Professional Ethics and Law

Catalog description

Review and analysis of statutory and regulatory licensing law and licensing process relating to the practice of psychotherapy. Differences in legal and ethical standards for different types of work settings will be explored. Topics include: psychotherapist-patient privilege; confidentiality; exceptions to confidentiality; duty to warn; family law and child therapy; assessment; detection and intervention with dangerousness and suicide; HIPAA; dual relationships; advertising; scope of practice; elder and dependent abuse reporting; child abuse reporting; online therapy; insurance reimbursement; termination of therapy; standards of care; therapist disclosure to patients; and record keeping. A variety of ethical issues and ethical dilemmas are examined by using hypothetical situations and recent court cases. This course is restricted to students in the Counseling Psychology program.