Advertising by psychologists

Can you advertise your practice? And if so, do you have to follow certain rules?
These are questions you have no doubt already asked yourself. The text below clarifies the legal provisions with which psychologists must comply today.


What legal provisions do you have to comply with?
Article 39 of the Code of Ethics lays down the rules on advertising that all psychologists must comply with.
“‘Pychologists may advertise their services provided they are presented objectively and with dignity and without denigrating the reputation of their colleagues. They must refrain from canvassing. They have a duty to be accurate when stating their qualifications, training, experience, skills and professional affiliations. ”

For clinical psychologists, article 31 of the ‘Quality Law’ must also be taken into account:
§ 1st. The healthcare professional may bring professional information to the attention of the public.
For the purposes of this Article, professional information means any form of communication with the direct and specific aim, regardless of the place, medium or techniques used for this purpose, of making a healthcare professional known or providing information about the nature of his or her practice.
§ 2. The healthcare professional may make professional information available to the public under the following conditions:
1° Professional information must be factual, objective, relevant and verifiable, and must be scientifically based;
2° Professional information must not encourage unnecessary examinations or treatments, and must not be aimed at turning patients away.
The professional information shall mention the particular professional title(s) held by the healthcare professional. This provision does not preclude the healthcare professional from also communicating information on certain training courses for which no specific professional title exists.

Finally, clinical psychologists must also take account of article 127 §2 of the Health Insurance Act :
« In all cases, advertising that refers to the free provision of the health care services referred to in article 34 or that refers to the contribution made by health care insurance towards the cost of these services is prohibited. »

What are the implications of these legal provisions?
For psychologists, it is important to distinguish between two concepts: peddling and advertising.
- Peddling means actively seeking out potential customers/patients in order to offer them services through personal contact. This form of advertising is strictly forbidden. This applies to all regulated professions.
- Advertising, on the other hand, is equivalent to all public communications aimed at promoting oneself or the quality of one's professional practice. This is permitted. However, insofar as information on practice concerns the quality of professional practice, clinical psychologists must also meet the condition of being scientifically based.

Of course, as practitioners of a regulated profession, psychologists must also respect the other rules of their profession. In particular, when advertising, psychologists must respect the dignity and integrity of the psychology profession, preserve their independence and protect professional secrecy. In this respect, all psychologists must limit their advertising to truthful, objective, verifiable, relevant and discreet information, which is also literally enshrined in the Quality of Care Act for clinical psychologists.
The following personal advertisements are prohibited at all times for all psychologists: advertisements with comparative references that allow the identification of psychologists' clients/patients or that refer to financial conditions. In addition, psychologists must prevent third parties from advertising their activity in violation of the Code of Ethics.
In addition, on the basis of article 127 §2 of the Health Insurance Act, clinical psychologists are prohibited from advertising on:
- the free nature of the services provided;
- the contribution of compulsory health insurance to the cost of these services.

This rule on advertising in the health insurance law concerns clinical psychologists in the context of reimbursement by the INAMI for the care they provide (which currently corresponds to the possible intervention that can be granted for first-line psychological care under the INAMI convention). For more information on the above, please consult the INAMI website at this link.
That said, all psychologists, including clinical psychologists, have an ethical duty to communicate in advance the financial implications of their intervention (see art. 37 CD).
The advertising rules described above apply to all forms of information distribution, including the Internet and Facebook.
Flyers
Flyers that are distributed via other healthcare providers, such as in a doctor's waiting room, do not appear to pose any problems. However, the distribution of flyers in places with no direct link to healthcare (such as a bakery or supermarket) could be considered active canvassing behavior and therefore unethical.