Ethical Issues in Couple and Family Therapy

Couple and family work presents unique ethical challenges. Therapists and counselors must be able to successfully address difficult ethical questions such as:

• Scope of competence. Am I competent to treat this couple or family?
• Goals of therapy. Who determines the goals of therapy? What happens when family members disagree about what the goals should be?
• Family conflict. When is it appropriate to take one side in a couple or family conflict?
• Consent for treatment. When one or more family members doesn't want to be there, is their consent for treatment truly voluntary?
• Confidentiality. How should I handle individual secrets in couples? How much information from child sessions should be shared with parents?
• Family violence. When is it appropriate to treat a couple or family as a unit when there has been violence in that couple or family?

This course addresses each of these issues in detail, with a focus on the direct impacts on clients when we make decisions in these areas.

1.5 hours CE. Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ESTIMATED COURSE LENGTH: 1.5 hours

CE CREDITS: 1.50 continuing education/contact hours for social workers, psychologists, counselors, and marriage and family therapists

TARGET AUDIENCE: Mental Health Practitioners

LEVEL OF INSTRUCTION: Intermediate

PREREQUISITE(S): None

INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD: Recorded video format (non-interactive)

ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS: Closed captioning of audio components. In order to request further accessibility accommodations, please email support@psychhub.com.

COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS: To obtain your CE certificate, learners must complete a pre-test (not scored), progress through all course segments, complete a participant evaluation, and obtain a score of 80% or higher on a post-test. Learners are expected to complete the quiz within 3 attempts. If unable to do so, the learner will need to re-review the course segments.

FINANCIAL/COMMERCIAL SUPPORT STATEMENT: This course has no commercial support.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:  This course has no potential conflict of interest or outside commercial support. Psych Hub's conflict of interest statement is found in the footer of the training center.

GRIEVANCE AND REFUND POLICIES: Grievance and refund policies are found in the footer of the training center.

PARTICIPATION COSTS:  The cost to participate in this CE activity is included in the subscription registration fee.

COURSE CREATION DATE: 10/9/2019

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify three areas to consider when weighing competence to treat couples and families
• Determine whether to take sides in couple or family conflict, and identify at least two factors supporting that choice
• Describe at least two elements to address in the informed consent process, specific to couple and family work
• Identify three options for policies surrounding the handling of individual secrets, and select the one that fits their practice best

1. Introduction
2. Scope of competence
3. Goals of therapy
4. Family conflict
5. Consent for treatment
6. Confidentiality
7. Family violence