Common Therapist Mistakes and The Ethics of Owning Them - 5 CEUs

To access the discount form for registering for multiple workshops or participants, please click here.

When and Where:

• Date: Friday, May 3, 2024
  • If you cannot attend this workshop on 5/3, you can pre-register for the on-demand version here: https://www.theknowledgetree.org/p/ethics-therapis...
• Time: 11:00am - 5:00pm Eastern Time
• CE Hours Included: 5 Ethics or Core (please see below for details)
• Location: Live Interactive Webinar (“Synchronous”) on Zoom
• Investment: $120 before Friday, April 19th at 5:00pm Eastern Time, $135 after
  • To pay with PayPal, ACH transfer, or CashApp, please email us at [email protected] or call us at 404-913-2005. Otherwise, click below on "Save Your Spot Now!"
• Presented by: Linda Buchanan, Ph.D. (see bio below)
• Workshop Recording: A recording of this workshop is available to review for 60 days after the presentation. However, participants must attend live to receive the "Synchronous" CE Certificate.
• Instruction Level: Intermediate
• Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists, Psychotherapists, Other Mental Health Professionals

Educational Objectives:

In this workshop, you will learn how to:

• List at least eight common therapist mistakes
• Identify the role of the relevant ethical codes in conceptualizing and addressing therapist mistakes
• Utilize specific strategies to avoid making each of these mistakes
• Describe at least three strategies to use when a therapeutic rupture has occurred
• Recognize resistance in psychotherapy as ambivalence

Workshop Description:

An ethics workshop that will make you smile rather than cringe. Do you sometimes give too much advice or give it too early? Do you validate what you don’t know, get into power struggles by taking the healthy voice, or project your values? If you’re like most therapists, you do! All therapists are human and we all make mistakes. This workshop focuses on those mistakes that are very common in the practice of psychotherapy. The word common is used intentionally because we all make them. They are the kind of mistakes that may slow down the therapeutic process but generally won’t halt it or create adverse effects unless they are made too frequently. Talking about these common mistakes enables us to keep them in the forefront of our minds so that we make them less often. Reducing common mistakes enables us to increase compliance with ethical codes regarding the boundaries of competence, maintaining competence, monitoring outcomes and avoiding harm. Finally, recognizing the universality of these mistakes enables us to use humor and even poke fun at ourselves a bit.

Presented by: Linda Buchanan Ph.D.

Dr. Linda Buchanan is a psychologist who has been working in the mental health field for over 30 years. She received her master’s degree from Georgia State University and a Diploma from the Psychological Studies Institute (now known as Richmont University) in Christian Counseling from which she received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for her work in founding ACE. Dr. Buchanan then went on to receive her Ph.D. from Georgia State University with a specialty in family therapy. Dr. Buchanan founded Atlanta Center for Eating Disorders in 1993 which was acquired by Walden Behavioral Care in 2017. She now primarily focuses on consulting and writing. Her book A Clinician’s Guide to Pathological Ambivalence was published in 2019, the content of which she has presented at national and international conferences. She has also self-published three workbooks (one serves as a client companion to the Clinician’s Guide) which can be found on her website at www.lindapaulkbuchanan.com. Additionally, she has published four research articles on the treatment of eating disorders including two outcome studies of the treatment provided at Atlanta Center for Eating Disorders and two book chapters. Dr. Buchanan serves as a peer reviewer of American Psychological Association (APA) Journals and writes a blog called From One Therapist to Another, writing about experience gained in 35 years of clinical practice. She has been married for over 30 years and is the mother of two adopted sons.

Agenda (Eastern Time):

• 10:30am - 11:00am | Sign-In and Welcome
• 11:00am - 12:30pm | Session
• 12:30pm - 12:40pm | Break
• 12:40pm - 1:55pm | Session
• 1:55pm - 2:35pm | Lunch Break
• 2:35pm - 3:35pm | Session
• 3:35pm - 3:45pm | Break
• 3:45pm - 5:00pm | Session
• 5:00pm | Continuing Education Certificates Available

What people are saying about this workshop:

• "I feel like this was a perfect workshop. The presenter was engaging and the content was beyond helpful. I have heard of the Gestalt Empty Chair technique before, but seeing it in action in the presentation brought it into a whole new light for me. I, for the first time, can see myself truly implementing this technique in my practice and helping client's grow. I appreciated how prompt and competent with the technology the presenters were! The moderators were also very helpful." - KL, LPC
• "She was fantastic! So humble, open, and approachable, which really disarmed any defensiveness. Ethics workshops can be hard sometimes because I can beat myself up during them. I LOVED having the demonstration of the Gestalt intervention, as well as the writing exercises. I think it helped with knowledge retention. There could have been even more. Usually, I am exhausted and drained by these longer webinars, but I do not feel that way today. :)" - HR, LPC
• "I am touched by the level of attunement and compassion Dr. Buchanan shows toward client and therapist. This was a fantastic workshop, I am retired but keep my license active. I am reminded how much being a therapist is for our own lives as well as our clients. Thank you. Dr. Buchanan." - CM, LCSW
• "Excellent presenter with ample knowledge. I appreciated the demonstration and strategies. I loved the different perspective in dealing with oppositional and dependent client statements." - CM
• "I very much enjoyed this workshop. It is quite possibly the most fun ethics workshop I have ever gone through. I greatly enjoyed this training and will be telling my peers about it for future ethics trainings." CB, LMSW
• "I thought the presentation was thoughtful and practical. It was one of the better ethics workshops I have attended!" - KT, LPC
• "She is brilliant, clearly highly experienced. I love all her case examples. Thank you for such quality trainings!!!" - TMJ
• "She was very knowledgeable and presented the information in a clear and interesting way. Most enjoyable ethics workshop possibly ever." - AH, MFT
• "Dr. Buchanan was very engaging. She used humor, normalized common therapist experiences, and also gave us tools to change our common responses to avoid making mistakes. The role play was outstanding and I enjoyed the "group" work." - DT, Psychologist
• "She seemed like a caring and humble therapist who was willing to let us know that she has made some of these mistakes as well and that we are all learning. It reinforced my knowledge about not letting the sessions become a power play or a back and forth. That I don’t need to be working harder than the client." - TT, LPC
• "Such as great workshop overall. She did a great job keeping us engaged, even though she couldn't see us. I learned a lot and she presented some hard material (who wants to admit they make mistakes?) in such a nonjudgmental and approachable way. I would love a part 2!" - AS, LAPC
• "Great teacher and clinician! Linda was authentic, vulnerable, and helped me feel at ease and engaged." - JH
• "Great presentation with lots of takeaways. One of my favorites. Loved the content." - PK, LCSW
• "This was an outstanding workshop given by a very knowledgeable and outstanding presenter! Thank you!" - CC, Psychologist

5 Ethics or Core CE Clock Hours Included - Details by License Type Below:

• PSYCHOLOGISTS: The Knowledge Tree is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Knowledge Tree 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 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 is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
  • Counselors licensed in Georgia: Although approval through the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia (LPCA-GA) is not required for CE credit since all our courses are NBCC-approved, this workshop is approved for 5 ethics or core CE hours through LPCA-GA, approval #2024-1-9-1042LW..
  • Counselors licensed in another state: Please click here for more detailed information.
  • Counselors Licensed in Canada: This workshop is approved for 5 credit hours through the Canadian Counseling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), event code: 64967014.

• SOCIAL WORKERS: This workshop is approved for 5 Ethics CE hours through the Georgia Society for Clinical Social Work (GSCSW), approval #011124. If you are licensed in another state or country, please click here for more detailed information.
• MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPISTS: This workshop is approved for Ethics Hours for Marriage and Family Therapists via GSCSW through reciprocal agreement with the Georgia Composite Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists. If you are licensed in another state or country, please click here for more detailed information.

To view our various workshop policies, including our multi-workshop discount & refund policy, please click here.

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

Neither the Knowledge Tree nor its speakers have received any commercial support for this program or its contents and will not receive any commercial support prior to or during this program.