This 0.50 credit course is designed for social workers, psychologists, counselors, therapists, nurses and other health care professionals, and is at the intermediate instructional level.

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

Course Description

This course is not available for NBCC credit

This course briefly reviews key legal and ethical issues in psychotherapy. It is primarily intended for psychotherapists, but will be useful for any mental health professional. Participants will appreciate that the coverage ranges from concrete, specific guidelines to overarching legal and ethical principles that guide clinical decision making. Numerous topics are reviewed with additional detail on confidentiality, boundaries, and records.

After completing this training you will be able to:

• Define professional ethics, including the fundamental principle of client welfare.
• Identify fundamental ethical principles of boundaries and confidentiality that underlie specific guidelines
• Abide by the ethical and legal guidelines covered, and express the reasons for the guidelines in terms of ethical principles and liability.

This 1 credit course is designed for social workers, psychologists, counselors, therapists, nurses and other health care professionals, and is at the intermediate instructional level.

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

Course Description

This course provides a readable and practical overview of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It is for psychotherapists and mental health workers in private practice, small group practices, and agencies. The course focuses on key principles of HIPAA, along with details that you need to apply now. For example, it explains how the HIPAA principle of "scalability" can help you determine how to adopt HIPAA practices that fit your situation. You will also know what questions to ask and where to turn as additional issues arise in the course of your work.

When providers first learn about HIPAA, they may feel overwhelmed. However, the law was intended to be scalable, that is, the expectations take into account the size of the practice or organization. Thus, the practitioner should not be bowled over by materials and services created for corporate insurers and hospitals. Instead, we focus on the principles and they way they apply to smaller practices. That is what this course provides.

After completing this training you will be able to:

• Indicate when and why a provider is a "covered entity" required to comply with HIPAA.
• Identify the definition of HIPAA and identify its primary roles in regulating medical records.
• Identify the reasons HIPAA was developed, including the problems pertaining to electronic medical records that HIPAA addresses.

This 1 credit course is designed for social workers, psychologists, counselors, therapists, nurses and other health care professionals, and is at the intermediate instructional level.

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

Course Description

This course reviews key legal and ethical issues in psychotherapy. It is primarily intended for psychotherapists, but will be useful for any mental health professional. The content ranges from concrete, specific guidelines to overarching legal and ethical principles that guide clinical decision making. A broad range of topics is covered, with special, detailed emphasis on confidentiality and boundaries.

After completing this training you will be able to:

• Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
• Define professional ethics, including the fundamental principle of client welfare.
• Identify fundamental ethical principles of boundaries and confidentiality that underlie specific guidelines
• Abide by the ethical and legal guidelines covered, and express the reasons for the guidelines in terms of ethical principles and liability.
• Explain the reasons for confidentiality, including the beneficial effect on society through improved mental health services utilization.
• Identify behavioral red flags that indicate elevated risk for boundary violations.
• Summerize each of the 12 Principles of the Code of Ethics of the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC).
• Apply knowledge from this course to practice and/or other professional contexts.

This 1 credit course is designed for social workers, psychologists, counselors, therapists, nurses and other health care professionals, and is at the intermediate instructional level.

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

Course Description
Brief interventions and brief therapies have become increasingly important modalities in the treatment of individuals across the substance abuse continuum. The content of the interventions and therapies will vary depending on the substance used, the severity of problem being addressed, and the desired outcome. Because brief interventions and therapies are less costly yet have proven effective in substance abuse treatment, clinicians, clinical researchers, and policymakers have increasingly focused on them as tools to fill the gap between primary prevention efforts and more intensive treatment for persons with serious substance abuse disorders. However, studies have shown that brief interventions are effective for a range of problems, and the Consensus Panel believes that their selective use can greatly improve substance abuse treatment by making them available to a greater number of people and by tailoring the level of treatment to the level of client need.

Learning Objectives

After completing this training the professional will:

• Utilize counseling skills such as active listening and helping clients explore and resolve ambivalence
• Discuss the basic elements of Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
• Have a working knowledge of the stages‐of‐change through which a client moves when thinking about, beginning, and trying to maintain new behavior

This 1 credit course is designed for social workers, psychologists, counselors, therapists, nurses and other health care professionals, and is at the intermediate instructional level.

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

Course Description

This course is aimed at practitioners who wish to deepen their knowledge of treatment of depression in older adults using evidence-based practices. Depression is a common mental disorder. Globally, it is estimated that 5% of adults suffer from the disorder. It is characterized by persistent sadness and a lack of interest or pleasure in previously rewarding or enjoyable activities. It can also disturb sleep and appetite. Tiredness and poor concentration are common, and its effects can be long-lasting or recurrent, thus dramatically affecting a person’s ability to function and live a rewarding life.

This course describes how practitioners seeing older adults can screen for depression, assess and diagnose depression, select an appropriate treatment, deliver care and evaluate outcomes. It also describes how practitioners can participate in implementing evidence-based practices (EBP’s). Treatments that have been labeled as EBP differ from other treatments in that they have been rigorously evaluated by scientists to determine that they reduce the symptoms of depression more than usual care.

Learning Objectives

After completing this training the professional will:

• Identify approaches for screening, assessing, and diagnosing depression in older adults.
• Describe approaches for selecting appropriate treatment for older adults with depression.
• Summarize evidence-based care for older adults with depression.

This 1 credit course is designed for social workers, psychologists, counselors, therapists, nurses and other health care professionals, and is at the intermediate instructional level.

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

Course Description

The National Board for Certified Counselors’ Code of Ethics (2012) is presented.

Learning Objectives

After completing this training the professional will:

• Describe the principles and practices outlined in the NBCC Code of Ethics.

This 1 credit course is designed for social workers, psychologists, counselors, therapists, nurses and other health care professionals, and is at the intermediate instructional level.

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

Course Description

Mindfulness has become a popular topic among psychological therapists. This introductory article explains what mindfulness is and how it can be developed, before exploring how it has been incorporated within psychoanalytic and cognitive–behavioral psychotherapies. These reflect general as well as specific presumed therapeutic actions. At present, variations in the way mindfulness is understood, taught and applied mean that it is too early to fully assess its potential. They demonstrate how the use of attention and awareness in therapy cuts across traditional divisions and where mindfulness in therapy is most in need of further investigation.

Learning Objectives

After completing this training the professional will:

• Describe what mindfulness is and how it can be developed.
• Describe how mindfulness has been incorporated into psychoanalytic and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies.
• Identify ways in which mindfulness approaches may relieve psychological distress.

This 1 credit course is designed for social workers, psychologists, counselors, therapists, nurses and other health care professionals, and is at the intermediate instructional level.

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

Course Description

Improve your practice with this course on substance use, misuse, and abuse among older adults. The expected rise in substance use disorders among older adults points to the need for clinical mental health counselors to address this demographic with more knowledge. While use of illicit drugs in older adults is much lower than among other adults, it is currently increasing. Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual nationally representative study of the U.S. population ages 12 and older, show that drug use among adults ages 65 and older increased from 19.3 percent in 2012 to 31.2 percent in 2017 (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, 2019). This article (a) discusses the prevalence, vulnerabilities, and consequences of misuse and abuse of alcohol, prescription drugs, and illicit substances; b) reviews age-specific counseling considerations and approaches to assessment, diagnosis, and intervention; and (c) calls for more attention to the subject in training and research.

Learning Objectives

After completing this training the professional will:

• Describe the prevalence, vulnerabilities, and consequences of misuse and abuse of alcohol, prescription drugs, and illicit substances among older adults.
• Identify counseling considerations and approaches to assessment, diagnosis, and intervention for older adults with substance use disorders.

This 1 credit course is designed for social workers, psychologists, counselors, therapists, nurses and other health care professionals, and is at the intermediate instructional level.

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

Course Description

This course explores the unique cultures of the military and provides civilian mental health clinicians with a better understanding of cultural factors. It provides suggestions for adapting civilian clinical services to meet the needs of military service members, veterans, and their families. It also addresses how civilian communities can better support the needs of military service members, veterans, and their families. Note: Course includes a helpful glossary of terms and acronyms (page 79).

Learning Objectives

After completing this training the professional will:

• Describe aspects of military culture.
• Identify ways that civilian clinicians can make adaptations to work with military service members, veterans, and families.
• Describe ways to build community capacity to enhance civilian-based services to service members, veterans, and families.

This 1 credit course is designed for social workers, psychologists, counselors, therapists, nurses and other health care professionals, and is at the intermediate instructional level.

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

Clinicians see many clients hurt by interpersonal transgressions, particularly in couples. Forgiveness is an approach that some clients will choose to pursue, and evidence indicates forgiveness can contribute to numerous positive outcomes. This course begins with an outline of three approaches to forgiveness. Part two focuses on the application of forgiveness therapy with couples.

Learning Objectives

After completing this training the professional will:

• identify and compare three approaches to forgiveness.
• describe the assessment process involved in applying forgiveness therapy with couples.
• describe the therapy process involved in applying forgiveness therapy with couples.

This 1 credit course is designed for social workers, psychologists, counselors, therapists, nurses and other health care professionals, and is at the intermediate instructional level.

There is no known conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.

This course is not available for NBCC credit

The National Association of Social Work Code of Ethics (2008) is presented as a review of clinicians.

Learning Objectives

After completing this training the professional will:

• Explain the Preamble, Purpose and Principles from the NASW Code of Ethics.
• Describe the Ethical Standards from the NASW Code of Ethics.
• Summarize 2008 revisions to the NASW Code of Ethics.