Ethics & Risk Management: Expert Tips 10 is a new 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that addresses a variety of ethics and risk management topics in the form of 26 short articles, written by experts in the field.

Topics include:

• What Happens Next? Confidentiality after Death – Considers the legal and ethical issues of sharing confidential client records after a patient’s death.
• Out-of-Office Encounters May Be Beneficial – Discusses the importance and benefits of out-of-office therapy sessions and encounters with clients.
• Court Cases, Market Forces – An overview of court cases that highlight the ways in which regulatory boards may be at risk for an FTC complaint or federal suit.
• Closing Practice Not for Faint of Heart – Describes the emotional toll that closing a private practice may have on clinicians and offers practical advice on how to prepare for this transition.
• Fee Splitting is Unethical, and Sometimes Illegal – Describes the ins and outs of fee splitting and how to remain both ethical and legal in practice.
• 3 Questions to Ask HIPAA Vendors – Offers three important questions to consider when selecting a HIPPA service.
• Confronting Dissatisfaction with Professional Services – Provides twelve risk management strategies for practitioners to minimize, and hopefully avoid, consumer dissatisfaction and ethical/legal complaints.
• Advertising Offers Must be Ethical – Explores how to advertise psychological services both ethically and legally.
• Choosing Interpreter Requires Considerations – Raises points to consider when choosing an interpreter for use in clinical practice.
• Mass Shootings Unfairly Stigmatizing Mentally Ill – Highlights the issues surrounding media exposure and violent gun crimes, reminding clinicians of the ethical issues regarding mental health and gun violence.
• Court Ruling Could Affect Psychologists – The author reflects upon the court rulings in the case of Byrne v Avery Center to highlight the difference between privilege and confidentiality when patient records are under subpoena.
• Employee vs Independent Contractor – Why it Matters – Outlines criteria for determining if a clinician should be designated as an employee or independent contractor.
• Self-Care is Essential to Risk Management – Explains the importance of self-care, not only for the clinician’s health, but for the good of the practice.
• Telepsychology Takes Special Training – An overview of essential elements to consider before launching a telepsychology practice.
• New Lawsuit Revives Issue of Duty to Warn – Reminds practitioners of the Duty to Warn of potential threatening behavior from patients, and recommends keeping up to date with specific state laws.
• Calling out Microaggressions: An Ethical Obligation – Shares an example of a microaggression and suggests a structured, easy to remember, strategy for intervention.
• What Kind of Liability Insurance is Best? – Discusses the difference between an Occurrence insurance policy and a Claims-Made policy.
• Managing Intoxicated Patients – Provides an overview of common situations and factors practitioners should prepare for and to inform their professional decision making when encountering an intoxicated patient.
• Sexually Kinky Clients Present Ethical Issues – Weighs the ethical issues that accompany treating patients who engage in kinky behaviors.
• Special Considerations Needed When Working with First Responders – Outlines the difficulties psychologists may encounter in treating first responders and provides suggestions on how to overcome the ethical challenges that may arise during treatment.
• Touching Not Always a Violation – Examines the need for discrepancy and compassion when supporting clients and lists the Zur Institute’s Risk Management guidelines.
• Child Porn Poses Ethical Dilemma – Clarifies the conflict that a therapist faces when patients reveal they are watching pornography online.
• How to Ethically Increase Access to Care During COVID-19 – Considers the importance of thoughtfully navigating the ethics of billing and payment during the pandemic.
• Therapy in the Time of COVID-19: A Look at One Ethical Issue – Provides a principle-based decision-making model to guide clinicians who are faced with patients who express intent to circumvent public health measures, placing the well-being of others at risk.
• ‘Please Don’t Tell My Surgeon’: Managing Privacy, Confidentiality in Integrated Healthcare Settings – Discusses the ethical challenges practitioners may face when working in an integrated healthcare setting.
• Minority IQ Scores Boosted to Enable Execution – Examines the issue of boosting IQ scores for minorities in sentencing and briefly explains the outcomes of relevant court cases.
• A Guide to Child Custody Evaluations and Expert Testimony – Shares key points to bear in mind before becoming involved with child custody evaluations and expert testimony.
• Seeing Domestic Violence Through Another Lens – Considers how men, who are victims of domestic violence, are overlooked and underserved.
• Talk of Risks, Side Effects May Lead to Nocebo Effect – Suggests ways to reduce the frequency and severity of Nocebo Effects.

Course #31-39 | 2022 | 55 pages | 20 posttest questions

Click here to learn more about Ethics & Risk Management

• CE Credit: 3 Hours
• Target Audience: Psychologists | Counselors | Social Workers | Marriage & Family Therapists (MFTS) | School Psychologists
• Learning Level: Intermediate
• Course Type: Online

This Ethics & Risk online course provides instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test. The course is text-based (reading) and the CE test is open-book (you can print the test to mark your answers on it while reading the course document).

Successful completion of this course involves passing an online test (80% required, 3 chances to take) and we ask that you also complete a brief course evaluation. Click here to learn more.

Click here to view all ethics & risk courses.

Professional Development Resources is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Professional Development Resources maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Professional Development Resources is also approved by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC ACEP #5590); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB Provider #1046, ACE Program); the Continuing Education Board of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA Provider #AAUM); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA Provider #3159); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR Provider #PR001); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Arizona Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology and Office of School Psychology, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Dietetics and Nutrition, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Georgia State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners – Occupational Therapy; the Mississippi MSDoH Bureau of Professional Licensure – Occupational Therapy; the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists (#PSY-0145), State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors (#MHC-0135) and marriage and family therapists (#MFT-0100), and the State Board for Social Workers an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers (#SW-0664); the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and MFT Board (#RCST100501) and Speech and Hearing Professionals Board; the South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors and Therapists (#193), Examiners in Psychology, Social Worker Examiners, Occupational Therapy, and Examiners in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the Tennessee Board of Occupational Therapy; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists (#114) and State Board of Social Worker Examiners (#5678); the West Virginia Board of Social Work; the Wyoming Board of Psychology; and is CE Broker compliant  (#50-1635 – all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

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