Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in Couples Therapy
Course #9734L -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
This live event takes place Tuesday, January 6, 6 pm-8 pm EDT (3 pm-5 pm PDT).
Ethical challenges in couples therapy are complex and distinct from individual therapy, yet many clinicians receive minimal formal training in this area. Research indicates that therapists often struggle with managing confidentiality, systemic neutrality, communication boundaries, and cultural responsiveness within relational work. Moreover, ethical complaints and board actions increasingly highlight relational therapy as a high-risk area for boundary violations and malpractice concerns. This course addresses an identified need for specialized education by equipping clinicians with practical strategies and ethical frameworks tailored specifically to couples therapy. By enhancing clinicians' knowledge and application of ethical boundary-setting within relational contexts, the course aims to reduce ethical risk, support therapist confidence, and promote safer, more effective therapeutic outcomes for diverse couples.
This live webinar is designed for mental and behavioral health professionals involved in counseling couples.
Couples therapy presents unique ethical challenges that are often not addressed thoroughly in standard professional ethics training, which tends to focus on individual client work. The purpose of this course is to providing foundational training to promote safer, more ethically grounded couples therapy.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Identify ethical challenges unique to couples therapy, including managing confidentiality and diversity in coupleships.
- Apply relationally sensitive strategies to maintain professional boundaries with distressed couples.
- Examine clinical scenarios in which couples therapy may be contraindicated due to relational risk factors.
- Implement communication strategies that uphold transparency, safety, and therapeutic alliance.
- Navigate legal and insurance considerations relevant to billing and documentation in couples therapy.
Michal (Michelle) Goldman, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and clinical therapist who is passionate about helping therapists cultivate secure, ethical boundaries and deepen their self-of-therapist awareness to provide effective, compassionate care. She specializes in work with adults and couples navigating relational challenges and holds extensive training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and discernment counseling. In addition to her clinical practice, she writes a biweekly mental health column for a local newspaper.
Contributing faculty, Michal (Michelle) Goldman, LCSW, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Kimberly Byrd, EdD, PMSW
Scott Deatherage, PhD
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.