Beyond values clarification: Addressing client values in clinical behavior analysis

Ethical principles of psychology, as exemplified in the American Psychological Association (APA) Code of Ethics (2002), provide impractical advice for addressing client values during psychotherapy. These principles seem to argue that each client’s values should be respected and protected at all times, except in cases in which this would result in harm to the client or the general public. Although the code is appropriately designed as a defense against potential and actual abuses of professional power, this general proscription against directly targeting client values for change is based on an understanding of values that grants them special ontological status and has resulted in limited clinical interventions focusing solely on “values clarification.” With its strong foundation in a unified philosophical system, clinical behavior analysis offers a sophisticated alternative approach to values that both defines what they are and identifies when they can be ethically targeted to improve the lives of clients.