Ethics in Couples Therapy - 5 hours

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• CE Hours Included: 5 (please see below for details)
• Format: On-Demand Webinar (“Asynchronous”, Non-Interactive) ~ At your leisure this recorded video is to be viewed at your own pace. You may pause, rewind, and fast forward at any point during the videos. You are in complete control of how you view this workshop. It also comes with a PowerPoint and references. There is a quiz at the end to ensure viewing and required by all CE approval organizations.
  • NOTE: Your certificate will be dated when you complete the course - Click here for more detailed information on the best way to do this: https://www.theknowledgetree.org/p/help
• Investment: $120 (provides lifetime access!)
• Presented by: David Woodsfellow, Ph.D. (see bio below)
• Date of Recording: August 21, 2026
• Instruction Level: Advanced
• Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists
• This workshop is not yet available; by pre-registering, you will receive immediate access when it becomes available in September.

Learning Objectives:

After completing this workshop in its entirety, you will be able to:

• Develop a way to assess violence before you meet a couple for the first time
• Evaluate when couples therapy IS indicated for violence, and when it couples therapy IS NOT indicated for violence.
• Critique individual therapy for couples problems.
• Design a way to get informed consent to the four necessary topics when shifting from couples therapy to individual therapy.
• Critique the two different types of secrets policies.
• Evaluate which therapist values SHOULD be shared.
• Evaluate which therapist values should NOT be shared.
• Appraise possible responses when a prospective couple complains about their previous therapist.

Workshop Description:

Couples therapy sure isn’t boring. It’s exciting, energizing, and challenging. It’s especially challenging when it puts us in difficult ethical situations. We can’t just proceed as if it were individual therapy. Because it’s different – crucially so. In this workshop, you’ll learn the special ethical considerations in couples therapy to be prepared for those challenging moments. We’ll discuss loyalty, confidentiality, therapist values, and modeling relationality. There’s a challenge even before your first meeting with a new couple. It’s when you decide whether to do individual therapy, couples therapy, or both. That’s a big decision. We’ll review the ethical considerations involved. You also need to know when couples therapy is contraindicated and when individual therapy is not a good idea. We’ll also look at how to be careful when starting treatment with clients served by others.

Another crucial difference in couples therapy is the nature of confidentiality. With two clients, you’ll need two releases to speak to any third party. We’ll discuss the details of that informed consent. You may also encounter questions about confidentiality between your two clients – aka secrets. We’ll discuss how to formulate your “secrets policy” and how to get informed consent regarding it. And then, what to do when someone violates that policy?

There are also questions about whether, when, and to what extent a couples therapist should share their own values with clients. Some values must be shared; some values must not. Sometimes we must let the clients make their own decisions; sometimes we should do all we can to influence those decisions. In this workshop, we’ll discuss the guidelines for determining what’s right to share, when, why, and how much. It’s not simple. But that’s what’s so great about couples therapy. It’s not simple.

Workshop Agenda:

• Introduction & Orientation — 15 minutes
  • Workshop roadmap, Q&A logistics, and pacing
  • Diversity
  • Ethical Models
• Part 1 — Who Is Our Client? — 75 minutes
  • Individual therapy or couples therapy?
  • Advantages of each
  • Individual therapy for couple problems, APA 2.04
  • Contraindications for couples therapy
  • Collaterals
  • The need for clarity, ACA A.8, NASW 1.06(D)
• Part 2 — Do We Keep Secrets? – 75 minutes
  • Two releases needed, AAMFT 2.2
  • Two different secrets policies
  • Advantages and disadvantages of each
  • Therapist discretion
  • Informed consent
  • How to maintain boundaries
• Part 3 — Do We Do Multiple Therapies? – 60 minutes
  • Doing both individual and couples therapy with the same people
  • At the same time, or one after the other (sequential)
  • Advantages of one therapist versus advantages of two therapists
  • Navigating a possible dual relationship, ACA A.6.d., APA 10.02
  • How to do sequential therapy in an ethical way
  • Why some therapists don’t do sequential therapy, APA 3.05
  • Communicating with the other therapists, NASW 2.01a. 2.01b, 2.01c, 2.05
• Part 4 — Do We Share Our Values? —60 min
  • Avoid imposing our values, ACA A.4.b
  • Respect dignity and diversity, AAMFT 1.8
  • Relational values versus personal values
  • Self-disclosure:
    • Why to share, and why not to
    • What to share, and what not to
    • How to, and how not to
  • Dealing with our own problems, APA 2.06b
  • Sexual attraction to clients
  • Clients' complaints about other therapists, APA 10.04
• Closing Q&A and Wrap‑Up — 15 min
  • Who is our client?
  • Do we keep secrets?
  • Do we do multiple therapies?
  • Do we share our values?

Presented by: David Woodsfellow, Ph.D.

5 "Asynchronous" CE Hours Included - Details by License Type Below:

• PSYCHOLOGISTS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company maintains responsibility for this program and its content. For more detailed information on the current CE ruling in Georgia, or if you are licensed in another state or country, please click here.
• COUNSELORS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP), ACEP No. 7153. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Please click here for more detailed information.
• SOCIAL WORKERS: The Knowledge Tree, a Summit Professional Education Company, provider #2470, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 1/14/2026-1/14/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 5 ethics continuing education credits. Please click here for more detailed information.
• MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPISTS: TKT has applied for approval for this workshop through the Georgia Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (GAMFT). If you are licensed in another state or country, please click here for more detailed information.

Attendance Policy: 100% attendance, completion of a course evaluation and passing a post-test with a score of 70% or higher (you will have 2 retake opportunities) is required at any asynchronous CE program in order to receive credit for that CE program. No partial credit is given. Certificates of completion will be available in each attendee’s account once these completion requirements have been met.

ADA Requests: We will make every effort to accommodate any reasonable ADA request. Please call or email us at least two weeks prior to the event. Payment and registration are required to fulfill an ADA request.

We are an approved vendor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for easy reimbursement of educational expenses for VA employees.