On the Use of Clinical Psychology Software: Practical, Legal, and Ethical Concerns

Clinical psychology computer program use is discussed with reference to practical and social issues distinct from the technical or theoretical capabilities of the microcomputer. Use of clinical psychology software is discussed with respect to fees, patient acceptability, conformity, legal status, and ethical guidelines. Potential areas of abuse, including trivialization of assessment, use of software inappropriate to the patient, inadequate contribution of the clinician to the assessment process, and legal questions of software equivalence to the clinician, are identified. Recommendations include adopting guidelines to increase programmer and provider accountability for clinical software, training clinicians to understand the limits of artificial intelligence programming, and determining the legal and ethical status of software as compared to the clinical psychologist.