Professional Development Resources, a nationally accredited provider of continuing education for psychologists, social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, speech-language pathologists, registered dietitians and occupational therapists, has announced the publication of two new courses dealing with ethics and risk management. The two topics are considered essential training for professionals practicing in an increasingly complicated climate in which privacy is threatened and litigation is common.

Jacksonville, Florida – May 11, 2011 — Professional Development Resources has recently increased its curriculum in professional ethics and risk management courses. Many psychologists, social workers, counselors, speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists are required – as part of their periodic relicensure process – to complete courses related to ethics in the practice of their specialties.

The company’s website, http://www.pdresources.org, now offers over 180 accredited healthcare and mental health continuing education (CE) courses. Of this catalog, more than 20 relate to multiple aspects of ethics and risk management in clinical practice. The courses include modules on ethical decision making, privacy and confidentiality, maintenance of professional boundaries, multicultural competency, use of internet technologies, and management of high-risk clients. The wide range of courses is intended to provide clinicians with thoughtful perspectives on maintaining open, honest, and ethical relationships with their clients.

Risk management involves careful planning and documentation of all services and communications for the purpose of assuring that the professional has acted ethically, responsibly, and legally. The goals are to assure that the client’s best interests are upheld and that the clinician is prepared in case there is a lawsuit or licensing board complaint at a later date.

"Clinicians who are thoughtful and ethical in developing and documenting their therapeutic work are those who are most effective in their work and least susceptible to lawsuits and ethics complaints."

“In many ways, risk management is the opposite side of the ethics coin, in that both processes ultimately contribute to the welfare of the client,” says Leo Christie, PhD, CEO of Professional Development Resources. “Clinicians who are thoughtful and ethical in developing and documenting their therapeutic work are those who are most effective in their work and least susceptible to lawsuits and ethics complaints. They get the job done in ways that result in high client satisfaction and low risk of adverse outcomes to any legal challenge.”

Among the most salient issues in healthcare ethics is the concern for privacy in handling clients’ personal information. If individuals are to benefit from health services, they must be assured that their personal information will be protected. This is far more challenging today than it was even a decade ago. The pervasive use of electronic communication technologies like cell phones, laptops, email, and social networking has created an environment in which new protections must be implemented. All professionals need to be trained in the most current procedures for safeguarding their clients’ protected health information in the recording, storage, and transmission of electronic records.

“We want to be sure that the clinicians who take our courses have access to training in the many facets of ethical conduct in practice, whatever their specialties, says Christie. “They need to be equipped to assure their clients of compliance with the highest and most recent standards of ethical behavior, while at the same time protecting their own ability to continue to practice.”

A wide variety of ethics and risk management course topics are available, including:

• Ethics in Therapy: Quick Tips I
• Risk Management: Quick Tips I
• Ethics in Psychotherapy: Practical Tips I
• Ethics in Psychotherapy: Practical Tips II
• Ethics in Psychotherapy: Practical Tips III
• Ethics & Risk Management: Expert Tips I
• Ethics & Risk Management: Expert Tips II
• Ethics & Risk Management: Expert Tips III
• Ethics & Risk Management: Expert Tips IV
• Ethics & Boundaries in Psychotherapy
• Ethical Decision Making for Counselors: A Practical Model
• Ethical Decision Making for Psychologists: A Practical Model
• Ethics for Occupational Therapists
• Ethics & Law in Florida Psychology

Professional Development Resources is a Florida nonprofit educational corporation founded in 1992 by licensed marriage and family therapist Leo Christie, PhD. The company, which is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB), the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) – as well as many other national and state boards – has focused its efforts on making continuing education courses more efficient and widely accessible to health professionals by offering online home study coursework. Its current expanded curriculum includes a wide variety of ethics courses and other clinical topics intended to equip health professionals to offer state-of-the art services to their clients.