Marriage and family therapists are governed by the statutes of the states in which they practice. The laws, rules, and regulations governing mental health practice are determined by each state. Therapists are also guided by the ethical codes of the primary organization representing their profession: The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). These standards, statutes, and codes help to protect both therapists and clients.

Read the Codes of Ethics and Synopsis of State Laws Scoring Guide to learn how this assignment will be evaluated and to ensure you have addressed the assignment’s grading criteria. Refer to the Unit 1 Studies for resources regarding state statutes.

For this assignment, review the following documents:

• The AAMFT Code of Ethics, linked in Resources. This document represents the framework that guides professional relationships of marriage and family therapists.
• The Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards (AMFTRB) website, linked in Resources, is another potential resource for your state’s statutes and rules.
• You may also find links to states’ rules and statutes on their official state board websites.

Write a short paper that addresses the following:

1. What is the process you need to follow to obtain licensure in your state?

Statutes establishing licensing requirements may be found at Tenn. Code Ann. 63-22-106 and are detailed in Board regulations at 0450-02-.04(01) and 0450-02(01):

The applicant must be of excellent moral character, as shown by letters of reference and a background check; and hold a master’s or doctorate degree from an authorized school in marital and family therapy or an analogous area. If the degree is not in marital and family therapy, a DSM course and at least three hundred (300) hours of supervised practicum/internship are necessary, with expertise in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of cognitive, affective, and behavioral issues or dysfunctions in the current DSM. Applicants must also pass the AAMFT Exam; and pass the Tennessee Jurisprudence Exam for LMFTs as conducted by Board Staff; and complete two (2) years of professional experience, including at least 1000 hours of face-to-face clinical practice and 200 hours of supervision by an AAMFT-approved supervisor.

• Discuss the state’s limits to confidentiality. Discuss what the AAMFT Code of Ethics state about confidentiality based on the licenses that you are obtaining?

In accordance with the AAMFT Code of Ethics, I pledge to each client to respect and protect their privacy (AAMFT, 2022). While I will make every attempt, it is my duty as a therapist to tell clients and other interested parties about the nature of confidentiality and possible limitations on their right to privacy. Therapists discuss with clients when and how to ask for confidential information and when it must be legally disclosed. (AAMFT, 2022). Our profession requires confidentiality, and a client’s progress or development might be hampered if they lack trust in their therapist. Every client must be distinctive. Early communication and openness can help minimize future confusion and distrust.In Tennessee, all parents have legal authority over their underage children. The term “guardianship” refers to the legal relationship (ARC, 2011). Tennessee, on the other hand, recognizes the’mature minor exemption’ to permission for behavioral health treatment, which establishes a minimum consent age of 16 years for mental health treatment and/or services. While TCA 33-1-101 defines a “minor child” as someone under the age of 18, TCA 33-8-202 specifies that if a kid with a major emotional disorder or mental disease is 16 years of age or older, the child has the same rights as an adult regarding, among other things, sensitive information. Additionally, TCA 33-3-104 designates as one of the persons entitled to consent to the disclosure of confidential information a service recipient who is 16 years of age or older (TDMHSAS Policies and procedures, 2011). Thus, teenagers sixteen years of age and older in Tennessee are believed to have the maturity to consent to medical care, including mental health care, and are capable of signing their own consents for treatments, services, and/or testing (DCS, 2011). Because young people in DCS custody may consent to mental health therapy on their own, parental, legal guardian, or legal custodian consent is not required. Nonetheless, some mental health clinicians may elect not to treat 16-year-old adolescents without parental involvement. When a 16-year-old does not want his or her parents involved, another mental health specialist should be found (DCS, 2011).

• How could you use the AAMFT Code of Ethics to advocate change for the profession of Marriage and Family Therapy?
• Using the AAMFT Code of Ethics, evaluate how you see your value system and how it might conflict with what you are ethically bound to do as a therapist.

When taking the Implicit Association Test earlier in our course, I chose the religious sector. My thought process that occurred when I was thinking about which one to choose, was to choose one that I knew the most about, and the one I’d feel most comfortable discussing in a professional environment. The result of the test was that I preferred Christianity over Islam. I was not surprised about my result, as I have a vast amount more knowledge of Christianity over Islam. In that regard, I think it affirms my thinking that when I have more knowledge, my implicit bias can tend to be towards things I know more about. Further, thinking about my comfort level discussing topics I’m not thoroughly knowledgeable about tends to make me feel uncomfortable and anxious. When taking the test I think that discomfort came about when I had to associate good or bad to Christianity or Islam. It made me hesitate in my answers, because I tend to have a realist world-view.. not everything about anything is always good, and not everything about anything is always bad. Its really a glass half-full and glass half-empty perspective simultaneously. I think in the future that could potentially serve me well as a marriage and family therapist, I tend to like to view issues through a mostly objective lens, and be highly aware of biases I may have going in and account for those feelings/thoughts I may have at a particular behavior and acknowledge it, but push it aside to take into account that particular individual.

• Compare the AAMFT ethical codes with Tennessee’s statutes governing the practice of marriage and family therapist; how is privileged communication defined?
• How is a duty to warn or protect defined by Tennessee, and what are the limitations? How are ethical complaints handled in your state?
• Identify ethical and culturally relevant strategies for establishing and maintaining in-person and technology-assisted relationships.

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (US). Using Technology-Based Therapeutic Tools in Behavioral Health Services. Rockville (MD): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US); 2015. (Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series, No. 60.) 1, Part 1, Chapter 1. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK344038/

The use of electronic media and information technologies in behavioral health treatment, recovery support, and prevention programs is rapidly gaining acceptance. Technology-based assessments and interventions are important therapeutic tools that clinicians can integrate into their work with clients. Additionally, technology allows alternative models of care to be offered to clients with specific needs that limit their ability to participate or interest in participating in more conventional interventions targeting behavioral health. Technology-assisted care (TAC) can transcend geographic boundaries to reach many people otherwise unable to access services and is useful in a wide variety of settings, including Web-based interventions offered in the home, community organizations, schools, emergency rooms, and healthcare providers’ offices, as well as via mobile devices and online social networks. Furthermore, TAC is often accessible on demand at the user’s convenience, thus reducing barriers to accessing care.

As of 2014, 87 percent of the population used the Internet (Pew Research Center [PRC], 2014), and only 7 percent of those who did not use the Internet lacked access to it (PRC, 2013). In 2012, 72 percent of Internet users reported seeking health information online (PRC, 2013). This represents a substantial increase from 2009, when only 61 percent of adults reported looking for health information online (Jones & Fox, 2009). Moreover, 90 percent of people now own a cell phone (PRC, 2014) and 64 percent own a smartphone (PRC, 2015); of those with a smartphone, 62 percent reported having used it to acquire some type of health-related information (PRC, 2015). The number of adults who have an account with an online social network increased from 8 percent in 2005 to 46 percent in 2009 (Lenhart, 2009c). Currently, 74 percent of adults who use the Internet use a social networking site, with 89 percent of those ages 18 to 29 and 82 percent of those ages 30 to 49 reporting use (Duggan et al., 2015). As a result of these considerable increases in overall online access, TAC could potentially have a significant impact on public health. Major strides have already been made in the promotion and use of telemedicine, including telebehavioral health.

The use of technology, such as a computer or a mobile device, in screening for and assessing individuals’ behavioral health needs may allow for the efficient, standardized, and cost-effective collection of clinically relevant client information in diverse settings. This can be particularly important in healthcare settings where clinicians trained in behavioral health assessment procedures are not readily available and where opportunities to identify individuals who may benefit from behavioral health interventions are missed.

TAC gives clients access to screening, intervention, and oversight by trained behavioral health staff members in remote locations. Brief computerized screenings can identify individuals with varying levels and types of behavioral health needs and can identify the differing resources and services that may be helpful to them. These brief screenings may also be useful as a less intensive therapeutic option for individuals not willing to seek professional care actively at a given point in time.

Technology-based interventions targeting behavioral health may be used as “clinician extenders,” or additional tools used by clinicians that can also be made available to clients (Bickel, Marsch, &Budney, 2013; Carroll &Rounsaville, 2010; Marsch, 2011b). For example, distance counseling approaches may fill a treatment gap for those who cannot readily access care in their local communities: individuals in rural or remote settings, people who are unable to commute to behavioral health service providers’ offices, and/or people uninterested in traditional service delivery models. Additionally, by offering TAC to clients (e.g., encouraging clients to complete online skills training modules), clinicians may increase their time availability for clients with multiple challenges; focus more of their time on the delivery of services that require their clinical expertise and interaction with clients; and enable clients to review repetitive but clinically important content, such as psychoeducational material, without having to devote extensive time to such activities themselves.

E-therapeutic tools can also serve as clinician extenders by helping clinicians work with a larger number of clients and/or for longer periods of time (e.g., online counseling offered as relapse prevention after a more intensive treatment episode), which allows them to have a greater impact with their service delivery. When used in this manner, TAC offers great potential for extending the benefits of treatment as well as allowing clients to access care when they need it the most. Time flexibility is another potential benefit of TAC, particularly through incorporation of technologies that enable asynchronous communication between clinicians and clients—making services available on demand at times that are convenient for clients. As a result, TAC allows widespread access to therapeutic support, thereby creating unprecedented models of intervention delivery and reducing barriers to accessing care.

• Organize your paper according to the Unit 4 Assignment scoring guide, making sure to address all Distinguished Criteria.

Refer to the AAMFT Code of Ethics and the statutes governing the practice in your state.

Paper Components

Include the following components in your paper:

1. Title page.
2. Body.
3. Reference list: Cite the codes and state statutes, along with any other resources you incorporate in your paper.

Structural Requirements

• Written communication: Writing must be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
• APA formatting: Resources and citations must be formatted according to current APA style and formatting.
• Length of paper: Be concise. The length of the paper must be limited to 5–7 typed, double-spaced pages.
• Font: Times New Roman, 12 point.