Therapists often navigate complex and demanding systems—ranging from agencies and group practices to healthcare institutions—that may challenge their ethical standards, personal values, and professional boundaries. This course explores the vital skill of ethical self-advocacy, empowering clinicians to recognize when their boundaries are being compromised and how to respond effectively and professionally. Participants will learn to identify systemic pressures that can lead to burnout, moral distress, or ethical dilemmas, and will develop strategies for maintaining integrity while advocating for their own needs within organizational structures. Through discussion, case examples, and guided reflection, this course offers a framework for asserting one’s voice without compromising the therapeutic alliance or professional responsibilities. Grounded in clinical ethics and self-care principles, this course supports therapists in cultivating a sustainable and empowered professional practice.

This course focuses on the ethics of setting boundaries not just with clients—but with systems. Therapists often face pressures from agencies, institutions, or leadership that can lead to ethical strain, role conflict, and burnout. This workshop provides practical strategies for ethical self-advocacy, rooted in the NASW Code of Ethics, and addresses dual loyalty, vicarious trauma, and systems-based harm in clinical environments.

Upon completion of the webinar, participants will be able to:

• Analyze ethical tensions that arise when organizational demands conflict with clinical ethics.
• Describe the impact of role strain and dual loyalty on clinician well-being and client care.
• Apply an ethical decision-making framework to real-world workplace dilemmas.
• Evaluate how ethical self-advocacy supports integrity, social justice, and service within complex systems.