Posted: December 2nd, 2022

Licensing Trends in Marriage and Family Therapy

Week 6 Assignment: Critique Disciplinary Meeting Minutes

The Client is from Columbus Georgia

Part 1

Research two different state licensing board disciplinary committee meeting minutes (preferably use the state where you plan on obtaining your license as well as one other state).

Then, read through the licensing board’s meeting minutes and disciplinary minutes and analyze any trends in AAMFT Code violations you may notice in your state. Make sure you are aware of and include your state regulatory standards, as well as the ethical standards set by AAMFT.

What Codes are violated the most?
What are key ethics risk areas or trends in the reports?
What are some of the final decisions of the board?
Why would the board rule this decision?
How would you, as a therapist, avoid these types of violations?

If you are not able to locate the State specific licensing board disciplinary committee meeting minutes, go to amftrb.org website and scroll down to a heading titled “State Delegates.” Click on “Resources and Charts” beneath that heading. Scroll down to “Prohibited Activities for MFTs” and use the information from items 3. (Prohibited Activities for MFTs and Related Sanctions, PowerPoint slides) and 4. (Disciplinary Research Report) to answer the above prompts.”

Part 2

Conclude this assignment with your critical response and analysis of how these situations might have been avoided or prevented by doing the following:

Identify one violation and apply one of the ethical decision making models you have read about so far in the course from the perspective of the therapist.
Create a one page graphic of your ethical decision making model.

Length: 5 written pages; 1-page graphic of your ethical decision-making model.

References: None required

The completed assignment should address all of the listed requirements, exhibit evidence of concept knowledge, and demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the content presented in the course. The writing should integrate scholarly resources, reflect academic expectations and current APA standards, and adhere to Northcentral University’s Academic Integrity Policy.

Resources:

https://www.aamft.org/Legal_Ethics/Code_of_Ethics.aspx

https://www.aamft.org/Advocacy/HIPAA_Resources.aspx
https://counseling.education/counseling/intro/ethical_models.html#:~:text=%20A%20Social%20Constructivism%20Model%20of%20Ethical%20Decision,way%20that%20allows%20for%20a%20reasonable…%20More%20
Week 6
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Licensing Trends in Marriage and Family Therapy
As a practicing clinician in today’s world, it is becoming more and more important to understand the legal limitations and obligations of your practice, to protect both yourself and your clients. Many states require yearly educational updates in the form of Continuing Education (CE) units regarding the changing legal mandates and laws within that state. Some even require that practitioners renewing their MFT license show proof of having completed CEs in courses such as Ethics and Boundaries and Laws and Rules for every renewal cycle. As a practicing clinician in today’s world, understanding the legal limitations and obligations of your practice is becoming increasingly important in order to protect both yourself and your clients. Many states require yearly educational updates in the form of Continuing Education (CE) units on the state’s changing legal mandates and laws. Some even require practitioners renewing their MFT license to show proof of CEs in courses such as Ethics and Boundaries and Laws and Rules for each renewal cycle.
This section of the course is designed to provide you with information on what trends are occurring in the licensing area of MFT at this time. It is focused on the violations of the AAMFT Code of Ethics and state licensing board requirements. This assignment will give you an idea of what types of violations are occurring in the field currently, what to understand in terms of your liability and responsibility as an ethical practitioner, and how violations are handled by the licensing board. It is important for you to become familiar with your state licensing board website, resources, and information.
In terms of risk management, this week will focus on the idea that all practitioners are faced with situations that are obvious violations of the AAMFT Code of Ethics, but it is the moral and prudent practitioner who follows the Code that is able to mitigate risk and negotiation risky situations in the best interest of the client.
Standard of care is a concept that asks the practitioner to think of what a reasonable and prudent professional might do under specific circumstances. Standards in Marriage and Family Therapy refer to the state licensing board standards that are often called Regulatory Standards, national licensing board standards which are referred to as Practice Standards, and Code of Ethics that are referred to as Ethical Standards.
Weekly Resources and Assignments
Review the resources from the Course Resources link, located in the top navigation bar, to prepare for this week’s assignments. The resources may include textbook reading assignments, journal articles, websites, links to tools or software, videos, handouts, rubrics, etc.
The Client is from Columbus Georgia
Week 6 Assignment: Critique Disciplinary Meeting Minutes
Part 1
Research two different state licensing board disciplinary committee meeting minutes (preferably use the state where you plan on obtaining your license as well as one other state).
Then, read through the licensing board’s meeting minutes and disciplinary minutes and analyze any trends in AAMFT Code violations you may notice in your state. Make sure you are aware of and include your state regulatory standards, as well as the ethical standards set by AAMFT.
• What Codes are violated the most?
• What are key ethics risk areas or trends in the reports?
• What are some of the final decisions of the board?
• Why would the board rule this decision?
• How would you, as a therapist, avoid these types of violations?
If you are not able to locate the State specific licensing board disciplinary committee meeting minutes, go to amftrb.org website and scroll down to a heading titled “State Delegates.” Click on “Resources and Charts” beneath that heading. Scroll down to “Prohibited Activities for MFTs” and use the information from items 3. (Prohibited Activities for MFTs and Related Sanctions, PowerPoint slides) and 4. (Disciplinary Research Report) to answer the above prompts.”
Part 2
Conclude this assignment with your critical response and analysis of how these situations might have been avoided or prevented by doing the following:
• Identify one violation and apply one of the ethical decision making models you have read about so far in the course from the perspective of the therapist.
• Create a one page graphic of your ethical decision making model.
Length: 5 written pages; 1-page graphic of your ethical decision-making model.
References: None required
The completed assignment should address all of the listed requirements, exhibit evidence of concept knowledge, and demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the content presented in the course. The writing should integrate scholarly resources, reflect academic expectations and current APA standards, and adhere to Northcentral University’s Academic Integrity Policy.
Resources
https://www.aamft.org/Legal_Ethics/Code_of_Ethics.aspx
https://www.aamft.org/Advocacy/HIPAA_Resources.aspx
https://counseling.education/counseling/intro/ethical_models.html#:~:text=%20A%20Social%20Constructivism%20Model%20of%20Ethical%20Decision,way%20that%20allows%20for%20a%20reasonable…%20More%20
• AAMFT Code of Ethics
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. (2015, January). AAMFT Code of Ethics.
User’s Guide to the 2015 AAMFT Code of Ethics
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. User’s guide to the 2015 AAMFT code of ethics. American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
• AAMFT State and Provincial Divisions
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). (n.d.).
AAMFT State and Provincial Divisions.
AATBS National MFT Course Materials
Examination in Marriage and Family Therapy: Overview and Strategies (2016). Association for Advanced Training in the Behavioral Sciences. Ventura, CA: Vol (I & II).
Required test study materials (access the one that applies to you right away)
Ethical, Legal and Professional Issues in the Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy
Wilcoxon, A.S., Remley, T. P., & Gladding, S. T. (2021) Ethical, legal and professional issues in the practice of marriage and family therapy. Pearson.
Read Chapter 9, Ethical Accountability: A Casebook (pp. 171-197).
Access your Redshelf book in the Getting Started module of the course or click on Bookshelf in the top navigation bar of the course.
• HIPAA Resources
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. (2017). HIPAA resources. AAMFT.
• Trends in Ethical Complaints Leading to Professional Counseling Licensing Boards Disciplinary Actions
Wilkerson, T., Smith, D., & Wimberly, R. (2019). Trends in ethical complaints leading to professional counseling licensing boards disciplinary actions. Journal of Counseling & Development, 97(1), 98-104.
• Ethical Decision Making Models
Counseling Education. (2015-2021). Ethical decision making models American Counseling Association.