Abstract

Normative ethics is the philosophical basis for the American Psychological Association’s (2010) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, the applied ethics by which the psychology profession is governed. Concerned with the theories that help to determine right and wrong, normative ethics is an indispensable yet ostensibly inaccessible realm of study for clinical psychologists. This article presents a comprehensible exercise that professors and supervisors versed in normative ethics can administer to students and clinicians in training to help them clarify and articulate their beliefs. Results are presented that support the efficacy of the exercise in terms of increased normative awareness, heightened self-knowledge, and broadened worldviews. Implications for the utility of the exercise in the clinical psychology and health fields at large are also discussed.

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