Members of AK-PA’s Ethics Committee support the highest ethical standards of client care as a value and foundation of professional practice. Respect for the professional’s ethical identity and personhood is of foremost importance. Through consultation and information on ethical dilemmas and decision making, the committee offers opportunities for collaboration, professional community connection, and growth.

The Ethics Committee provides AK-PA members with free and confidential ethics consultations to assist members with considering ethical concerns in professional practice.  If you are eligible for AK-PA membership and are not a current member, you may obtain information concerning applying for membership online: https://www.ak-pa.org/membership/.

To consult on an ethical question, current AK-PA members
can contact Dr. Hannah Ekstrom, the committee chair

hannaheekstrom@gmail.com 

Ethics Committee Members

Hannah Ekstrom, Psy.D. –Ethics   Committee Chair and Early Career Psychologist

Hannah Ekstrom is a licensed psychologist and licensed professional counselor. She has worked in community mental health and integrated care settings both in clinical and administrative positions.  She currently works as faculty in the Psychology Department at the University of Alaska Anchorage and serves as the Director of the department’s training clinic, the Psychological Services Center (PSC).  At AK-PA, she serves as the Ethics Committee Chair and Early Career Psychologist. In her work as an educator, psychologist, supervisor, and director her areas of interest include health equity, interprofessional and multidisciplinary practice, trauma informed care, program development and evaluation, and working with vulnerable and underserved populations. She appreciates the opportunity to serve the community in AK-PA.

Seth Green, Ph.D.- President

Seth Green is a licensed clinical psychologist and he is a Commander in the United States Public Health Service. His clinical work is primarily focused on positive psychology, supervision, and training and education. He worked in a number of states as a psychologist and with two tribal health organizations in Alaska and he is committed to serving the underserved. He also served as the Co-Director of the Alaska Psychology Internship Consortium, an APA accredited training site for psychology interns. Before working with tribal health organizations he worked with the Department of Defense with the US Army Special Operations 75th Ranger Regiment and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment as an embedded battalion psychologist for a number of years.

Kevin Tarlow, Ethics Committee Member

Dr. Kevin Tarlow is a Licensed Psychologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He also supervises graduate student clinicians at the UAA Psychological Services Center.

Dr. Tarlow received his Bachelor of Science in psychology from Texas A&M University, Master of Arts and Master of Education in counseling from Columbia University, and doctorate in counseling psychology from Texas A&M University. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in telebehavioral health care at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health. Dr. Tarlow has held faculty positions at Texas A&M University and Hampton University.

Ashley Huhndorf, Ethics Committee Member

Ashley Huhndorf has joined the AK-PA Ethics Committee as a student representative from UAA. She is in her second year of the MSCP program at UAA. Ashley is a lifelong Alaskan; growing up in Southcentral Alaska, she has lived in Valdez and Anchorage and spent summers fishing with her family on the Kenai Peninsula. She currently lives with her partner and their two giant dogs. She earned her A.A. in Early Childhood Development, A.S. in General Education, and B.A. in Psychology with a Minor in Children’s Mental Health and a concentration in Behavior Analysis. Ashley is passionate about helping others, being a positive force in her community, and developing her skills as a future LPC.

Miranda Dordan, Ethics Committee Member

Miranda Dordan is a graduate student in the MSCP program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Her clinical interests include trauma-informed care as well as treatment for chronic mental health conditions, with a specific interest in anxiety and depression. She holds a Bachelor degree in Psychology with a Minor in French from UAA. Miranda joined AK-PA at the start of 2023 and is excited and grateful to have the opportunity to learn more about the application of clinical psychology in Alaska. She is also a lifelong Alaskan who enjoys art, birdwatching, biking, and exploring alpine wonderlands.

Bernice Nisbett, Ethics Committee Member

Bernice Marie Nisbett, LPC, was born in La Ceiba, Puerto Rico (Boriken land) but was raised on the land of the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq peoples since the age of 4. She currently lives in Anchorage and is grateful to call these Dena’ina lands her home for over 13 years. Bernice obtained her bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from Linfield College (now Linfield University), a master’s degree in Intercultural Relations from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA, and a master of science degree in Counseling Psychology from Alaska Pacific University in 2020. She is currently enrolled in the Clinical-Community Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Alaska Anchorage and is a graduate research assistant within the Behavioral Health Aide Program at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Because life is too short to always be a student, she loves to eat good food gathered around good people telling good stories.

Resources

A variety of resources are available that relate to ethical practice.

APA Ethical Principals of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (2017)

APA Ethics Office

APA Ethics Resources

Ken Pope & Melba Vasquez — Steps to Avoid Ethical Stumbles, Blindsides, & Catastrophes

Literature on specific ethics topics from the California Psychological Association https://www.cpapsych.org/page/123