Today’s MFT law and ethics practice question explores the issue of standard of care. What is standard of care? Simply put, it is the usual and customary standards employed by therapists in their day-to-day work. The standard of care guides all that we do when we work with our clients: the interventions we use, the treatment plans we develop, the consultations we seek, our record keeping practices, how we advertise, how and when we collaborate with others... I think you get the point. Standard of care does not imply we must be perfect in all that we do, but rather, we must behave in ways that other reasonable and prudent practitioners would behave if and when they face similar situations. If we fail to behave in a way that meets the standard of care, we leave ourselves vulnerable to legal and professional ramifications.
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