Ethics in Therapy: Using Power with Heart and Skill

Right use of power is at the very heart of ethics. We long for, and are capable of using, our personal and professional power with compassion and skill. Many of us have been wounded by misuses of power and by hearing about abuses of power. Ethical issues in therapeutic relationships are rooted in the power dynamics that accompany the power differential between the clinician and the individual in therapy.

In this two-hour continuing education web conference, Dr. Cedar Barstow will focus on the most significant relational impacts of role power difference. Dr. Barstow's presentation will draw from her experience as a psychotherapist, educator, consultant, and Founder and Director of the Right Use of Power Institute (RUPI)--an organization working to create a global culture of peace through vital education in the right use of personal, professional, status, and collective power.

Dr. Barstow will guide attendees through study and exploration involving four gifts of the increased power that accompanies a therapist’s professional role. Dr. Barstow will also describe several related perils or traps of increased power. She will share strategies clinicians can use to mediate the shadow of power. She will also provide guidance on how clincians can stay in their heart while standing in their strength.

This intermediate instructional level web conference is designed to help clinicians:

1. Describe the distinctions between personal, role, and status power.
2. Explain four significant impacts of the power differential on clients or students.
3. List two values or gifts of the increased power that accompanies a therapeutic role.
4. List two perils or traps of increased role power.
5. Identify a personal challenge in the use of their own power and a plan to mediate it.

If you have any questions or concerns about this web conference, or would like more information, please contact us here.

Continuing Education (CE) Information

2 CE contact hours will be provided by GoodTherapy.org for attending this web conference in its entirety. 

GoodTherapy.org is an Approved Education Provider by NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals (provider #135463). Of the eight counselor skill groups ascribed to by NAADAC, this course is classified within Legal, Ethical, and Professional Development. 

GoodTherapy.org is an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEPTM) and may offer NBCC-approved clock hours for events that meet NBCC requirements.

GoodTherapy.org, provider #1352, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. GoodTherapy.org maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 3/30/2022 – 3/30/2025. Social workers completing this course receive 2 ethics continuing education credits.

GoodTherapy.org is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. GoodTherapy.org maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

GoodTherapy.org, SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #0395.

GoodTherapy.org, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0022 and for licensed mental health counselors #MHC-0031.

To receive CE credit hours for an archived event, you will need to complete a survey as well as a 12 or 15-question exam, verifying that you listened to or watched the event in its entirety. Archived CE events generally are considered "homestudy" by licensing boards.

Registration Information

Premium and Pro Membership with GoodTherapy includes access to this web conference at no additional cost, as well as other member benefits such as a profile listing in GoodTherapy's Therapist Directory. Not yet a member? Sign up for a Premium or Pro Membership, here.

Just want CE credits? Sign up for a monthly or annual CE Subscription with GoodTherapy to get unlimited access to our CE Program, including this event, other live CE web conferences, and hundreds of hours of homestudy courses.

Mental health professionals who are not members can access the homestudy recording for $14.95. Sign up here to purchase this CE course and earn a CE certificate.

If the event is canceled by GoodTherapy, registrants who purchased the event will be notified and the charge for the event will be refunded

If you have any questions or would like information regarding disability accommodations, please contact us.

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