Course Overview

Ethical decision-making is particularly challenging when working with clients who are adolescents. Legal rights, ethical concerns, and guidelines change as your client ages. A 10-year-old is a child in every legal and developmental sense of the word. As puberty happens the individual’s cognitive abilities, education and life experiences impact their decision-making capacity. Depending on the country or state you work in, laws vary around privacy, right to give or withhold consent, driving, alcohol use, school attendance, parent’s rights, responsibilities, and more. By 18 or 21 most governments recognize individuals as legal adults. Science tells us that full developmental growth continues until our mid-twenties. This workshop will focus on ethical decision-making and resources to support the professional in that process. The critical role of consultation with colleagues and experts in the field as a standard of ethical professional behavior will be explored. Creating a thought-out approach for ethical decision-making ensures that you are supporting your clients the best you can as they move through adolescence to adulthood.

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This intermediate level course is appropriate for psychologists, social workers, counselors, and other helping professionals who work with adolescents in their practice.