Interview questions & responses:

1. What steps did you take to become a licensed marriage and family therapist in your state? As a provisionally licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I had to finish college coursework and 300 hours of internship. I then had to pay a total of $360-$210 for the permanent licensure application and $150 for the temporary license. I secured two supervisors (only 1 is required) for my 200 hours of supervision and scheduled for and passed my AMFTRB licensure exam in October 2023. Currently, the only things I need for my full license is to complete my 1,000 face-to-face hours and 200 hours of supervision.
2. What kinds of ethical dilemmas have you encountered in your practice as a marriage and family therapist? How do you handle the rise in technology (such as Facebook or technology-assisted services) in your ethical practice? At the last private practice I worked at, the owner was found to be charging TNCare/Medicaid clients for late cancellations and no-shows which is against the law, deemed to be a felony and unethical. Technology has been helping in relation to teletherapy/telehealth. Having access to HIPAA-compliant technology and making clientsaware thattheyneed to be in a privatesecure place forsessions can be challenging but itdoeshelp those not able to come to mydirect location.
3. What steps did you take to handle this ethical dilemma? I consulted with both of my supervisors first. One of my supervisors talked to a lawyer at AAMFT on my behalf andhe informed me to discuss this situation directly with the owner first and document all responses before reporting her to the bureau of TNCare. I did this anonymously but kept all written correspondence for future reference. I also wound up leaving thepractice for this and other reasons shortly thereafter.
4. What kinds of legal dilemmas have you encountered in your practice as a marriage and family therapist? Specifically, describe issues involving family law (such as divorce, custody, reunification, and parenting). When I was a private practice manager atthepractice I mentioned earlier, twoof my employees had three children ontheircaseloads fromthe samefamily whoseparents were divorced and physically separated. There was a history of domestic violence from thefather against the mother and the mother moved out of state. The mother was always trying to get inside information from the therapist working with her children and/or trying to triangulate the therapist against the father who was bringing the children to therapy twice monthly.
5. What steps did you take to handle this legal dilemma? I made sure to advise the therapists/employees to only discuss the information related to the release of information on file signed by the father with the mother and to only answer questions directly related to that information.
6. Looking back at the situation, would you do the same thing or would you do something different? No, that was most ethicallyappropriate due to the fact that thefather had primary custodialrights at the time and had power to consent on his children's behalf.
7. Did you consult the AAMFT Code of Ethics? If not, which personal values guided you? No I did not, but Idid consult the state laws regarding consent and theconstraints of a release of information form.
8. As a therapist, how were you trained to deal with ethical dilemmas? Do you feel your training was adequate? I learned from my post-graduate professional work. That was when reality hit me and I got to see things happen in real time. A book couldn't really teach me all of that.
9. How does your personal value system, culture, and ethnicity impact your clinical practice with clients? I believe that Iam an advocate for people and change. Although I am an African-American woman, I have no problems interacting and working with people of all cultures and backgrounds. I hope that people see me as a person above all else,because Isee them thatway.
10. If you needed assistance in handling an ethical question or concern, what would be your likely course of action? The AAMFT Code of Ethics and my licensure supervisors.
11. How have you been involved in advocacy for policies, programs, and services that are equitable and responsive to the unique needs of couples and families in your professional organization, state, and community? If you have not been involved, what areas of advocacy do you see are needed in MFT? I have not yet, but I will be working with someone locally to assist with daughters who did not grow up with their fathers. I also want to start a support group for single mothers as well atmyprivate practice.
12. How do you incorporate technology in your practice? How does ethics play a role in using technology while doing therapy? Yes, as mentioned above, I use telehealth/teletherapy and try to educate my clients on maintaining their own privacy and will inform clients that I will disconnect from the telehealth portal if privacy and confidentiality is not maintained.

Summarize the dialogue that took place and explore an ethical dilemma your interviewee described. Remember to address all of the questions asked during the interview in your summary. If your interviewee has not been involved with advocacy, address this in your reflection and discuss how a therapist might be involved in advocacy.

As you describe your reactions to your interviewee's answers, consider the following:

• What was your impression of the interviewee's response to a given ethical dilemma? Were you surprised by anything?
• Would you have handled the situation differently? If so, how?
• Do you think that following a code of ethics makes a person a better therapist? Or could the code be limiting to the therapist's work with the client?