Media Portrayals of the Psychology Profession

Select and review an episode of a television show or a film depicting a character that represents a psychology professional.

Review the following:

• American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA code of ethics. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/Resources/CodeOfEthics/TP/Home/CT2.aspx
• American Psychological Association. (2003). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx  

Using the readings analyze the selected episode or film. Complete the following:

• Evaluate the credibility of the character portraying the psychology professional (job title, their credentials, level of experience, etc.).
• If that information on credibility is not clearly provided, identify the character’s role (psychologist, counselor, etc.) and describe the likely level of education, type of licensure, and estimated number of years of experience. Does the character seem well trained, professional, and experienced? 
• Do you have any concerns regarding the ethical behavior of the character? Be sure to cover the following:
  • Identify at least one ethical dilemma encountered by the character as well as one example of the character behaving unethically in the episode or film. 
  • Discuss how the character either made the right ethical choice or describe the ethical behavior the character should have demonstrated.
  • Provide the relevant ethics code or standard in quotation marks from the readings.
• How realistically has the psychology profession been depicted in this show or through this character? Does the show harm psychology’s image or help it? Be specific in your response.
• Identify any multicultural issues that arise in the show or film. Does the character demonstrate multicultural competency? In what way(s)? If not, how did the character demonstrate a lack of that sensitivity and what should the character have done, instead?
• Support your statements with information from academic sources, such as your textbook, assigned readings, and/or articles you find in the Argosy University online library.

Write your initial response in a minimum of 300–400 words. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.