Coloring Inside the Lines: Applying Ethical Considerations to Telemental Health Practice

Description

What happens when your ethical compass is pointed in one direction, but the law pulls you in another? In the rapidly evolving world of telemental health, behavioral health clinicians are routinely thrust into high-stakes situations where the "right" decision isn't always clear—and the consequences of getting it wrong can be life-altering.

Understanding how to "color inside the lines" can mean the difference between confident, competent care and costly missteps. This course empowers behavioral health professionals to untangle the ethical and legal challenges unique to telehealth, and find clarity in the gray areas.

Ann Ordway, JD, PhD., brings a rare and powerful blend of legal and clinical expertise to this course. A former family law attorney and seasoned counselor educator, Dr. Ordway has spent decades guiding professionals through high-stakes ethical terrain, including work with high-conflict families and court-involved clinical practice.

Her teaching is grounded in practical examples and complex case scenarios, illuminating the risks and responsibilities that arise when providing behavioral health services via telehealth. Through this self-paced course, she offers clinicians real-world insights and actionable strategies for aligning their practice with the highest ethical standards.

You’ll explore layered ethical dilemmas involving confidentiality, dual relationships, duty to warn, suicide risk, social media boundaries, and informed consent. The course also unpacks jurisdictional regulations, interstate licensure complications, and how HIPAA compliance intersects with clinical care.

Key Takeaways:

• Clarity on ethical standards: Gain a deep understanding of how professional codes of ethics apply in telehealth settings and across state lines.

• Confidence in complex situations: Learn how to analyze, navigate, and resolve ethical dilemmas in telemental health using practical decision-making models.

• Protection for clients and clinicians: Strengthen your ability to safeguard client confidentiality and navigate dual roles, all while staying compliant with legal standards.

Why this course?

• A trusted authority: Dr. Ann Ordway’s unique combination of legal and clinical expertise ensures a comprehensive and credible learning experience.

• Immediate application: Clinicians will walk away with tools and strategies they can apply right away to ethically strengthen their telehealth practice.

• Backed by excellence: Offered by the Telehealth Certification Institute, a leader in behavioral health education committed to innovation, integrity, and client-centered care.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the specific provisions of various professional codes of ethics that guide telehealth practice in behavioral health.

• Identify at least two ethical dilemmas that might arise in the context of providing telehealth services and apply ethical decision-making processes to resolve these dilemmas.

• Explore the challenges of maintaining confidentiality and managing dual relationships in the context of telehealth.

• Evaluate the implications of telehealth on informed consent and documentation practices in behavioral health services.

Ethical excellence in telemental health isn’t a given—it’s a skill that must be learned, practiced, and refined. Join us in this vital self-study course and equip yourself to deliver care that is not only clinically sound, but ethically unshakable.

Enroll now to boost your confidence and enhance your impact as a behavioral health professional.

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Instruction consists of 1.5 hours of video instruction and a post-test.

Course Details

Availability: From the time of registration, you have six months to access the coursework.

Who Should Attend: This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.

How to Attend: Course access and completion instructions.

Instructor and Disclosures

Ann Ordway, JD, PhD

Ann Ordway, JD, PhD, has a law degree and a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision.  She is a retired family law attorney following approximately 20+ years of private practice in New Jersey, where she primarily worked with high conflict divorce dynamics, parenting coordination, and child advocacy. She received her MA and EdS in Counseling from Seton Hall University and completed her Practicum and Internship at the Counseling Services program on campus. Ann has been trained as a family mediator, a Guardian Ad Litem, and as a Parenting Coordinator.  Clinical experience has included work with high-conflict families, victims of domestic violence, anger management with accused offenders of domestic violence, and school counseling.  Ann has taught graduate-level clinical mental health and school counseling for nearly 14 years, both in-person and via distance learning.  She was the College Academic Director of Counseling at a University in Phoenix, Arizona, and she is a former president of the Arizona Counseling Association.  She is currently the program director at the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, where she facilitates the delivery of trainings for an international, interdisciplinary audience of family law professionals.

Dr. Ordway’s doctoral dissertation on the experiences of parenting coordinators working with high-conflict couples engaged in intimate partner violence dynamics is the foundation of her current research.  She is a national and international presenter, and has published in peer-reviewed journals on topics related to high-conflict families, the impact of divorce on children, ethics, and the preparedness of counselors for court-involved roles and general court involvement.

Disclosure Statement: The instructor(s) for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

Credit Hours: This course consists of 1.5 ethics continuing education hours of credit.

Counselors:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Mental Health Counselors. #MHC-0048.

Marriage and Family Therapists: Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0135, effective May 8, 2025.

Social Workers:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, 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: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 1.5 ethics continuing education credits.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers #SW-0435.

Addiction Professionals:

This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits, effective 1/16/2025. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

Psychologists:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.

Art Therapists: Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.

Other Professionals: This course qualifies for 90 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

This is a non-interactive, self-study course.

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement