Ethics Category

Maintaining Appropriate Professional Boundaries: Exploring Ethical Obligations of Mental Health Professionals

3 CE Hours
3,563 members have taken this course
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About the Course

Mental health professionals are charged with the legal and ethical responsibility to maintain professional boundaries, but the obligation isn’t always so easy to discern. This course brings real-world context to ethical concerns often experienced by professionals in practice in maintaining appropriate professional boundaries. This course will provide a framework to contemplate ethical dilemmas and make informed decisions that insulate professionals from legal liability while protecting clients from harm.

This course is based on the recorded webinar, Maintaining Appropriate Professional Boundaries: Exploring Ethical Obligations of Mental Health Professionals created by Kathryn Krase, Ph.D., J.D., M.S.W. in 2023.

Publication Details

Publication Date: 5/12/2023

Course Material Author

Kathryn Krase, PhD, JD, MSW

Kathryn Krase, Ph.D., J.D., M.S.W., is a social worker, lawyer, researcher, educator, and expert on professional ethics. She has significant experience as a family law practitioner, social work supervisor, along with more than 20 years of experience in faculty and administrative roles in undergraduate, masters, and doctoral level social work programs in and around New York City.

Dr. Krase is the Principal Consultant for Krase Consulting, in Brooklyn, New York, where she focuses on educating mental and physical health professionals on their general legal and ethical obligations.

She is an expert on the professional reporting of suspected child maltreatment. She has authored multiple books and articles on the subject. She has years of experience consulting with government and community based organizations to develop policy & practice standards.

Disclosures

She receives royalties as a published author, and receives recording royalties for this presentation.

Target Audience

This course is appropriate for all behavioral health professionals.

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 Describe the ethical and legal responsibility of mental health professionals to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with their clients.
  2. 2 Define dual relationships.
  3. 3 Apply a framework to avoid dual relationships whenever possible.
  4. 4 Apply a framework to minimize potential harm to clients and the professional whenever dual relationships are not avoidable.
  5. 5 Describe how to demonstrate that a client has not been exploited or coerced, intentionally or unintentionally.

Disclosure to Learners

CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity – including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

Planners and Reviewers

The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Material Authors

There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Course Creator

Kathryn Krase, PhD, JD, MSW – She receives royalties as a published author, and receives recording royalties for this presentation.

Commercial support

There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.

Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)

3 CE credit hours Ethics CE Broker logo 20-202944314
Eligible until Jan 31st, 2028
CE Learning Systems designates this live activity for a maximum of 3 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
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Joint Accreditation (JA)

3 Psychologist CE credit hours
3 Social Worker CE credit hours Ethics
Eligible until Jan 31st, 2028
In support of improving patient care, CE Learning Systems, LLC, is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
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Logo: Jointly Accredited Provider (tm) - Interprofessional Continuing Education
Course Materials

Paid material

  • Webinar Recording

    Enroll and start the course to view these materials.

  • Webinar Slides

Additional Materials

  • NY Psychologists Laws and Rules Handout
    Open
  • References
    Open

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