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Applying Ethical Approaches to Evidence Based Psychotherapy—
Jennifer Lundgren, Univ. of Missouri–Kansas City

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No 0629443. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Background

Evidence Based Psychotherapy is a core course in the University of Missouri at Kansas City doctoral program in clinical psychology that is designed to teach students research and methods skills. The American Psychological Association has published ethical guides for psychologists since the mid-twentieth century; however, in this course I wanted to further student understanding of ethics by incorporating ethics theory. I hoped that students would be able to develop their ethical decision-making skills by learning to apply ethical theory and appropriately interpret the APA Professional Code. | Implementation

Implementation

I introduced students to a discussion of utilitarian and deontological approaches to ethics in an in-class Power Point lecture. After the lecture, students used these approaches to put themselves in the role of psychologists by analyzing two case studies and sharing their decision-making process with the class. The midterm exam reinforced in-class work by asking students to use a theoretical approach to an ethical case study and reconcile this approach with the APA Code of Conduct. Because students will ultimately be judged as professionals based on their final decisions rather than their decision-making process, the final exam asked students to outline the ethical issues and a possible solution to another case study.

| Student Performance

Student Performance

At the beginning of the module, it was clear that second-year graduate students who had previously completed a course on the APA Code of Conduct had a stronger understanding of ethics than those beginning their graduate careers. However, after students engaged in the introductory lecture, their responses to ethics questions on the take-home midterm exam were universally strong. Responses on the final exam, which students could not take home, were more varied in quality, but students reported that my feedback helped them understand where they went wrong. | Reflections

Reflections

Students reported that they found the ethical decision-making process and multiple ethical approaches useful when helping their peers face ethical dilemmas outside my classroom. I feel this ethics module has helped them become better prepared than many new professionals and more aware of the importance and development of the Professional Code. The EESE workshop was a natural fit with my course goals, and I plan to continue teaching ethics components in my graduate and undergraduate psychology courses.

| Summary

Project Summary

An ethics project in an Evidence Based Psychotherapy class integrated ethics theory and the APA Professional Code of Ethics into course material. Students’ responses to ethics questions on the midterm and final exam showed that they had met project aims by becoming familiar with both theoretical and applied ethics in the context of professional behaviors.

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