With crisis comes opportunity: Building ethical competencies in light of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has wide-ranging implications for the field of professional psychology. As clinical practice has rapidly adapted to ensure continuity of care, doctoral students have encountered unique opportunities for ethics-related competency development across practicum training settings. This article discusses the relevant American Psychological Association (APA) Ethics Code standards and additional ethical considerations facing trainees as they navigate their foundational clinical experiences and develop as professional psychologists in light of a pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• doctoral students
• clinical trainees
• ethical competencies
• pandemic

Acknowledgments

This submission reflects the authors’ original work. The views presented in this manuscript do not reflect those of the APA Ethics Committee, of which Dr. Schwartz is currently a member.

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

¹ “Telehealth,” “telemental health,” and “telepsychology” are used interchangeably to describe psychological services that are provided through various technologies.