Ethics OfficeAPA Ethics Office
APA's Ethics Office promotes ethics throughout the field of psychology. The office supports the Ethics Committee in adjudicating ethics complaints, offers educational workshops and seminars, provides ethics consultations, and serves as a resource to members and the Association in addressing new ethical dilemmas as psychology grows and evolves as a discipline. If you are an APA member, the Ethics Office is here to serve you. Please let us know how we may best do so.
Programs and Services
The APA Ethics Code
The American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, adopted by the APA Council of Representatives in August 2002, became effective in June 2003. Council amended the Ethics Code in 2010. The code provides guidance for psychologists in all of their professional roles.
Filing an Ethics Complaint
Find instructions on how to file an ethics complaint. Please note that APA only has jurisdiction to investigate complaints regarding APA members.
For questions about the Ethics Code and non-complaint-related issues, including ethics consultations, we request that you phone the Ethics Office directly at (202) 336-5930 or use APA's toll free number (800) 374-2721 and follow the oral directions to reach extension 5930. The complexity involved in responding to ethics matters precludes using email; and very often, a brief telephone conversation can more quickly target the issue involved and facilitate our response.