Personal Branding for Psychologists: Ethically Navigating an Emerging Vocational Trend

Seismic societal, technological, and economic shifts over the past several decades demand more individualized approaches for engaging in commerce and empowering vocational control. In response, the personal brand has emerged as a viable strategy for individual professionals to accentuate their own distinctiveness, and to engage with professional networks and clients in efficient, inexpensive, and expedient ways. Professional psychology has been skeptical of commercial practices contained within personal branding due to the potential for heightened risk of ethical violations and professional misconduct. The author discusses personal branding and its relationship with the ethics of psychology commerce. A personal branding model is proposed and tailored to the unique considerations of professional psychologists. As the ethical accountability for engaging in personal branding rests on psychologists, it is essential that the discipline be alert to its implications for client welfare.