unethical behavior during assessments. First, the counselor must always adhere to the informed consent they reviewed and agreed upon prior to the start of the assessment. Therefore, their knowledge of protocols and updates would always be included in the Code of Ethics (2014). Additionally, the state counseling regulations would indicate what the requirements were in terms of continued education or study each year. Continuing to learn about assessments or being trained in specific assessments would help them understand the best methods to assist. Ultimately, the counseling or assessment environment

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