Course Description: 

 

This 5 hour ethics continuing education course is designed to meet the license renewal requirements for Marriage and Family Therapists (MFT) in the state of Texas.  It is based upon three publications, the AAMFT code of ethics, an article by Gutheil and Gabbard and an article developed by the Office of the Surgeon General.

 

This course begins with a review of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) code of ethics. The code was revised in July of 2001 and establishes the ethical principles and guidelines that are expected for marriage and family therapists in the United States.  This is the current code of ethics that is utilized at this time.

 

The second source in this ceu course is a web based article by Gutheil and Gabbard that systematically examines “the concept of boundaries and boundary violations in clinical practice.”  The article reviews relevant literature on the subject and identifies crucial areas that explain the difference between harmful and nonharmful boundary issues that are not sexual misconduct.   According to the abstract, “While broad guidelines are helpful, the specific impact of a particular boundary crossing can only be assessed by careful attention to the clinical context.”

 

The last article in this course is a comprehensive report on Mental Health published by the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States. This ceu material provides licensed marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, therapists and other 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 material is designed for both licensed clinicians and administrators who work in both private and public settings.

 

Marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, psychologists, social workers, other therapists can benefit from this course. This course may also be helpful for other practitioners, such as midwives and dieticians and nutritionists who also need continuing education in the area of ethics and who must practice the principle of confidentiality.  Most states that require continuing education courses for licensed professionals require ethics courses. This course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to learn about ethics, confidentiality and legal issues. 

This ceu course was specifically designed to meet license renewal requirements for MFTs in Texas; however it is equally appropriate for other counselors, social workers, psychologists and substance abuse specialists.

 

This continuing education course serves as an excellent resource for licensed marriage and family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, licensed psychologists, interns, chemical dependency counselors, and other licensed therapists who require continuing education in ethics and must follow rules of confidentially in their practice.  Nurses who need continuing education related to mental health treatment or psychotherapy can also benefit from this course.  This continuing education course may also be helpful for other practitioners, such as midwives and dieticians and nutritionists who may also work with clients who have a mental illness or other reason in which confidentiality is an important clinical factor.

 

This course is appropriate for beginning, intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to learn more about ethics, confidentiality and legal issues related to mental health and professional counseling.

 

Authors:  AAMFT; Gutheil and Gabbard; and The Surgeon General’s Office of the United States

 

Objectives:  This course will provide a marriage and family therapist or counselor with information regarding ethics and confidentiality. This course covers ethics and legal issues in mental health.  Specifically, a professional will:

·       Summarize the ethical principles that reflect marriage and family therapists core values.

·       Distinguish between harmful and nonharmful boundary issues.

·       Identify specific laws and legal provisions regarding confidentiality that apply nationwide.

 

This 5 hour ethics course may meet other state requirements for MFT license renewal.

 Ohio Professionals – This course is NOT accepted for license renewal by the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapy board.

This course content is based on a publication that has been peer-reviewed, the scientific standard for evaluating academic work. All studies and scientifically derived evidence have limitations that should be considered. If you have any questions about the accuracy or limitations of the content, please contact us at support@ce-classes.com and we will get back to you.