Northstar Counseling

Course Description 

Integrating systemic couple & family therapy presents unique assessment & ethical challenges. MFT’s must be able to successfully address difficult ethical questions such as: 

1) Who is the customer? Who determines the goals of therapy? What happens when family members disagree about what the goals should be? 

2) Confidentiality. How should I handle individual secrets in couples? How much information from individual sessions should be shared in conjoint meetings? 

3) Domestic violence. When is it appropriate to treat a couple as a unit when there has been violence in that couple? 

This 3-hour asynchronous course addresses each of these issues in detail, in addition to other essential components of being an ethical integrative, systemic therapist. The materials in this course are based on current published ethical standards and the 2015 AAMFT Code of Ethics. Many ethical challenges arise on the basis of highly variable and unpredictable contextual factors. Combining didactic teaching, case studies, self-reflective exercises and interviews with leading experts, this course material will equip MFTs to gain a basic understanding of core ethical principles and standards related to systemic therapy. 

Participants who complete this course will be able to: 

1) Identify the most common assessment & ethical challenges that occur when integrating from a systemic orientation. 

2) Describe the potential role conflicts resulting from duties owed to multiple clients in the couple and family context. 

3) Articulate policies surrounding the handling of individual secrets in couple & family therapy. 

4) Utilize specific strategies to ethically manage the informed consent process, treatment, and record keeping when treating couples and families. 

5) Identify the elements of a relational, socio-culturally attuned approach to integration that combines cultural sensitivity with attention to societal processes of power, privilege, and equity.