Ethics For New York Mental Health Professionals

This course meets the New York State requirement for all mental health professionals for both ethics and maintaining appropriate professional boundaries. However, for more in-depth study of professional boundaries, we recommend the course in Boundaries and Dual Relationships: The Ethical Way.

While ethics forms the foundation of professional activity for mental health providers, important details are too often misunderstood, and risk management concerns override sound clinical judgment. In this intermediate level course, an overview of the most important features of ethical practice is provided, along with a thorough discussion of how conflicting demands influence decision making.

This course is comprised of three parts, each of which contains written text with audio versions. In Part One, a definition of ethics is provided, along with a review of relevant content in its three governing aspects: standards of care, professional associations’ codes of ethics, and Federal and New York State laws. Content includes the most recent 2023 and 2024 updates to HIPAA and New York State law including the HIPAA Final Rule.

Part Two begins with an overview of current regulations pertaining to engaging in telemental health and segues into a discussion of why ethical conflicts arise, along with guidelines and recommendations in those situations.

Part Three contains two brief articles that discuss the nature of dual relations and professional boundaries and describe ethically-sound approaches to engaging in such relationships.