ETHICS: ETHICS, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND BOUNDARIES (4HR)

Course overview

This course is a summary of Ethics, Confidentiality, Boundaries. The course meets two of the 3 hour mandatory license renewal requirements for many licensed professions. The course is based on three articles, all of which can be found on this website. The first article. published on the APA - American Psychological Association website, is about ethics for psychologists and other healthcare professionals. It is a short summary of the frequent ethical problems that are encountered by practicing psychologists and therapists, as well as other healthcare professionals, with guidelines for avoiding problems. It is full of practical tips on how to avoid common ethical dilemmas. The second article is a comprehensive report on Mental Health published by the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States. This course provides therapists and healthcare professionals with a review of current information on ethical issues about confidentiality; values underlying confidentiality, research on confidentiality and mental health treatment and the current state of confidentiality law. This course is designed for healthcare professionals who work in both private and public, and urban and rural areas. It is targeted for beginner, intermediate and advanced practitioners. This third article is based on a publication of Psychiatric Services: A Journal of the American Psychiatric Association. The article discusses the problematic issue of boundary violations and sexual misconduct between therapists and their clients. The discussion includes risk factors and preventive measures. The course is targeted for beginner, intermediate and advanced practitioners. Learning Objectives: This course will provide a professional with a review of common ethical problems faced by mental health professionals as well as ways to avoid them. Specifically, a professional will able to: 1. Identify the most common ethical problems currently facing practicing therapists and healthcare professionals. 2. Explain the laws regarding confidentiality and the values that underlie confidentiality. 3. Select appropriate approaches to dealing with boundary problems. About the Authors: (First Article) Smith, D. (2003). 10 Ways Practitioners Can Avoid Frequent Ethical Pitfalls. Boost Your Ethical Know-How with These Practical Tips on Avoiding Common Ethical Quandaries. Volume 34, No 1, APA On-Line. About the Authors:(Second Article) The Surgeon General's Office of the United States. About the Authors: (Third Article) Norris, D.M., Gutheil, T.G. & Strasburger, L.H. (2003). This couldn't happen to me: Boundary problems and sexual misconduct in the psychotherapy relationship. PsychiatryOnlineServices, Vol. 54, N 4 pp 517-522. Come visit us on the web at www.ce-classes.com