Maintaining Appropriate Boundaries and Ethical Obligations as Mental Health Practitioners
On-Demand Virtual Course
Presented by:
Dr. Thomas Murphy, LMHC, NCC, ACS
This course will provide guidance to identify ethical dilemmas and make informed decisions that protect mental health practitioners from ethical and legal violations and protect clients from harm.
Learning Objectives:
As a result of attending this course, learners will be able to:
- Describe the ethical and legal responsibility of mental health practitioners to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with their clients.
- Recognize and describe dual relationships.
- Implement systems and practices that will avoid the development of dual relationships whenever avoidable.
- Implement systems and practices to minimize harm to clients and the practitioner whenever dual relationships are not avoidable.
Continuing Education Credits
NYS LMHCs: 3.0 CE hours
NYS LMSWs and LCSWS: 3.0 CE hours
NYS LMFTs: 3.0 CE hours
NYS Licensed Psychologists: 3.0 contact hours
NYS CASAC, CPP, CPS, CASAC-G, CPP-G, and CPGC renewal: 3.0 CE hours
NBCC Credentialed Professionals: 3.0 CE hours
About Dr. Murphy
Tom Murphy completed a doctorate in Counselor Education and Practice at Georgia State University. He is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in New York, a National Certified Counselor, an Approved Clinical Supervisor, and is certified by EMDRIA as an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) clinician. He provided clinical services (trauma focused) at Positive Impact Health Centers in Decatur, GA. He conducted workshops on Clinical Supervision, Telemental Health, and Supervision Ethics; and provided supervision and clinical practice at Advanced Counselor Training & Supervision, LLC in Atlanta. Tom is currently an assistant professor of counseling at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, as well as owns a private counseling practice.
NYS Mandatory Continuing Education on Appropriate Boundaries
A licensed psychologist, social worker or mental health practitioner required to complete continuing education must complete 3 hours of acceptable course work in appropriate professional boundaries, in each 3-year registration period starting April 1, 2023.
The Board of Regents approved regulations on October 4, 2022 that requires psychologists, social workers and mental health practitioners licensed and registered under Articles 153, 154 or 163 of the Education Law, to complete 3 hours of acceptable continuing education on issues related to maintaining appropriate professional boundaries between licensees and patients. The course work must be taken from a provider approved by the Department and counts toward the 36 hours of continuing education required in each 36-month registration period.
The regulations apply to each psychologist, licensed master social worker, licensed clinical social worker, mental health counselor, marriage and family therapist, creative arts therapist and psychoanalyst licensed and registered for registration periods starting on or after April 1, 2023. Licensees with a registration period commencing prior to April 1, 2023 do not have to complete coursework in appropriate boundaries until their next registration period. A licensee does not need to submit continuing education certificates to the State Board, unless audited by the Board or applying for a delayed registration.
Education Law §7607(2) requires each psychologist to complete 36 hours of acceptable learning activities, a minimum of three hours of which shall be in course work in the area of professional ethics, including the laws, rules and regulations for practice in New York. Coursework on appropriate boundaries that references New York laws, rules and regulations related to unprofessional conduct may be counted toward the ethics requirement in statute. Conversely, coursework in ethics that address appropriate boundaries would meet that provision.
Additional information is available:
This course is approved for 3.0 CEU hours for NYS LMHCs, LMSWs, LCSWs, and OASAS credentialed professionals
This course is designed to meet the NYS requirement for licensed mental health counselors, licensed master social workers, and licensed clinical social workers to receive 3 hours of training on maintaining appropriate professional boundaries (effective April 2023).
