There is no denying, however, that their authoritative position gives psychologists the upper hand when treating clients, Nani says. “The essential principle in any psychological services is ‘do no harm’. Therefore you have to be extra careful when treating your clients.”

To prevent psychologists from abusing their authority over their clients and equalize their power relations while avoiding malpractice, the Indonesian Psychology Association (HIMPSI) published a handbook in 2010 outlining its professional code of ethics. Nani is a member of the HIMPSI’s assembly, which handles ethics code violations by psychologists.

Here are some key principles for laypeople to keep in mind whenever they avail themselves of psychological services:

Impartiality: Psychologists respect human rights principles and all human beings regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background and physical and/or mental disability. Psychologists are required to take special courses on minority group issues to sharpen their sensitivity when dealing with marginalized social groups.

Integrity: Psychologists adhere strictly to the scientific methods and theories acquired during their formal training; they also have to stick to the facts while treating clients and are prohibited from inserting their own assumptions into clients’ minds or to deliberately tell lies and/or distort the truth.

Transparency: Psychologists are open with their clients in terms of the types of assessment and therapy methods they use by giving clients informed consent forms or debriefing them on the relevance of their therapy sessions.

Confidentiality: Psychologists keep all information regarding their clients confidential. If they want to share information from clients’ cases for educational purposes, they must always use pseudonyms.

Personal boundary: Psychologists keep their personal problems separate from those of their clients (therefore, they do not handle cases that remind them of their own lives). They do not treat people with whom they are personally related (family member, sexual partner, friend etc.). There is zero tolerance for psychologists engaging in sexual harassment.

Modesty: Psychologists do not promote or advertise their services excessively, be it through social media, mass media interviews or advertorials.

Source: HIMPSI’s 2010 Psychologists’ Professional Code of Ethics Handbook.

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