A
I am not sure who this question should be addressed to, but I am hoping to get clarification about a statement within the Information for Psychologists About Responding to Complaints document from the NSBEP website. I am seeking clarification about point number 9, which states that it is not appropriate for a psychologist to contact the complainant once a formal complain has been launched. However, if a client stated that they were going to make a complaint, is it ethical/appropriate for a psychologist to have any further communication once that threat has been made? It would seem that accusations and threats would really compromise the psychologists’ ability to be objective, and unobjective communication could cause harm.
I would really appreciate some guidance on this. I am aware that I should not be consulting with NSBEP about particulars of a case once I suspect a complaint might be made, but I thought that this was more a general question about the proper procedure for handling this situation, so I thought it was worth a try.
