Friday, April 27, 2007
Registration 7:30am - 8:30am
Program: 8:30am - 4:00pm

6 Credits

For Psychologists: Ethical Decision-Making
and The New APA Ethics Code

The Workshop: This ethics workshop for psychologists will consist of two parts. The first part of the workshop will address ethical decision-making, the relationship between ethics and law with specific attention to Rhode Island state law, and ways to minimize exposure to legal and ethical liability. This part of the program will include a discussion of the APA Ethics Code, with a focus on the structure of the Code and the relationship between aspirational principles and ethical standards, a distinction retained and elaborated upon by the new APA Ethics Code. The first part of the program will also emphasize how other health pracitioners can use the APA Ethics Code to facilitate ethical decision-making.

This discussion will lay the foundation for the second part of the program, which will focus explictly and in detail on the new Ethics Code. This aspect of the program will highlight significant differences between the 1992 and the new Ethics Code, with emphasis on differences most relevant to practitioners. Case vignettes will illustrate these differences and will demonstrate ethical decision-making in mental health clinical practice.

Learning Objectives:

1. To identify a process for resolving legal and ethical dilemmas;

2. To find concrete ways to minimize exposure to legal and ethical
    liability;

3. To use the Ethics Code as a tool to facilitate ethical decision-
    making;

4. To identify significant differences between the 1992 and the
    new APA Ethics Code relevant to practitioners;

5. To understand how specific standards in the new Ethics Code
    relate to the practice of psychology.

Stephen H. Behnke, J.D. , Ph.D., received his J.D. from Yale Law School and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan. In 1996, Dr. Behnke was made chief psychologist of the Day Hospital Unit at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, a position he held until 1998, when he was named a faculty fellow in Harvard University’s program in Ethics and the Professions. After completing this fellowship, Dr. Behnke directed a program in research integrity in the Division of Medical Ethics at Harvard Medical School. In November of 2000, Dr. Behnke assumed the position of Director
of Ethics at the American Psychological Association. He holds an appointment in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Behnke’s research interests focus on issues at the convergence of law, ethics, and psychology. He has written on multiple per-
sonality disorder and the insanity defense, on issues involving competence and informed consent to treatment and research, on forced treatment of the severely mentally ill, and on state laws
relevant to the work of mental health practitioners.
 

Location: Radisson Airport Hotel, Warwick, RI (click here for directions)

Cost: $59.00 for RIPA Members, $99.00 for non-members (Click here to Join RIPA);

Late registration fee: $20 (postmarked after Friday, April 20, 2007)

Cancellations/refunds: a handling fee of $30 is deducted for cancellation prior to Friday, April 20, 2007. No refund will be made thereafter.

Parking and Lunch: The fee includes refreshment breaks and parking. Lunch is on your own.
 
Special Needs: Please submit any special needs requirements to the RIPA CE Committee, 401-736-2900.

Registration Form: To view/print a flyer in PDF format* with full details about this program and a registration form, click here.

For more details about attendance and CE credits, click here.

 
 
* You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to download PDF files; if you don't already have Acrobat Reader, you can get it FREE from the Adobe website at www.adobe.com, or you can access the CE registration form as a printer-friendly web page by clicking here.

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