Boundaries in Mental Health Practice

Join Dr. Paul Appelbaum and Dr. Robert Klitzman, leading experts in bioethical issues in psychaitry, for Boundaries in Mental Health Practice.

This is an interactive synchronous distance learning event. This event will be held on Thursday, February 6, 2025 at 11:30 AM EST.

General registration fee: $74.00. Student/Trainee registertaion fee: $15.00.

Registration deadline is February 6, 2025 at 9am.

This is an intermediate level course.

This learning activity fulfils the professional ethics requirements for licensed psychologists and social workers.

Employees affiliated with NYSPI/Columbia Psychiatry/SPS should email to register.

Mental health professionals continue to have difficulties navigating the boundaries of the clinical relationship with their patients, ranging from developing intimate relationships, to entering into business relationships, creating online relationships, sharing information about their personal lives, and exploiting patients' vulnerabilities. As new information technologies have proliferated, a new generation of boundary issues has arisen as well, including maintaining boundaries in the use of texting, video-based technologies, and online searches.

This seminar will review the basics of professional/patient boundary issues in mental health practice, including the distinction between boundary crossings and boundary violations. The speakers will highlight some of the common challenges in navigating boundaries, including post-termination relationships, online relationships, and boundaries within closed communities. Following the introductory presentations, the speakers will lead discussions with the attendees of several case examples intended to highlight challenging boundary issues.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the distinction between boundary crossings and boundary violations in patient care.
2. Identify at least two clinical situations where problems in maintaining patient boundaries can arise
3. Discuss how to maintain appropriate boundaries with patients via a review of case examples.

, the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine and Law, and Director, Division of Law, Ethics and Psychiatry at Columbia, was previously A.F. Zeleznik Distinguished Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry; and Director, Law and Psychiatry Program, University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Dr. Appelbaum is the author of many articles and books on law and ethics in clinical practice. Dr. Appelbaum is Past President of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, and the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, and has twice served as Chair of the Council on Psychiatry and Law and of the Committee on Judicial Action for the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Dr. Appelbaum is currently Chair of the DSM Steering Committee for APA, and of the Standing Committee on Ethics of the World Psychiatric Association. He has received the Isaac Ray Award of the American Psychiatric Association for "outstanding contributions to forensic psychiatry and the psychiatric aspects of jurisprudence," was the Fritz Redlich Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Appelbaum performs forensic evaluations in civil and criminal cases, and treats patients with a broad variety of problems, including depression, anxiety, and adjustment problems.

is a professor of psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Joseph Mailman School of Public Health, and the Program Director of the Master of Science in Bioethics at Columbia University. He co-founded and for five years co-directed the Columbia University Center for Bioethics, and directed the Ethics and Policy Core of the HIV Center for 10 years.

He has published over 180 scientific journal articles, nine books, and numerous chapters on critical issues in bioethics including genetics, neuroethics, HIV prevention, research ethics, and doctor-patient relationships.

Klitzman has received numerous awards for his work, including fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund, the Aaron Diamond Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. He is a member of the Empire State Stem Cell Commission and served on the U.S. Department of Defense’s Research Ethics Advisory Panel. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a regular contributor to the New York Times and CNN.

This learning activity fulfils the professional ethics requirements for licensed psychologists and social workers.

This live activity is designated for a maximum of 2 CE credits.

Psychologists: Columbia University Department of Psychiatry is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Columbia University Department of Psychiatry maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Columbia University Department of Psychiatry 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-0168. Columbia University Department of Psychiatry maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Social Workers: Columbia University Department of Psychiatry 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-0732. Columbia University Department of Psychiatry maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, 1968, 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:7/19/2024-7/19/2025. Social workers completing this course receive 1 general continuing education credits.

Please direct any questions about CE credit to [email protected].

Please note that in order to receive your continuing education certificate, you must attend the entire duration of the workshop and complete the evaluation survey. Refunds are not provided for late arrivals or early departures.

Certificates of completion for CEs will be distributed via email, within 7 days of the event, to those meeting the attendance requirements.

It is important that the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry meets the learning needs, goals, and interest of our learners. The Columbia University Department of Psychiatry is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformance with the principles, standards, and ethics of the organizations which we are accredited to provide continuing education. We will comply with all legal and ethical responsibilities to be non-discriminatory in promotional activities, program content and in the treatment of program participants.

The Columbia University Department of Psychiatry goes to great lengths to assure fair treatment for all participants and attempts to anticipate problems. Even so, there will be occasional issues that come to the attention of the continuing education program staff and require intervention and/or action on the part of the staff or a member of the continuing education committee. Please contact us for more information on our procedures and guidelines for handling such grievances.

We will provide a full refund, less Eventbrite fees, for registration cancellations made by Wednesday, February 5, 2025 at 11:30 AM EST. Please email us at [email protected] to initiate a refund request.

Requests for accommodations made at least seven days prior to an event will be reviewed and considered. We will make every effort to offer appropriate accommodations and supports for those with disabilities and/or various needs. Please email us . Please email us at [email protected] with inquiries.

Event Venue

Online