Mental Health Professionals Declaration of Ethics, Principles, and Practice

This declaration represents the collective wisdom of faith-based professionals in the mental health field, including attorneys and policy makers engaged in advocacy efforts directed at protecting rights of conscience in all aspects of the mental health profession including clinical practice and educational programs  

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Introduction  

Freedom of conscience is foundational to maintaining a free and pluralistic society. Despite a stated commitment to diversity and inclusion, mental health professional associations and governing licensing bodies are increasingly creating ideological and worldview hegemony, particularly in the areas of ethical and clinical behavior. This pretense of a commitment to equity and inclusivity excludes a major portion of professionals, students, and educators based on ethically required behavior that does not comport with the faith-based persons’ beliefs, values, and worldview. Little tolerance exists for dissent based in adherence to religious values and beliefs.  This duplicity bordering on hypocrisy regarding equality and inclusivity diminishes the credibility of the profession and limits patient/client access to practitioners who share their worldview and values. Clinicians and trainees with sincerely held religious beliefs and values that differ from privileged ideologies advanced by secular elitists are increasingly censored, having to self-censor, or are forced to engage in compelled speech, particularly on contentious cultural issues. They risk sanction, remediation, or gatekeeping if they fail to do so. Elevation of the principle of patient/client autonomy, combined with governmental and professional association mandates to engage in counseling practices consistent only with approved ideologies, places practitioners in a position of facilitating patient/client self-harm and/or unjustly harming innocent third parties.  But practitioners have an ethical obligation to refuse to engage in such efforts.  Further, practitioners must have freedom to not facilitate patient/client efforts that require the practitioner to engage in moral compromise or that diminish the common good of the communities within which they serve.  Finally, practitioners do not sacrifice their constitutional rights as a condition of obtaining a university degree or maintaining a professional license.    

As mental health professionals from around the world, we recognize the value of the individual conscience, including sincerely held religious beliefs, and the contribution they make to the mental health profession and well-being of patients/clients. United in and loyal to the principles of beneficence, altruism, autonomy, and evidence-based treatment, and recognizing the mental health profession to be at a critical crossroad, we are compelled to declare the following: 

Whereas, every human being is created equal and endowed by their Creator with a unique identity, individuality, and the freedom to direct their own will; and 

Whereas, health and wellbeing are governed by the laws of nature established by the Creator according to His design and cannot be changed by human laws or decrees; and  

Whereas, individual choice directly impacts individual health, wellness, development, and advancement either by harmonizing with or breaking the laws established by the Creator that govern health and wellbeing; and   

Whereas, individual development, health, and thriving requires the individual to exercise their ability to think and to choose, which requires freedom from coercion and access to accurate information; and 

Whereas, these fundamental principles and values have been universally acknowledged, recognized, and agreed upon by numerous societies in a variety of forms (e.g., United States Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights; Helsinki Accords; UN Declaration of Human Rights, Nuremberg Code) describing the established laws of the Creator; and  

Whereas, unprecedented assaults upon these principles are impacting mental health professionals’ ability to provide the highest quality of care to their patients/clients; and  

Whereas, policy makers have chosen, through various means (e.g., laws/regulations, ethics codes, licensing rules, credentialing requirements, etc.) to seek to compel, coerce, pressure, or otherwise interfere with the delivery of the highest quality of care for mental health professionals’ patients/clients, and with the conscientious and professional judgment of mental health professionals resulting in emotional, mental, and moral injury to mental health professionals and their patients/clients; and 

Whereas, the increasing tendency within the mental health profession is to move towards ideological hegemony in areas related to political viewpoints and ethical and moral foundations, resulting in professional ethics codes not being consistent with a true commitment to diversity of thought, belief, opinion, and values; and   

Whereas, moral and ideological dissent within the mental health profession is too often discouraged, and in some cases penalized to the point of expulsion; and 

Whereas, because of these trends, current and future professionals risk being removed from or self-selected out of training programs as educators and students, thereby ultimately depriving patients/clients access to valuable services from which they could otherwise benefit; and 

Whereas, such exclusionary and coercive practices are not in harmony with the laws of the Creator and thereby cause harm, interfere with care and healing, and are contrary to the promotion of mental wellbeing for all,   

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT:  

RESOLVED, that mental health professionals must never be compelled by any means, whether by governments, employers, or professional associations to violate their conscience in the care of their patients/clients;  

RESOLVED, that mental health professionals must be free to responsibly practice the art and science of their profession consistent with their conscience, core values, and the laws of nature without fear of retribution, censorship, or disciplinary action, including the loss of licensure, hospital privileges, and insurance contracts. This freedom includes the ability to publish and otherwise communicate their professional ideas, opinions, perspectives, and beliefs publicly;  

RESOLVED, that the mental health professional must always retain the sole determining authority to treat or not treat a patient/client or to otherwise refer a prospective patient/client to another professional whenever the mental health professional determines, in their sole discretion, that such referral is in the best interest of the patient/client; 

RESOLVED, that mental health professionals have a duty to defend against sociopolitical intrusions into the practice of mental health care, including defending their right to prescribe safe and effective treatments, and their autonomy in pursuing the welfare of their patients/clients, while always observing their sacred obligation to “First, do no harm;”  

RESOLVED, that we invite mental health professionals from around the world, all health care providers, and all groups, organizations, educational institutions, and citizens to join in this noble cause as we endeavor to restore trust, integrity, and professionalism to the mental health profession.  

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have signed this Declaration as of the date presented.

The developers of this document

*As new threats emerge, this document may expand to include other issues

Signees