APA Ethics Office
APA's Ethics Office promotes ethics throughout the field of psychology. The office supports the Ethics Committee in adjudicating ethics cases, offers educational programming, provides ethics consultations, and serves as a resource to members and the Association in addressing new ethical dilemmas as psychology grows and evolves as a discipline. If you are an APA member, the Ethics Office is here to serve you. Please let us know how we may best do so.
Melba J. T. Vasquez receives the Lifetime Award for Accomplishments in Ethics Education
Congratulations to Melba J.T. Vasquez, PhD, ABPP, the recipient of the 2023 annual APA Ethics Committee’s Lifetime Award for Accomplishments in Ethics Education.
Ethics FAQ on overturning of Roe v. Wade
The Ethics Committee endorses the recent FAQ prepared by Ethics Committee Chair Dr. Mary Brabeck and Vice Chair Dr. Evelyn Hunter, titled Frequently asked questions regarding the ethical issues related to the recent Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade (1973) (PDF, 135KB), published on July 27, 2022.
The APA Ethics Code
The American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, adopted by the APA Council of Representatives in August 2002, became effective in June 2003. Council amended the Ethics Code in 2010 and 2017. The code provides guidance for psychologists in all of their professional roles.
Honoring participants of the EC-EPA Joint Ethics Initiative
The participants in the Ethics Committee (EC)–Ethnic Psychological Associations (EPA) Joint Ethics Initiative (PDF, 97KB) provided essential programming on the intersection of ethics and culture. By showcasing culturally-informed ethical perspectives that emphasized the specific cultural needs of communities of color, the EC and EPA participants demonstrated the importance of culturally-competent practice for all psychologists. The initiative highlighted the vital importance of incorporating concepts of culture and diversity within any future APA Ethics Code as critical guidance for the discipline. Additional resources from the Joint Ethics Initiative coming soon.
Resources
- Education and assistance: For questions about the Ethics Code and how we may be able to assist you and provide additional information, please contact the Ethics Office.
- APA condemns the disclosure of confidential therapy notes to ICE
- Opportunity to provide information to Ethics Code Task Force
- Latest news on the Ethics Code Task Force
- Obtaining ethics assistance
- Ethics Code Task Force
- Publication: “Practical Ethics for Psychologists: A Positive Approach, Fourth Edition”
- Publication: “The Ethical Practice of Psychology in Organizations, Second Edition”
- Monitor articles about ethics
- Continuing Education courses on ethics
- Browse APA books on ethics