Category: , ,

Ethical Dilemmas in Psychotherapy

Course Description

Target Audience: Social workers, counselor, and other mental health professionals.

Course Content Level: Advanced

Number of CE Hours: 8

Type of CE hours: Ethics

Delivery format: Reading based asynchronous distance learning.

Course completion requirements:
How to Obtain Continuing Education Credit
Please follow the steps below to obtain the necessary contact hours of home study continuing
education credit:

1. Read course objectives.
2. Study the course text:

3. The questions for the final examination are attached here. Answer these questions by marking
your Scantron card:
Write your name on every Scantron card in the space provided. Also write the exam title
in the space marked “Subject”.
True/false examination Mark the Scantron card as follows: Use A for true answers, B for
false answers. Disregard C, D and E.
Multiple-choice questions Choose the letter of the correct answer and mark the Scantron
card accordingly.
Marking the Scantron card Use No. 2 pencil only. Make dark marks. Erase completely to
change.
4. Complete the licensure information on the examination sheet.

5. Return the scantron card, examination sheet and student evaluation of the course.
You’ll need 70% correct score on the post-test for successful completion of the course.

6. Retain a copy of the answers for your record.
Homestead Schools, Inc. is solely responsible for the quality and content of this CE
program and for the selection of its instructor/author, and receives no outside financial
support in the preparation, presentation or implementation of its CE activities.
The sponsor has no affiliation with companies whose products or services are mentioned
in this course material; they are mentioned only for their educational and
informational value. The sponsor’s sole source of revenue is the tuition paid by
participants like you in its CE program.

Instructor Credentials: N/A

ACE Provider Approval Statement: Homestead Schools, Inc., 1070, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Assoiciation of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses for continuing education credit.
ACE provider approval period: 4/2/2023-4/2/2026. Social workers completing this course receive 8 Ethics continuing education credits.

ADA Accomodations: Homestead Schools, Inc. ensures that its facilities accommodate and are accessible according to the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Cancellation/Refund Policy: Should you need to cancel your order or if you are not satisfied with the quality of our course material, you can return the course (before a certificate is issued) within 90 days and receive a prompt and full refund (less shipping and handling.)

Course last updated: December, 2024

Course Outline

Mental health workers often find themselves in an ethical quandary where there doesn’t seem to be an easy solution. This book presents positive ethics with numerous vignettes as a means to overcome such ethical challenegs. The positive approach focuses on not just avoiding negative consequences, but reading the best possible outcomes for both the therapist and the client.

About Authors

Samuel J. Knapp, EdD, ABPP, has been the director of professional affairs for the Pennysylvania Psychological Association since 1987. He also teaches ethics in the doctoral program in clinical psychology at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and in the graduate program in counseling psychology and is a fellow od Divisin 31: State, Provincial and Territorial Psychology Association Affairs of the American Psychological Association (APA)

Michael C. Gottlieb, PhD, ABPP ,practices forensic psychology in Dallas, Texas and consults on a nationawide basis. He is a clinical professor at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he teaches professional ethics and family systems therapy. Dr. Gottlieb is a board certified in family psychology (ABPP) and is a fellow of American Psychology/Law society and four other APA divisions.

Mitchell M Handelsman, PhD, has been on the faculty of the University of Colorado Denver since 1982, where he is now a professor of psychology and a CU President’s Teaching Scholar. He is a nationally acclaimed educator who has won awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Society for the Teaching of Psychology – a division of the APA – of which he is a fellow.

Learning Objectives

Chapter 1 What Makes Ethical Choices so Hard?
  1. Discuss the concerns of William David Ross regarding ethical codes.
  2. Describe the decision theory.
  3. Compare the definition of bounded ethicality by Chugh, Bazerman and Banaji (2005) and Bazerman and Tenbrunsel. (2011)
  4. Define ethical fading.
  5. Compare System 1 and System 2 thinking.
  6. Describe the cognitive load.
  7. Compare the availability heuristic and representative heuristic.
  8. Define confirmation bias, prospect theory and loss aversion.
  9. Define the affect heuristic.
Chapter 2 The Ethical Decision-Making Model
  1. Discuss Step 1 and Step 2 of the decision-making process.
  2. Discuss Step 3 of the decision-making process.
  3. Discuss Step 4 and Step 5 of the decision-making making process.
  4. Describe several ethical dilemmas found in the enforceable standards.
Chapter 3 The Quality Enhancement Model
  1. Describe the maintenance of a distal strategy.
  2. Compare distal and proximal strategies.
  3. Describe the four quality enhancement strategies.
  4. Describe the prompt list.
Chapter 4 The Ethics Acculturation Model
  1. Describe the ethics acculturation model.
  2. State the two major dimensions of acculturation.
  3. Describe the four types of acculturation strategies.
  4. Discuss the four stages of acculturation according to Berry and Sam. (1997)
  5. Compare assimilation and separation.
Chapter 5 Professional Competence
  1. Discuss the two questions and answers often asked of psychologists with whom we consult.
  2. Define supererogatory obligation.
  3. Define the hot-cold empathy.
  4. Discuss the importance of taking notes.
  5. Compare process advice and substantive advice.
Chapter 6 Boundary Issues
  1. Define General Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence of the American Psychological Association (APA 2010) Ethics Code.
  2. Compare a boundary crossing and a boundary violation.
  3. Discuss the research of Overton, Hensley and Tallichet (2012) regarding animal cruelty.
Chapter 7 Informed Consent
  1. Describe informed consent discussions at the beginning of treatment.
  2. Describe goal setting during therapy.
  3. Discuss the use of the Internet to assist the psychologist with therapy.
  4. Describe the transfer syndrome.
Chapter 8 General Beneficence With Dangerous Patients
  1. Compare beneficence, general beneficence and nonmaleficence.
  2. Discuss therapy for the patient when danger is based on a future event.
  3. List several threats against psychologists.
Chapter 9 Social Justice
  1. State the APA Ethics Code when a [patient uses hate-filled speech.
  2. Discuss findings by Saad, 2010, regarding morally diverse patients.
  3. Define judgement-neutral psychotherapy.