• course Info
  • Ce Approvals

Ethics for Therapists Who Coach: Scope, Confidentiality, and Referring Between Roles (CM 3)

CE Hours 6

About this course

Many licensed therapists offer coaching, consulting, or other non-clinical services alongside their clinical work — and that arrangement raises real ethical questions about scope of practice, dual roles, confidentiality, and when to refer out. This course addresses those questions directly, drawing on contemporary scholarship on professional boundaries and the codes of ethics governing both clinical and coaching practice. Participants will learn how to clearly distinguish coaching from therapy in their welcome packets, marketing, and intake conversations; how to maintain ethical congruence when their clinical and coaching codes differ; and how to handle the moment when clinical material emerges during a coaching engagement. The course emphasizes the principle of "one role per engagement" — practitioners show up as a therapist OR as a coach, never both, and refer out when material falls outside the scope of the role they are providing.

Learning Objectives

  • Differentiate between morals, values, principles, and ethics as distinct constructs in professional practice, and identify ethics as a codified system of agreed-upon professional standards.
  • Distinguish the scope, focus, and purpose of psychotherapy from those of non-clinical coaching, including the differences in confidentiality protections, healing-modality status, and clinical scope.
  • Apply ethical decision-making principles to common dilemmas faced by therapists who provide coaching services, including dual-role concerns, scope creep, and managing acute clinical material that emerges during a coaching engagement.
  • Demonstrate the ethical principle of "one role per engagement" — recognizing when to refer out, how to communicate scope clearly to clients, and how to draft a coaching welcome packet that distinguishes coaching from therapy.
  • Analyze scenarios involving conflicts between a therapist's clinical code (e.g., NASW, APA) and a coaching code, and identify strategies for ethical congruence — including following the more stringent standard when codes differ.

Learning Levels

  • All

Course Instructor(s)

  • Dr. Liz Lasky, PhD, LCSW, ACC

    Dr. Liz Lasky, PhD, LCSW, is the founder of The Coach Training Program For Helping Professionals™ and lizlasky.com. She is passionate about teaching therapists how to coach ethically and well. Dr. Liz Lasky is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (NY State, MSW from Yeshiva University). She holds a PhD from Yeshiva University in Social Welfare. She is also a New York University Certified Coach and holds the International Coach Federation credential of Associate Certified Coach (ACC). She is an adjunct professor at Fordham University. She is a published author (both in peer reviewed academic journals and her own book), a professional expert for Bravo TV, and presents her research on coaching single women internationally, most notably at Harvard University. She is also a proud Fellow of The Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, Harvard University.

Disclosure

DISCLOSURE OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity ― including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests). The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity’s planners, faculty, and the reviewer: PLANNERS AND REVIEWER The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships. FACULTY The faculty of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

References

  • Amaglo, E. (2022). Managing boundaries and multiple relationships in counselling and psychotherapy. Global Journal of Psychology, 2(1), 1-11. DOI: 10.51594/gjp.v2i1.361
  • American Psychological Association. (2002, July). American Psychological Association ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct.
  • National Association of Social Workers. (2021). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. NASW Press. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics
  • Pedersen, S. H., Radovic, S., Nilsson, T., & Eriksson, L. (2025). Dual-roles and beyond: values, ethics, and practices in forensic mental health decision-making. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 28(2), 199-211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-024-10247-2
  • Reamer, F. G. (2006). Ethical standards in social work: A review of the NASW code of ethics. (No Title).
  • Gross, E. B. (2024). Social work values and the NASW code of ethics: Problems of function and possibilities for change. Journal of Progressive Human Services, 35(3), 247-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/10428232.2025.2455883

CE Process Info

Content

  • Joint Accreditation (JA)

    In support of improving patient care, CE Learning Systems is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

  • American Psychological Association (APA)

    Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.

  • New York Education Department's State Board for Social Work (NYEDSW)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #0060.

  • New York Education Department for Licensed Mental Health Counselors (NYSEDLMHC)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.

  • New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology (NYEDPSY)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #PSY-0016.

  • New York Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy (NYEDMFT)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MFT-0045.

Ethics for Therapists Who Coach: Scope, Confidentiality, and Referring Between Roles (CM 3)
You Have Completed This course
$1000
You are enrolled
  • CE Hours
    6
  • Type
    Self-Paced
  • Publication Date
    Apr 28th, 2026

Reset password


Reset your password by providing your email below





Next

We sent a reset password link to the email address you provided.


{{reset.email}}


If you do not see the email, try checking your junk or spam folder.


If you don't receive a link in the email you provided, please click the button below to resend the verification email.

Resend

Please wait {{timer}} seconds to resend



Next

Sign in


Enter your email to get started.




Next

Sign in


Good news! Your email is associated with an account. Enter your password or click here to reset it




Login

Thanks for signing up!


We sent an verification email to the address you provided. Please check your email to verify your email address.


{{signup.email}}


If you do not see the email, try checking your junk or spam folder.


If you don't receive a link in the email you provided, please click the button below to resend the verification email.



Resend

Please wait {{timer}} seconds to resend

Sign up




Sign up

Shopping Cart


Items
Price
Remove

  • {{ item.name }} ({{ item.courses.length }} courses)

    {{ item.credit_hours }} Credits
    {{ item.coupons.map((c)=> c.code).join(', ') }}
    ${{ item.totals.price }}
    ${{ item.totals.total_price }}
Apply


Cart is empty

${{ $store.state.profile.data.totals?.price }}
Total ${{ $store.state.profile.data.totals?.total_price }}
Continue Shopping Checkout

Thank you for your purchase


To access the course content, click the button below. Enrolled courses may be accessed at any time by going to your Account and clicking Courses


Go to Course

Thank you for your purchase

To access your courses, please click the button below. Enrolled courses may be accessed at any time by going to your Account and clicking either Events or Courses


My Account

Payment

{{$store.state.payment.paymentErrorMessage }}
Pay now