1. General The professional activities of Educational Psychologists are regulated by the laws of the state, the directions/circulars of the Attorney-General/s Office, the Schemes of Service and the Professional Code of Conduct. This is a collection of rules based upon ethical and professional values and principles that is composed by the appropriate professional bodies in each country. In Cyprus the Code of Conduct of the Cyprus Psychologists Association is in effect, as is the Meta-Code of Ethics of the European Federation of Psychologists/ Associations (EFPA). The Code of Conduct guides Psychologists in making the appropriate or ethically desirable choices in conducting their professional activities. It also provides ethical criteria by which their conduct may be judged by others. The basic principle expected to guide all their actions is respect and protection of human dignity and of the rights of persons (their clients) with whom they are involved professionally. The application of this principle is ensured through the practices described below.
2. The right to be informed about the availability of psychological services and the right to access them Every person within the school system – every student, parent and teacher - has the right to be informed of the availability of Educational Psychology Services in schools and to have direct access to them.
3. The right of consent to psychological assessment and intervention The obligation to secure consent depends on the age at which a person is considered legally adult and independent and on the person/s cognitive and social development. In the case of minors parental/guardian consent is sought.
3.1 Students
Students have the right to seek psychological help. Depending on age, their parents /guardians are notified as soon as possible. Despite being their primary clients, students are usually referred to the Educational Psychologists by third parties – parents/guardians, the school, the District Committees for Special Education or others. In any case, the student must be informed, in a manner appropriate to his/her age and ability to understand, about the identity of the Educational Psychologist, the basic aspects of the professional relationship, as well as the nature and duration of the psychological services to be provided. The student is informed about the reasons for the referral, the persons or agencies with which information will be shared, for what purpose and under what circumstances. Effort must be made in order to secure the student/s cooperation while at the same time it must be made clear that the student has the right to accept or to refuse/terminate the provision of psychological services.
3.2 Parents/guardians
Parents/guardians who apply to the Educational Psychology Service for help in addressing their children/s problems must be informed by the Educational Psychologist about the need for their child/s consent (depending on age and ability to understand) and voluntary cooperation.
Parents/guardians are also informed that, if help is being sought for problems related to learning and/or adjustment, then the Educational Psychologist might deem it appropriate to seek the cooperation of the school community for evaluation and/or intervention purposes.
In cases of referrals made by third parties (for example the school or other agencies or persons) it is imperative – except in life-threatening or similar circumstances – that parental/guardian consent is secured before any sort of psychological intervention is made.
It is to be noted that according to Law 113(I)/1999 on the Education and Training of Children with Special Needs, the appropriate District Committees for Special Education and Training “have the duty to adequately assess each child deemed as presenting with special needs” and so may refer children to the Educational Psychologists for assessment without prior consent of their parents/guardians.
Even in such cases, Educational Psychologists consider it their obligation to contact parents/guardians before embarking on any procedure with their child, to involve them and to keep them informed about all intervention procedures and their progress, within the bounds set by confidentiality principles
4. Right to Privacy and Confidentiality Confidentiality is ensured by the Code of Practice and applies to the protection of clients/ personal data, to record keeping and to the use and sharing of information. According to Article 25 of the Code of Ethics, “professional confidentiality covers all that the psychologist has seen or heard or has come to understand about persons and their private lives during the psychologist/s professional practice.” In each case every effort is made to ensure that personal privacy and confidentiality is upheld and that the sharing of information is done only for specific, clear pre-specified purposes with the prior informed consent of the person concerned (student, parent/guardian). Educational Psychologists maintain confidentiality concerning all information gathered during the professional relationship with their clients. Privileged information may only be released when the Psychologist forms the opinion that the life or physical integrity of his/her client or of other persons is under threat or when domestic violence is suspected. Information is disclosed only to appropriate agencies. The Educational Psychologist must always inform students and other clients about the limits of professional confidentiality at the very beginning of their professional relationship.
5. Personal data filing system. The Educational Psychology Service keeps a filing system with individual files containing personal data of students that have been referred. The Commissioner for the Protection of Data has been notified about the operation of this filing system in compliance with the relevant law on The Processing of Personal Data (Protection of Individuals) Law 138 (I) 2001. The Service is bound by legal and ethical obligation to take measures to preserve and protect personal data contained in its filing system.
Access to the system is granted only to duly authorised persons.
Educational Psychologists are obligated to inform their clients about the operation of the filing system and the reporting process.
6. Transfer of data and information to third parties Educational Psychologists make sure that information concerning their clients is only transferred to duly authorised persons or agencies. Information is usually shared with the District Committees of Special Education, sometimes with Department Heads within the Ministry of Education and Culture, School Principals, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, the Department of Social Welfare Services and other professionals (doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists).
Prior informed consent of the clients is required.
In case of data use for research purposes or for public presentations, the EPS must take the necessary measures to hide the identity of persons and to for data to remain anonymous.
7. Psychological Reports The Psychological Report is the basic means of transferring information to others and its main purpose is to assist in decision making and in taking appropriate action for the benefit of the child.
Students and parents/guardians have the right to access reports about them. They also have the right to get appropriate help and counselling so that they may receive adequate and comprehensive information upon which to base their decisions.
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