Course Description

Course Information

• Course Code: CTA-CE-001
• Course Level: Introductory to Intermediate
• Target Audience: LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, LEPs, and Registered Associates
• Instructional Method: Asynchronous Distance Learning
• CE Credits: 6 CE Hours (360 Minutes of Active Instruction)
• Presenter/Author: Candice Fuimaono, MS, LMFT
• Downloadable Syllabus: Available after enrollment

Educational Goals

• ✓ Strengthen the ability to identify and respond to legal and ethical issues encountered in California mental health practice.
• ✓ Enhance knowledge of California laws, regulations, professional standards, and Board of Behavioral Sciences expectations.
• ✓ Improve informed-consent, confidentiality, privilege, documentation, record-management, and risk-management practices.
• ✓ Increase confidence in making legally and ethically sound decisions involving minors, digital practice, crisis response, and professional boundaries.
• ✓ Support client welfare, professional accountability, and continuity of care across private and organizational settings.

What Participants Will Learn

1. Identify four California legal, regulatory, or ethical sources that govern mental health practice and distinguish scope of practice from scope of competence.
2. Prepare an informed-consent checklist that includes required fee, privacy, telehealth, digital-communication, and professional-boundary elements.
3. Distinguish confidentiality, psychotherapist-patient privilege, and lawful disclosure and select an appropriate response to a subpoena or request for records.
4. Apply California minor-consent, parental-involvement, custody, and mandated-reporting standards to a clinical case example.
5. Apply California duty-to-protect, crisis-intervention, and documentation standards to a case involving suicide risk or a serious threat of violence.
6. Prepare a record-management and practice-continuity plan that addresses client access, retention, security, practice closure, professional wills, and licensure or business-risk concerns.

Instructional Modules

Enroll in this course to unlock all modules and the final quiz.

• 1

  Module 1: California Regulatory Frameworks, BBS Requirements, and Professional Competence

  Summary of Main Points

  • California regulatory updates and Board of Behavioral Sciences requirements
  • Scope of competence and ethical practice standards in California mental health practice
  • Professional ethical standards for clinical practice
  • Common disciplinary concerns and risk factors
  • Regulatory sources that govern mental health practice
  • Application of current BBS expectations

  Locked video lesson

  60 min
• 2

  Module 2: Informed Consent, Telehealth, and Digital Boundaries

  Summary of Main Points

  • Legal and ethical requirements for informed consent
  • Fee, privacy, telehealth, and professional-boundary disclosures
  • Digital practice boundaries and electronic communication
  • Consultation, referral, and documentation of competence decisions

  Locked video lesson

  58 min
• 3

  Module 3: Confidentiality, Privilege, and Lawful Disclosure

  Summary of Main Points

  • Legal and ethical foundations of confidentiality
  • Psychotherapist-patient privilege considerations
  • Mandatory and permissive disclosure exceptions
  • Mandated reporting standards and thresholds
  • Application through confidentiality and reporting scenarios

  Locked video lesson

  62 min
• ✓

  Mid-Course Knowledge Check

  Mid-course knowledge check — administrative activity. Not counted toward CE instructional minutes.

  Admin
• 4

  Module 4: Working with Minors: Consent, Parents, Custody, and Reporting

  Summary of Main Points

  • Minor-consent treatment regulations
  • Parental rights and involvement considerations
  • Confidentiality considerations when treating minors
  • Application through minor-consent case examples

  Locked video lesson

  58 min
• 5

  Module 5: Crisis Management, Tarasoff Duties, and Professional Liability

  Summary of Main Points

  • Tarasoff duty-to-protect requirements
  • Crisis management and emergency-response procedures
  • Documentation of risk assessment and protective actions
  • Application through crisis case examples

  Locked video lesson

  53 min
• 6

  Module 6: Record Keeping, Business Ethics, and Practice Continuity

  Summary of Main Points

  • Defensible clinical documentation standards
  • Record-retention and security requirements
  • Risk-management strategies for clinicians
  • Licensure maintenance and professional practice ethics
  • Professional wills and practice closure considerations

  Locked video lesson

  55 min
• 7

  Required Course Integration Capstone: Applying California Law and Ethics in Complex Clinical Decisions

  Summary of Main Points

  • Integrate legal and ethical decision-making across Modules 1–6
  • Apply California Law & Ethics standards to complex clinical scenarios
  • Prepare for the final examination with structured clinical reasoning

  Locked video lesson

  14 min

Course Completion Requirements

• ✓ Complete all required instructional modules, including the Course Integration Capstone, and embedded learning activities.
• ✓ Earn a score of at least 70% on the final examination. Participants may repeat the examination until the passing score is achieved.
• ✓ Complete the course-specific evaluation, including a rating for each measurable learning objective.
• ✓ Submit the required course-completion attestation for asynchronous distance learning.
• ✓ A CE certificate is issued only after all completion requirements are satisfied.

References

• California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. (2019). CAMFT code of ethics. CAMFT.
• Caldwell, B. E. (2020). User's guide to the 2019 CAMFT code of ethics. Ben Caldwell Labs.
• Zur, O. (2021). Digital ethics and telehealth in psychotherapy: Navigating the boundaries of remote care. Routledge.