Helping professionals are drawn to their profession by a deep desire to serve others through support and compassion. As instruments of change, it is crucial for clinicians to be in touch with their own beliefs, biases, and areas of strain when faced with their clients’ personal challenges. In order to comfortably and ethically support others, clinicians must establish and maintain professional boundaries. The process of holding firm to one’s own professional boundaries can result in strain and tension within the clinician which must be managed effectively during client interactions in order to boundary violations and the potential to cause confusion or harm in client care. Through participation in this workshop, participants will explore the intersection between personal and professional boundaries to strengthen clinical skills
Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to
- Establish foundation for developing sense of professional boundaries
- Explore common boundary pitfalls
- Identify tools to maintain effective professional boundaries
Syllabus:
Objective #1: Define boundaries
- What is the broad definition of boundaries in human interaction
- How do professional boundaries compare to personal boundaries?
- What are “compassionate boundaries”?
- How can clinicians lean on the guidance of codes of ethics/ethical models to support and inform our professional boundaries?
Objective #2: Establish foundation for developing sense of professional boundaries
- Exploration of individual personal vs professional boundaries
- Using experiential activities to consider personal vs professional boundaries
- Identify areas of tension between personal and professional boundaries including faith beliefs, conceptualization of family, personal history with mental health and trauma, and current personal triggers
- Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Objective #3: Explore common boundary pitfalls
- Disclosure
- Scope of practice and when referrals are indicated
- Working within a given system of care vs antagonizing/disparaging collaborative, multi-disciplinary partners
- Avoiding potential harm to clients and self with regards to transference/countertransference, grief, and trauma triggers
Objective #4: Identify tools to maintain effective professional boundaries
- Strengthening our boundary toolkits
- Informed consent
- Supervision
- Peer consultation and support
Social workers completing this course receive 2 Ethics asynchronous continuing education credits.
For other board approvals, this course qualifies for 2 Ethics continuing education training.
Instructor: Katie Wangelin, MSW, LCSW
Recording Date: June 5, 2025
CEUS On-Demand, LLC, provider #2274, 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: 08/7/2026 - 08/6/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 2hrs Ethics continuing education credits.
CEUs On-Demand, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7091. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CEUs On-Demand, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
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Request for Special Accommodations: Learners can request special accommodations by contacting the administrative team at admin@ceus-ondemand.com