ABSTRACT
Sport and performance psychology is a multidisciplinary field, diverse in delivery and with regard to practitioners’ backgrounds. The field includes mental health, performance consultation/coaching, and academia. Ethics overlap with laws which vary depending on the state, territory, or country where the practitioner is licensed or registered. Common wisdom dictates that practitioners must abide by the most stringent ethical standards. This chapter highlights some key commonalities across different codes, as they apply to practitioners. Core issues to sport psychology include competence and representation; beneficence vs. nonmaleficence; multiple relationships and boundaries; assessment; informed consent and confidentiality; technology, documentation, and risk management; decision-making models; self-care; and diversity and cultural competency. International Society for Sport Psychology's standards expand on the importance of competence, stating that practitioners “must only provide services and accept employment within the boundaries of their competence based on education, training, experience, state and national professional credentials”.
