Ethics Autobiography: BPS Code and Professional Behavior in Psychology

This essay presents an ethics autobiography, exploring the student's perspective on professional behavior within the field of psychology. The author discusses the importance of ethical principles, including respect, responsibility, integrity, and competence, and how these principles are crucial when navigating situations such as transference and countertransference. The essay emphasizes the significance of self-awareness and morality in maintaining professional conduct and highlights Carl Rogers as a role model. The author reflects on their compatibility with the field, acknowledging both the rewarding aspects of helping others and the potential stressors. Furthermore, the essay addresses the challenges of adhering to the BPS code of ethics, particularly concerning integrity and managing personal biases to provide the best possible care to clients.

Running head: ETHICS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
ETHICS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1ETHICS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Professional behaviour is the ability to maintain a degree of professional standard and
capability to perform. It means that it is the ability of the professional, working in a particular
field of work, to have the adequate knowledge and the proper skills. The person is able to follow
the proper code of ethics by following the proper protocol and is able to maintain his
professionalism while he delivers his services as a practitioner. Professional behaviour in the
field of psychology requires the practitioner to be follow certain steps that include him being
objective with his clients so that he is able to manage conflicts that arise in his values (Johnson &
May 2015). There are four ethical principles that a psychologist needs to follow: respect,
responsibility, integrity and competence (BPS, 2020). These principles are important to maintain
a code of conduct while facing transference and countertransference in certain situations. For
example, if a professional feels attracted to the client and feels that his feelings are causing
hindrance in his work, then he may decide to discontinue hi sessions and refer the person to some
other professional.
Professional behaviour should always be built in the sense of what is right and wrong
behaviour. According to me, the right professional behaviour includes being respectful to the
clients and abiding by the BPS code of ethics (BPS, 2020). A wrong professional behaviour
would be when the professional makes extremely inappropriate comments towards their clients,
or they try to manipulate their clients by misusing their power to give advice to them in order to
benefit themselves. An example of wrong professional behaviour would be when the client might
be using transference and flirting with the professional however, the professional does not warn
her and takes advantage of the situation. A right professional behaviour in this case would be
helping the client heal by using the transference and if that does not work then he may refer the
client to another professional.

2ETHICS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
According to my family and my culture, being self-aware and having morality is
extremely important in maintain a professional behaviour. They always emphasise that I should
never get into any profession for wrong reasons. The benefit of the clients should always be a
priority and not money.
The person that I admire, professionally and ethically and wish to emulate is Carl Rogers.
I exceedingly admire his perception and outlook of human beings among all other therapists and
psychologists, who practice professionally. He was one of the few psychologists who gave
importance to unconditional love and looked humans through a positive approach. He focused on
the clients’ needs passionately and had a proper ethical way to go about his work (Crisp, 2014).
He made an educational video to demonstrate the techniques of therapy through his counselling
session with the clients and would ask for their consent before moving forward with the idea. I
feel like this is necessary, as the matter of clients’ confidentiality is extremely important. I aspire
to become a therapist like Carl Rogers as his compassion towards his clients resonates with my
idea of helping the clients.
Certain aspects in the field of psychology that I feel compatible with and strongly relate
to is how psychology is the only field unlike other fields, where the sole purpose of the
profession is to help people. Psychology, by its nature is a person-oriented profession. It focuses
on making the lives of people better and helping them improve their quality of life. Many people
in the world are struggling with severe mental disorders that hinder their daily functioning.
Psychologists help such people to cope with the problems and overcome their mental challenges
(Burton et al., 2017). Though the job can be stressful sometimes, it is an incredibly satisfying
occupation. This profession may also give me the opportunity to control my own life and set my
own working hours. However, there are certain attributes that I feel less compatible with such as

3ETHICS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
how the job can be stressful and overwhelming sometimes. Helping the clients’ deal with their
daily struggles is a difficult task. Another aspect would be the erratic hours that may be a
problem for a person like me who gives a lot of importance to organisation and order.
My effectiveness depends on the fact that I have compassion and empathy for people that
can prove to be my greatest boost to effectiveness (Burton et al., 2017). Helping the people in
need and successfully alleviating their suffering gives me a sense of happiness and satisfaction.
Nevertheless, working as a mental health professional would make me the happiest when I
imbibe every necessary skill and have the competency to help the client professionally. For
example, if the client comes to me with his problem, it is my responsibility to help him overcome
his problems with my adequate competency and skills. Though it is not possible to be competent
in every respect however, with experience and time, I would be trained and enhanced in my
skills and expertise.
The fact of knowing that my advice to the client as a professional would have a lot of
influence can prove to be the greatest threat to my effectiveness. The mental health of the client
would depends on the level of competency (Davis et al., 2015). Theories of behaviour and. The
main job of the psychologists is to help people deal with their problems and if I fail to provide
the proper assistance and guidance to my client then it would create a major problem. To know
the power that I would have in affecting a client’s life would bring me a lot of stress. In case of
my incompetency, the client could hurt himself and the thought of such a grave mistake terrifies
me to take up this profession.
The challenges in acculturing into mental health profession based on BPS code of ethics
can include the inadequacy of ethical reasoning corresponding to my upbringing and my cultural
background. Some challenges that can be outlined would be evident in the principle of integrity.

4ETHICS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Integrity encompasses the traits such as honesty, fairness, clarity, and accuracy in the interaction
with the clients (BPS, 2020). It would be important for me to keep my biases in control and help
the client as a professional. For example, if a client confesses to abusing his wife while being
drunk then I have to be ethically aware and help the client for his betterment.

5ETHICS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
References
BPS. (2020). Standards and Guidelines | BPS. Retrieved 4 February 2020, from
https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologists/standards-and-guidelines
Burton, A., Burgess, C., Dean, S., Koutsopoulou, G. Z., & Hugh‐Jones, S. (2017). How effective
are mindfulness‐based interventions for reducing stress among healthcare professionals?
A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Stress and Health, 33(1), 3-13.
Crisp, R. (2014). Characteristics of master therapists and the influence of Carl Rogers: A
discussion. Counselling Psychology Review, 29(3), 55-64.
Davis, R., Campbell, R., Hildon, Z., Hobbs, L., & Michie, S. (2015). Theories of behaviour and
behaviour change across the social and behavioural sciences: a scoping review. Health
psychology review, 9(3), 323-344.
Johnson, M. J., & May, C. R. (2015). Promoting professional behaviour change in healthcare:
what interventions work, and why? A theory-led overview of systematic reviews. BMJ
open, 5(9), e008592.