After reading chapter 12 of Adventure Therapy: Theory, research, and practice, I hold a solid understanding of the ethical considerations that surround the field of Adventure Therapy (Gass, Gillis, & Russell, 2012). By reviewing the ethical principles of the American Psychological Association, which can be viewed here, it is clear that the two fields share similar ethical values, which is entirely sensical. Under the section of the APA's 'General Principles,' the first listed is the notion of doing no harm, the 'Hippocratic Oath,' which is widely applied in human service fields, especially anything related to medicine, and is most certainly relevant to AT.
To answer the question posed above, it becomes necessary to consider what ethics are most important and at the heart of AT. The APA's ethical principles include 10 standards. The standards which I consider to be most relevant to AT are Competence, Human Relations, Education and Training, Assessment, and Therapy. Granted, all 10 of the standards are relevant to AT, however, I feel the five just listed are most relevant. These standards are wonderful examples of ethical guidelines that provide in depth considerations for the qualifications, abilities, and overall ethics of adventure therapists. I feel I could argue for the importance and relevancy of any of the information included on the APA's website regarding their ethics. They really cover all the bases, something of extreme importance, especially in preventing ethical dilemmas between therapist and client, therapist and company, therapist and government, and therapist and his or herself.
Understanding the potential for ethical dilemmas, what they could look like, and how one should go about solving such dilemmas is of utmost importance in Psychology, Adventure Therapy, and LIFE in general. In light of this, I have found a lovely article on solving ethical dilemmas from the Loyola Marymount University. Not surprisingly, step one is analysis of consequences, positing who will be helped versus who will be harmed. And we are back to Hippocrates.
References:
American Psychological Association. Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct: Including 2010 Amendments. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx
Gass, M. A., Gillis, H. L., & Russell, K. C. (2012). Adventure therapy: Theory, research, and practice. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
LMU/LA. Resolving an Ethical Dilemma. Retrieved from: http://www.lmu.edu/Page27945.aspx
Renee, I totally agree with you! As I was looking at the APA guidelines I really felt like each of the ethical standards could and probably do apply to AT in one way or another. I think the 5 you chose that were overall most important are similar to the ones I would chose as well. Each of these have an important part necessary for the therapy part of AT as well as the adventure part. Also, the article you included was great. Like we talked about in class the other day, I think that if you come across a specific event that may have occurred that is unethical or could be you really need to evaluate the situation and decide what needs to be done.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with what you said. The article you found was really interesting as well! I think it is extremely important to look at the possible consequences of the decisions you are making in these delicate situations. That is really important because if you do not think about what could happen you may make a decision that should not have been made. It is important to consider the consequences with the type of group you are working with as well. The consequences of a decision may be different with adolescents than with adults.
ReplyDeleteKelli Weinschenk
I like how broad you were in choosing your ethical guidelines. It was difficult for me to choose the ethical guidelines I chose because they all seem so important with keeping the rules intact and every person's rights considered. I saw all the APA guidelines and how they fit with psychology but definitely not all fit within the field of AT. AT includes so many other aspects one of which includes psychology. Consequences are inevitable...if you do something wrong there is a consequence...if you drink alcohol when you are pregnant your child will probably develop fetal alcohol system. If you do not clip on your harness correctly, you will fall... so on and so forth. Considering consequences is what we do as people, we weigh the outcomes of certain situations for example eating now or eating later which one will provide the most satisfaction or pleasure. Knowing the consequences to be able to evaluate situations is very important expecially in adventure therapy! Great blog renee!
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