Anger as a Frequent Factor in Custody Evaluation Complaints to Boards of Psychology

In order to provide the highest quality services when court-ordered to do child custody evaluations, it is important for mental health professionals, particularly psychologists who do psychological testing, to be clear about the ethical requirements associated with the child custody evaluation process. They should be impartial, thorough, and competent focusing on the best interest of the child. Mental health professionals have been accused of unethical and illegal behavior when doing such evaluations, in part, due to the anger associated with the outcome and/or the process. The ethical issues most associated with licensing board and ethics committee complaints and civil lawsuits focus on bias, informed consent, lack of symmetry, timeliness, finances, confidentiality, negligence, chemical dependency, multiple relationships, and failure to report/omissions.