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Holding the Line: Professional Boundaries, Ethical Integrity, and the Modern Clinician

CLINICAL EVENTS

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Holding the Line: Professional Boundaries, Ethical Integrity, and the Modern Clinician

Professional Boundaries

Dec. 18, 2026

10:00 AM - 1:15 PM (EST)

Virtual Event
3 CE Ethics Credits

What happens when the cost of caring begins to impact your clinical judgment?

This interactive ethics training—approved for clinicians in all states—explores the critical link between clinician wellness, professional boundaries, and ethical decision-making.

Learn to recognize early signs of burnout and ethical vulnerability, while gaining practical strategies to protect your well-being, strengthen boundaries, and navigate complex clinical situations with clarity and confidence.

Professional Boundaries

Clinicians across disciplines—including social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, and nurses—are tasked with sustaining high ethical and professional standards while navigating emotionally demanding caseloads, administrative strain, and complex organizational expectations.  In the process of supporting clients through significant life challenges, many clinicians unintentionally overlook early indicators of personal distress, impaired functioning, and ethical vulnerability.

The cost of caring often emerges as burnout, compassion fatigue, impaired judgment, and compromised wellness, all of which threaten clinical competence and ethical integrity. This interactive training offers a comprehensive framework that integrates ethics, psychological well-being, supervision standards, and evidence-informed self-care practices.

Participants will deepen their understanding of how clinician wellness is essential to ethical decision-making, therapeutic effectiveness, and sustainable practice. Through guided reflection and practical strategies, this workshop equips clinicians to safeguard their well-being, uphold integrity, and preserve the therapeutic alliance, and navigate ethical dilemmas with increased clarity, confidence, and resilience.  This is an ethics training with a focus on professional boundaries, designed to meet the NYSED requirement.

Session Highlights
  • Ethical vulnerability, Boundaries, and the cost of caring
  • Wellness and Conduct as an Ethical Mandate
  • Psychological Well-Being for Clinicians
  • Recognizing Risks and Managing Emotional Impact of High Caseloads
  • Self-Prioritization, Supervision, and Accountability Practices
Key Takeaways for Clinicians

“Maintaining professional boundaries is essential for creating safe, ethical, and effective therapeutic relationships. This workshop provides clinicians with practical guidance for recognizing boundary challenges, strengthening ethical decision-making, and protecting both client welfare and professional integrity.

You’ll explore how professional boundaries influence trust, therapeutic effectiveness, confidentiality, dual relationships, self-disclosure, and the clinician’s role across a variety of treatment settings. Through realistic case examples and reflective discussion, you’ll develop practical strategies for responding to complex ethical situations with greater confidence.

The training also examines how professional boundaries support ethical integrity by reducing the risk of boundary drift, maintaining objectivity, and promoting sound clinical judgment. Participants will leave with actionable tools that can be applied immediately to everyday practice while navigating evolving ethical expectations.

Whether you work in private practice, hospitals, schools, or community mental health settings, this workshop will strengthen your ability to maintain professional boundaries, uphold ethical standards, and foster stronger therapeutic relationships. Continue your professional development through our Clinical Blog and Upcoming Clinical Events, while staying informed through the American Psychological Association (APA) and current guidance on ethics and professional practice”.

This live interactive webinar is designed for behavioral health professionals, including:

  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Psychotherapists
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Psychologists
  • Substance Use Disorders Counselors
  • Case Managers
  • Physicians
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

Sharon J. Lawrence, EdD, LCSW-C

Ethics, Trauma-Informed Care, and Clinician Wellness Educator

Sharon J. Lawrence, EdD, LCSW-C, is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, author, educator, consultant, and professional speaker whose work connects clinical ethics, trauma-informed care, clinician wellness, leadership development, relationship health, and organizational culture. She is the founder, owner, and lead therapist of Selah Wellness & Therapeutic Services, a virtual specialty practice serving therapists, leaders, other professionals, individuals, and couples.

Sharon J. Lawrence, EdD, LCSW-C, is also the chief executive officer of SJL Professional Services, where she provides coaching, consultation, continuing education, and organizational training. Her programs address ethical competence, communication, conflict resolution, mental health, professional development, workplace wellness, diversity and inclusion, and sustainable leadership. Her work is shaped by the belief that professionals cannot consistently support others while ignoring their own emotional health, boundaries, and decision-making capacity.

Sharon J. Lawrence, EdD, LCSW-C, is known professionally as a “Therapist for Therapists” and the SelfCarePreneur. These descriptions reflect her focus on people whose roles require them to care for, supervise, educate, lead, or make decisions affecting others. Her teaching encourages clinicians and leaders to recognize that wellness is not separate from ethical competence: exhaustion, unresolved stress, isolation, financial pressure, and unclear boundaries can influence judgment, communication, documentation, and the quality of care.

Professional Background

Sharon J. Lawrence, EdD, LCSW-C, earned a Master of Social Work from the University at Buffalo and completed a Doctor of Education in Leadership at the American College of Education. Her doctoral research examined leadership wellness as a factor in ethical leadership, productivity, and organizational performance. She also holds training or credentials related to financial social work, telemental health, clinical supervision, life coaching, couples assessment, anger management, employee-assistance services, Christian ministries, and workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Sharon J. Lawrence, EdD, LCSW-C, founded Selah Wellness & Therapeutic Services as a virtual practice focused on the needs of clinicians, leaders, professionals, and couples. Current practice materials describe services involving stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, workplace concerns, relationship difficulties, boundaries, emotional regulation, and life transitions. Her integrative clinical approach may draw from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, EMDR-informed work, DBT-informed strategies, and Prepare/Enrich, depending on client needs and professional scope.

Sharon J. Lawrence, EdD, LCSW-C, leads SJL Professional Services from Tampa, Florida. The company provides professional speaking, coaching, consultation, workplace training, and continuing education for clinical and organizational audiences. Its programs connect staff wellness with communication, retention, conflict resolution, leadership behavior, team development, professional boundaries, and responsible workplace culture.

Sharon J. Lawrence, EdD, LCSW-C, is currently listed by Bowie State University as an adjunct professor in sociology. Her professional materials also describe teaching in human services at Prince George’s Community College. Her academic work helps developing professionals connect human behavior and social-service theory with the realities of ethical practice, supervision, organizational systems, and client care.

Sharon J. Lawrence, EdD, LCSW-C, has professional experience across mental health, substance-use treatment, foster care, family court, developmental-disability services, higher education, community agencies, healthcare systems, and organizational leadership. This breadth supports a teaching style that uses practical examples and structured reflection rather than presenting ethics as a set of memorized rules.

Areas of Expertise

Sharon J. Lawrence, EdD, LCSW-C, teaches clinicians and leaders to consider how personal wellness, power, professional role, organizational demands, and cultural context affect ethical decision-making. Her work is especially relevant to professionals who carry responsibility for vulnerable clients, supervise other practitioners, manage teams, or routinely absorb the emotional consequences of helping work.

Clinical Ethics and Ethical Decision-Making. Dr. Lawrence emphasizes that ethical practice requires more than technical compliance. Clinicians must identify competing duties, examine client vulnerability and power differences, review applicable law and professional standards, seek consultation when needed, and document the reasoning behind consequential decisions. Clinical Events’ guide to therapy ethics, boundaries, confidentiality, and competence offers a complementary framework for structured ethical analysis.

Trauma-Informed Care. Her education presents trauma-informed practice as an organizational and clinical responsibility involving safety, transparency, collaboration, choice, cultural responsiveness, and the prevention of avoidable re-traumatization. It does not require assuming that every symptom is caused by trauma. Instead, it asks professionals to consider how earlier or current adversity may affect trust, engagement, emotional regulation, and responses to authority. Clinical Events’ trauma therapy guide for clinicians provides related context for assessment and treatment planning.

Professional Boundaries and Clinician Wellness. Dr. Lawrence explores the relationship among burnout, overfunctioning, role confusion, self-disclosure, after-hours availability, dual relationships, and ethical vulnerability. Boundaries are presented as structures that protect the therapeutic relationship, not as emotional distance or inflexibility. Clinical Events’ resource on professional boundaries for therapists includes additional examples involving digital contact, gifts, community overlap, and gradual boundary drift.

Clinical Supervision and Professional Development. Her supervision work addresses case conceptualization, documentation, competence, countertransference, cultural humility, professional identity, and the responsible use of supervisory authority. Effective supervision should create room for questions and mistakes while still protecting clients and maintaining clear performance expectations. Her official profile identifies her as a board-approved clinical supervisor in social work.

Leadership and Organizational Wellness. Dr. Lawrence’s doctoral and consulting work examines how leader wellness may influence communication, productivity, ethics, staff retention, conflict, and organizational performance. She encourages organizations to look beyond individual self-care and examine workload, role clarity, psychological safety, supervision, access to support, and whether workplace expectations are sustainable.

Financial Wellness and Financial Social Work. Her Certified Financial Social Worker background informs education on the emotional and relational effects of money. Financial stress may influence anxiety, sleep, conflict, healthcare decisions, professional performance, and feelings of safety. Her approach focuses on financial behavior and emotional awareness without crossing into individualized investment, tax, or legal advice.

Telebehavioral Health. Dr. Lawrence’s telemental health preparation supports education on privacy, informed consent, emergency planning, client location, secure communication, and digital boundaries. Clinical Events’ guide to telehealth ethics and client privacy provides complementary risk-management information for virtual practice.

Relationships, Communication, and Conflict Resolution. Her clinical, coaching, and Prepare/Enrich work addresses communication cycles, expectations, boundaries, emotional safety, finances, commitment, and conflict within couples and professional relationships. The objective is not to eliminate disagreement but to support clearer communication, accountability, and more intentional responses.

Authored Publications

The following works are supported by her official author catalog, dissertation repository, and professional publication records.

  • Exploration of Leadership Wellness as a Key Factor in Ethical Leadership Productivity, and Organizational Performance: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study
  • Balance Boldly!: 12 Strategies to Improve Relationships, Self-Care and Boundaries
  • Balance Boldly! The Journal: 21-Day Reflection Journal
  • 7 Simple Ways to Shape Your Marriage
  • My Everything Gratitude Journal
  • My Everything Gratitude Journal for Youth: I Am Everything from A to Z

 

Other Events

Ethical Healing Frontiers: Trauma-Informed Practice That Transforms

Oct. 3 | 3 CE Ethics Credits

Ethical Healing Frontiers: Trauma-Informed Practice That Transforms

Jan. 16 | 3 CE Ethics Credits

After this training, participants will be able to:

  • Apply core ethical principles to reduce risk, protect clients, and maintain clinician wellness.
  • Demonstrate how NASW, APA, ACA, AAMFT, and ANA ethical codes contribute to competence,
    integrity, and liability prevention.
  • Assess common ethical dilemmas across clinical and non-clinical settings, including
    boundaries, impairment, and conflicts of interest.
  • Summarize the Theory of Levels of Stigma, Epistemology, and Orem’s Self-Care Theory as they
    relate to practitioner wellness.
  • Define traumatic stress, burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma, and describe their
    ethical implications.

10:00 -10:05 am – Introduction
10:05-10:30 am – Overview, Objectives, Code of Ethics
10:30-11:00 am – Defining Ethics, Limits, Habit Formation, Considerations, Psychological Well-
Being, Dimensions of Wellness and Addressing Burnout & Stress with Wellness
11:00-11:30 am – Case Scenarios, Non-Exemption, Stages of Burnout, Compassion Fatigue,
Vicarious Trauma
11:30-11:45 am – Break
11:45-12:15 pm – Substance Abuse, Well-Being Assessment, Ethical Matters, Personal Conflict
12:15-12:45 pm – Self-Prioritization, Liability, Competence, Private Actions, Integrity, Effective
Supervision Model
12:45-1:05 pm – The Weight We Carry and the Path to Restoration, Enhancing Capacity, Minimizing
Risk, Mitigating Factors, and Support and Prevention
1:05-1:15 pm – Q&A

All levels.

Registration Cost

Registration $67 | Dec. 18 | Virtual Event | 3 CE Credits | 10:00 am – 1:15 pm ET

Registration Deadline:  Dec. 18, 2026

Cancellation Policy

All registrations are non-refundable. However, you may request a full credit toward a future training if:

  • You notify us at least 72 hours before the event starts.
  • Credit is valid for up to 6 months from the original event date.
  • No credit will be issued for no-shows or cancellations made on the same day.
  • When you register for an event, you agree to these terms

Please email [email protected] to request a credit or reschedule.

A total of 3 CE Ethics credits are available.

This Program awards 3.0 continuing education hours, which may be applied toward either Ethics or Professional Boundaries

Additional Approvals Pending.


ASWB ACE

Clinical Events, LLC, (provider # 2201) 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: 11/01/2025 – 11/01/2028.

NBCC

Clinical Events, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved   Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7643 Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Clinical Events, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

NAADAC

This course has been approved by Clinical Events, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #320899, Clinical Events is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

NY State Board of Psychologists

Clinical Events, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0292.

NY State Board of Psychoanalysts

Clinical Events, LLC 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 psychoanalysts #P-0073.

NY State Board of Social Workers

Clinical Events, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0828.

NY State Board of Mental Health Counselors

Clinical Events, LLC 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-0329.

NY State Board of Marriage & Family Therapists

Clinical Events, LLC 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 marriage and family therapists #MFT-0140.

NJ State Board of Social Workers & Professional Counselors

The New Jersey Social Work Examiners Board accepts ASWB ACE Provider credits. The New Jersey Professional Counselors Board accepts NBCC-approved CE provider credits.

All Other States Social Workers & Professional Counselors

All other states accept ASWB ACE Provider credits and NBCC-approved CE provider credits. Licensees are responsible for determining whether courses meet the CE requirements in their jurisdictions. States and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for credit.

Florida Certification Board

Clinical Events is approved by the Florida Certification Board (FCB) to offer continuing education programs (Provider # 5527-A).

Canada Social Workers

BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, and QC accept ASWB ACE-approved provider programs to meet licensure renewal requirements.  Licensees are responsible for determining whether courses meet the CE requirements in their province. Provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for credit.

Canada Counsellors

Clinical Events is an NBCC-approved provider.  Licensees are responsible for determining whether courses meet the CE requirements in their province. Provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for credit.

Please contact us if you would like to inquire about applicable approvals for your continuing education (CE) needs.

Each professional is responsible for understanding and meeting the specific CE requirements set by their individual licensing board or regulatory agency. We encourage you to reach out to your licensing body directly to confirm how our programs apply toward your licensure renewal.

Questions:  [email protected]

In accordance with continuing education standards and requirements, the presenter discloses that they have no relevant financial relationships, affiliations, or conflicts of interest to report.

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