Standards. We need Standards for mental health professionals in the family courts.
Let’s begin with the mandatory ethical Standards of the American Psychological Association.
All psychologists are required – mandatory – to comply with the ethical Standards of the American Psychological Association. So let’s start there – with the Standards of the APA ethics code.
All psychologists in the family courts are making professional judgments about what the pathology is (what the problem is) and what to do about it (the necessary treatment to fix it).
Standard 2.04 requires – mandatory – the application of the established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline as the bases for professional judgments.
2.04 Bases for Scientific and Professional Judgments
Psychologists’ work is based upon established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline.
The established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline is:
Family systems therapy – Minuchin & others – because they are assessing and treating a family conflict.
Attachment system – Bowlby & others – because they are assessing and treating attachment pathology, a child rejecting a parent.
Delusional thought disorders – DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association – because they are assessing and treating a shared persecutory delusion (Walters & Friedlander, 2016).
If they do NOT apply the established scientific and professional knowledge of the discipline as the bases for the professional judgments, then their opinions as contained in their recommendations, reports, diagnostic or evaluative statements, including their forensic testimony, are NOT based on information and techniques sufficient to substantiate their findings.
9.01 Bases for Assessments
(a) Psychologists base the opinions contained in their recommendations, reports, and diagnostic or evaluative statements, including forensic testimony, on information and techniques sufficient to substantiate their findings. (See also Standard 2.04, Bases for Scientific and Professional Judgments.)
Let’s start there. We need Standards. Let’s start with the application of the mandatory Standards of the APA ethics code.
Where are the licensing boards? Why aren’t they enforcing ethical Standards for competence – Standards 2.01, 2.03, 2.04? Nowhere to be seen. Why is that?
Until professional psychology stops covering up for the unethical practice in forensic psychology the abuse of children and their parents will continue.
They have obligations. They are failing.
They have duty to protect obligations for your child. They have duty to protect obligations for you.
They are failing in their duty to protect your children from the psychological child abuse of your pathological ex-spouse. They are failing in their duty to protect obligations to you, to protect you from brutal spousal emotional and psychological abuse by your pathological ex-spouse using the child as the weapon.
We need to hold incompetence accountable. We need Standards for professional psychology in the family courts. Let’s start with the Standards of the APA ethics code – mandatory – required.
Standard 2.04 is mandatory, ethical practice is not optional, it is required.
Standard 9.01 is mandatory, ethical practice is not optional, it is required.
All psychologists have duty to protect obligations – a duty to protect your child – a duty to protect you.
Craig Childress, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist, CA PSY 18857
GreatCosmicMothersUnite 