Skip to Main Content Skip to bottom Skip to Chat, Email, Text
Back to Program

MFCC/551CA

Legal and Ethical Issues in Marriage and Family Therapy

3 credits

Total credits

8 weeks

Course length

Request info

Take this course on its own, or as part of a degree or certificate program.

View all programs

Please Note: Attendance and participation are mandatory in all University courses, and specific requirements may differ by course. If attendance requirements are not met, a student may be removed from the course. Please review the Course Attendance Policy in the Catalog for more information.

University of Phoenix reserves the right to modify courses. While widely available, not all programs are available to residents of all states. Please check with a University Enrollment Representative.

Course level: Graduate

This course covers legal and ethical responsibilities of the marriage and family counselor, including California state laws governing mental health professionals. Emphasis is placed on the current legal patterns and trends governing client rights, duty to warn, duty to protect, treatment of minors, parent consent, multiple relationships, and application in special situations and with special populations. Students learn how to interpret and act appropriately in a wide variety of ethical situations as well as recognize and explore the relationship between a practitioner’s sense of self and human values and his or her professional behavior and ethics.

Please Note: Attendance and participation are mandatory in all University courses, and specific requirements may differ by course. If attendance requirements are not met, a student may be removed from the course. Please review the Course Attendance Policy in the Catalog for more information.

University of Phoenix reserves the right to modify courses. While widely available, not all programs are available to residents of all states. Please check with a University Enrollment Representative.

What you'll learn

Course skills and outcomes

  • Identify the main content areas of the CAMFT Code of Ethics.
  • Determine the influence of personal values on ethical decision making.
  • Apply models of ethical decision making.
  • Recognize the role of the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) in licensing law and the licensing process.

  • Apply informed consent to various clinical settings.
  • Distinguish between confidentiality and privileged communication in the therapist and client relationship.
  • Describe the requirements of the duty to warn and protect in cases of danger to self and others.
  • Apply HIPAA to client rights in counseling practice.

  • Explain multiple relationships in the counseling process.
  • Describe physical, social, emotional, and sexual boundaries.
  • Determine strategies to communicate boundary issues with a client, resulting from warning signs exhibited during counseling.
  • Determine the role that power and prestige play in boundary violations.

  • Describe the concepts of scope of practice and scope of competence.
  • Describe risk management strategies in professional practice.
  • Describe the consequences of legal, ethical, and regulatory complaints against the practitioner.
  • Differentiate among the legal and ethical standards for different types of work settings for Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs).

  • Explain ethical considerations unique to the practice of marriage and family therapy.
  • Identify therapeutic, clinical, and practical considerations involved in family law and the treatment of minors.
  • Identify the legal considerations in the treatment of minors with and without parental consent.
  • Describe consent to treatment and confidentiality in relation to custody issues.

  • Identify guidelines for reporting and assessing elder, child, and partner abuse.
  • Identify the legal and ethical issues associated with cases of domestic violence.
  • Describe the process of responding to subpoenaed records.
  • Describe the importance and limitations of advocacy especially in cases of severe mental illness.
  • Identify community resources for persons with mental illness and for victims of abuse.

  • Identify ethical guidelines for research participants.
  • Describe the importance of professional consultation and supervision.
  • Identify ethical guidelines for students and supervisees.

  • Identify the relationship between a practitioner’s sense of self and human values, and his or her professional behaviors and ethics.
  • Identify when and how the therapist’s personal life can influence his or her practice.
  • Describe identification and prevention strategies for burnout and compassion fatigue.

Why UOPX

Why take courses at University of Phoenix

Accreditation that matters

We’ve been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org) for more than 40 years.

Real-world instructors

Learn from instructors who bring an average of 25 years of working experience to the classroom.

Affordable and potentially reimbursable

Our tuition and fees are competitive and fixed. Also, check to see if your employer will cover you for this course.

Next Steps

Smiling enrollment representative

Start a conversation about your future with an enrollment representative today.

Call 844-937-8679
Start chatting

Transfer Credits

Credit Transfer

Need to transfer credits to another college or university?

Before you enroll in a course, check with your school of choice to make sure they will accept our transfer credits and to understand any requirements or limitations. Then you can complete your course, and request your official transcript be sent to your school. That’s it!

How to request your transcripts

Transferability of credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution. It is the student’s responsibility to confirm whether or not credits earned at University of Phoenix will be accepted by another institution of the student’s choice. If you have a question contact us at (866) 354-1800.

The University of Phoenix reserves the right to modify courses. Although our continuing teacher education courses are accepted by some state agencies in the United States toward teacher certifications and endorsements, this may not be the case in all states or foreign jurisdictions. If you plan to use courses for certification or endorsement, please check with your own state agency and your school district for applicability. Continuing teacher education courses are not eligible to apply to degree programs at University of Phoenix. These courses are not eligible for federal financial aid. Transferability of credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution. It is the student’s responsibility to confirm whether or not credits earned at University of Phoenix will be accepted by another institution of the student’s choice. While widely available, not all programs are available to residents of all states. Please check with a University Enrollment Representative. If you have a question contact us at (866) 354-1800.