Ethical Guidelines (from the OD Institute)

As an O.D. professional, I commit myself to supporting and acting in accordance with the following ethical guidelines:

I. Responsibility to Self

• Act with integrity: be authentic and true to myself.
• Strive continually for self-knowledge and personal growth.
• Recognize my personal needs and desires, and when they conflict with other responsibilities, seek an all-win resolution of these conflicts.
• Assert my own economic and financial interests in ways that are fair and equitable to me as well as to my clients and their shareholders.

II. Responsibility for Professional Development and Competence

• Accept responsibility for the consequences of my acts and make reasonable efforts to assure that my services are properly used; terminate my services if they are not properly used and do what I can to see that any abuses are corrected.
• Strive to achieve and maintain a professional level of competence for both myself and my profession by developing the full range of my own competence and by establishing collegial and cooperative relations with other O.D. professionals.
• Recognize my own personal needs and desires and deal with them responsibly in the performance of my professional roles.
• Practice within the limits of my competence, culture, and experiences in providing services and using techniques.
• Practice in cultures different from my own only with consultation from people native to or knowledgeable about the specific culture.

III. Responsibility to Clients and Others

• Serve the long-term well-being interests and developments of the client system and all the shareholders, even when the work being done has a short term focus.
• Conduct any professional activity program or relationship in ways that are honest, responsible and appropriately open.
• Establish agreement on a contract covering services and remuneration.
• Deal with conflicts constructively and avoid conflicts of interest as much as possible.
• Define and protect the confidentiality of client-professional relationships.
• Make public statements of all kinds accurately, including promotion and advertising and give service as advertised.

IV. Responsibility to the Profession

• Contribute to continuing professional development for myself, other practitioners, and the profession.
• Promote the sharing of O.D. knowledge and skills.
• Work with other O.D. professionals in ways that exemplify what our profession says we stand for.
• Work actively for ethical practices by individuals and organizations engaged in O.D. activities and, in case of a questionable practice, use appropriate channels for dealing with it.
• Act in ways that bring credit to the O.D. profession and with due regard for colleagues in other professions.

V. Social Responsibility

• Act with sensitivity to the facts that my recommendations and actions may alter the lives and well-being of people within my client systems and the larger systems of which they are sub-systems.
• Act with awareness of the cultural filters which affect my view of the world, respect cultures different from my own, and be sensitive to cross-cultural and multi-cultural differences and their implications.
• Promote justice and serve the well-being of all.