Advertising And Other Public Statements

(1) Definition of public statements. Public statements relate to professional services, products, or publications or to the field of psychology. Public statements include but are not limited to paid or unpaid advertising, brochures, printed matter, directory listings, personal resumes or curricula vitae, interviews or comments for use in media, statements in legal proceedings, lectures and public oral presentations, and published materials. (2) Statements by others. GENERAL RULES GOVERNING THE PRACTICE OF PSYCHOLOGISTS, CHAPTER 1180-01 SENIOR PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINERS, PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINERS, CERTIFIED PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSISTANTS, AND CERTIFIED PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING TECHNICIANS (a) Licensees or certificate holders who engage others to create or place public statements that promote their professional practice, products, or activities retain professional responsibility for such statements. (b) In addition, licensees or certificate holders make reasonable efforts to prevent others whom they do not control (such as employers, publishers, sponsors, organizational clients and representatives of the print or broadcast media) from making deceptive statements concerning licensees’ or certificate holders’ practice or professional or scientific activities. (c) If licensees or certificate holders learn of deceptive statements about their work made by others, licensees or certificate holders make reasonable efforts to correct such statements. (d) Licensees or certificate holders do not compensate employees of press, radio, television or other communication media in return for publicity in a news item. (e) A paid advertisement relating to the licensee’s or certificate holder’s activities must be identified as such, unless it is already apparent from the context. (3) Avoidance of false or deceptive statements. Licensees or certificate holders do not make public statements that are false, deceptive, misleading or fraudulent, either because of what they state, convey, or suggest or because of what they omit, concerning their research, practice or other work activities or those of persons or organizations with which they are affiliated. As examples (and not in limitation) of this standard, licensees or certificate holders do not make false or deceptive statements concerning (1) their training, experience, or competence; (2) their academic degrees; (3) their credentials; (4) their institutional or association affiliations; (5) their services; (6) the scientific or clinical basis for, or results or degrees of success of their services; (7) their fees; or (8) their publications or research findings. (4) Media presentations. When licensees or certificate holders provide advice or comment by means of public lectures, demonstrations, radio or television programs, prerecorded tapes, printed articles, mailed material or other media, they take reasonable precautions to ensure that (1) the statements are based on appropriate psychological literature and practice, (2) the statements are otherwise consistent with the Ethics Code, and (3) the recipients of the information are not encouraged to infer that a relationship has been established with them personally. (5) Licensees or certificate holders do not solicit testimonials from current psychotherapy clients or patients or other persons who because of their particular circumstances are vulnerable to undue influence. (6) In-person solicitation. Licensees or certificate holders do not engage, directly or through agents, in uninvited in-person solicitation of business from actual or potential psychotherapy patients or clients or other persons who because of their particular circumstances are vulnerable to undue influence. However, this does not preclude attempting to implement appropriate collateral contacts with significant others for the purpose of benefiting an already engaged therapy patient.