Advanced Therapist Mistakes Ethics CE Course for Therapists, counselors, psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists
 
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Advanced Common Therapist Mistakes and The Ethics of Owning Them - 6 hours


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

When and Where:

  • Date: Friday, May 8, 2026
  • Time: 10:30am - 5:30pm Eastern Time
  • CE Hours Included: 6 Ethics or Core (please see below for details)
  • Location: Live Interactive Webinar (“Synchronous”) on Zoom
  • Investment: $140 before Friday, April 24th at 5:00pm Eastern Time, $160 after
  • 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: Advanced
  • Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists

Educational Objectives:

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

  • Describe at least 10 common therapist mistakes and utilize specific strategies to avoid making each of these mistakes
  • Critique the role of the relevant ethical codes in conceptualizing and addressing therapist mistakes
  • Utilize strategies and ethical decision-making processes for when a therapeutic rupture has occurred
  • Discuss personal therapist needs and agendas that may affect alliance ruptures, countertransference, and taking too much responsibility for change
  • Demonstrate at least two ways that our own agendas can interfere with progress in therapy
  • Compare and contrast vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout, and how this is related to the therapist’s ethical responsibility

Workshop Description:

All therapists make mistakes, and even though we never want to harm, research shows that 15-40% of clients don’t get better! Additionally, patients surveyed tend to view adverse effects as more harmful than do their therapists. So what factors might interfere with our good intentions and skills? All therapists are human, and we all make mistakes. We sometimes give advice when it’s not necessary or find ourselves in power struggles with our clients. When our clients get stuck, we might feel inadequate or label them as unmotivated.
In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to explore their personality characteristics and narratives that make them vulnerable to making common mistakes. For example, if we ourselves struggle with perfectionism, we may have difficulty receiving feedback from our clients (one of mine). Since these are common mistakes, specific strategies apply and will be practiced. Participants will be given the opportunity to increase insight through experiential learning, such as journaling and imaginal practice, all in the comfort of their own environment.
Reducing common mistakes enables us to increase compliance with ethical codes related to maintaining competence, monitoring outcomes, respecting clients' self-determination, and avoiding harm. Finally, recognizing the universality of these mistakes enables us to use humor and even poke fun at ourselves a bit.
This workshop is an advanced version of the original Common Therapist Mistakes workshop. However, participants DO NOT have to have attended the first workshop to sign up for this one. For those who attended the first workshop, there will be some review, but there will be greater emphasis on mistakes related to therapist characteristics and additional practice of the recommended strategies.

Course Outline:

  • Introduction (30 min)
    • General Ethical Standards
    • Specific Ethical Standards
  • Part One: Laying the Groundwork (60 min)
    • Failing to Establish an Ethical Decision-Making Process
    • Failing to Establish and Maintain Clear Goals
    • Failing to Plan for and Address Alliance Ruptures
    • Failing to Assess Outcomes
    • Failing to Address Differences/Diversity
  • Break
  • Part Two: Taking the Client’s Side (45 min)
    • Over-Validating
    • Against Another Person
    • Assuming Your Client is Being Truthful
  • Part Three: Taking a Side Against a Part (60 min)
    • Failing to Address or Recognize Ambivalence
    • Siding with a Part
    • Resisting Resistance
    • Failing to Recognize Projections
    • Answering Questions
  • Lunch Break
  • Part Four: Taking Too Much Responsibility (60 min)
    • Signs of taking too much Responsibility
    • Giving Advice
    • Talking too much
    • Being too attached to one's own agenda
    • Monitoring Effects of Own Values
    • Failing to Respect One’s Own Boundaries
  • Part Five: Taking Too Little Responsibility (45 min)
    • Signs of taking too little Responsibility
    • Failing to keep the session on a therapeutic path
    • Failing to find a personal style of confronting
    • Focusing Primarily on Problems
  • Break
  • Part Six: Professional Responsibility (60 min)
    • Limited Self Awareness/Blind Spots
    • Failing to manage countertransference
    • Failing to Provide for the Future
    • Insufficient Self-Care

Workshop Schedule (Eastern Time):

  • 10:00am - 10:30am | Sign-In and Welcome
  • 10:30am - 12:00pm | Session
  • 12:00pm - 12:10pm | Break
  • 12:10pm - 1:40pm | Session
  • 1:40pm - 2:20pm | Lunch Break
  • 2:20pm - 3:50pm | Session
  • 3:50pm - 4:00pm | Break
  • 4:00pm - 5:30pm | Session
  • 5:30pm | Continuing Education Certificates Available

Presented by: Linda Buchanan, Ph.D.

Dr. Linda Buchanan founded the Atlanta Center for Eating Disorders (ACE) in 1993, which she sold in 2017. She received her master’s degree from Georgia State University. Dr. Buchanan then went on to receive her Ph.D. from Georgia State University doing a residency at the Medical College of Georgia. Partially retired, Doctor Buchanan primarily spends her time now in consulting, writing, and teaching. She runs seven consultation groups for licensed therapists and is an international speaker on topics related to dealing with ethics, ambivalence, narrative therapy, and conducting individual therapy from a systems perspective. Her book, A Clinician’s Guide to Pathological Ambivalence: How to be on your Client's Side Without Taking a Side, was published in 2019, the content of which she has presented at national and international conferences. She has also written two workbooks: one serves as a companion to the Clinician’s Guide, and the other is for narrative therapy, both of which can be found on her website at www.lindapaulkbuchanan.com. She has published two chapters and four research articles on her model of the treatment of eating disorders, including two outcome studies of the treatment provided at the Atlanta Center for Eating Disorders. 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 experiences gained in 35 years of clinical practice. She has been married for over 35 years and is the mother of two adopted sons.

6 Ethics or Core CEs 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: TKT has applied for approval for this workshop through the Georgia Society for Clinical Social Work (GSCSW). 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.

Registration: To register for individual workshops, you may use our online payment option, or to pay by check you may print and complete the Registration Form and mail or fax it to our office. The registration form is available on our website: www.theknowledgetree.org. Registration is permitted until the time the workshop begins, unless otherwise specified.

Multiple Workshop Special: There is a 10% Discount with registration for two workshops. There is a 15% Discount with registrations for three or four workshops. There is a 20% Discount with registration for five or more workshops.

Refund/Cancellation Policy: If you can no longer attend a workshop you have registered for, you can either receive a credit for another workshop or receive a refund if you are within the refund policy period. Refunds will be given for cancellations received at least five days prior to the workshop. More information about refund/cancellation can be found here.

Attendance Policy: 100% attendance and completion of a course evaluation is required at any 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 the broadcast has ended and the course evaluation completed.

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.

No Conflict Policy: 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. 

System Requirements: Live Interactive Webinars are facilitated via Zoom. System requirements for the Zoom platform are linked at our FAQ page.

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


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The Knowledge Tree, a Summit Professional Education Company, offers courses that provide continuing education hours as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and holds Approved Continuing Education Provider/Sponsor status with professional organizations including APA and NBCC. Each licensee should check our detailed CE information page and ensure courses taken meet their specific state board requirements.