Course syllabus for Ethics and Legal Principles for Practitioners of Energy Therapies
Course syllabus for Ethics for Practitioners of Acupuncture and Traditional Oriental Medicine
ETHICS
AND LEGAL PRINCIPLES FOR PRACTITIONERS
OF ENERGY THERAPIES:
THE SACRED CONTRACT BETWEEN
HEALER AND CLIENT
A CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE SYLLABUS
Created by: Midge Murphy, JD, PhD with sections based on the book Creating Right Relationships: a Practical Guide to Ethics in Energy Therapies by Dorothea Hover-Kramer and Midge Murphy.
What This Course Is About
This 4-hour, on-line course will assist practitioners of energy based therapies
to understand the core ethical issues and legal principles that affect their
practices. With the busy schedules of most practitioners, this course is designed
to be self-paced, so each participant can take the time they need to complete
it.
Like other healing modalities within the broad field of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), the practice of energy based therapies is growing exponentially. Energy therapies are multidisciplinary, comprised of many different types of healing professionals, both licensed and non-licensed. Each group has specific requirements and concerns in conducting their practices. Ethical conduct is vital to the integrity, authenticity, and acceptance of CAM practitioners, including practitioners of energy based therapies, as they participate in the larger health care industry.
The purpose of this course is to provide
participants with the opportunity to learn about ethical concepts and legal
principles in CAM generally, and in energy based therapies specifically. This
broad framework is necessary as CAM practitioners increasingly intersect with
conventional health care practitioners, work in conventional medical settings
such as hospitals, and participate in integrative health care clinics and
facilities alongside physicians and allied health providers. In creating “right
relationships” with clients, participants will learn to define the therapeutic
relationship as a sacred contract between themselves and the individuals they
serve. In addition to learning to understand the overarching ethical framework,
participants will be able to identify the potential ethical and/or legal vulnerabilities
that could be present in their practices. Practitioners also will learn the
core psychological concepts in ethics and how they apply to practitioners
of energy therapies. From that foundation participants will be able to expand
the traditional view of ethics to include working with clients on an intuitive/energetic
level and in non-ordinary states of consciousness.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
1. Define “right relationship” between caregiver and client in the practice of energy based therapies.
2. Define key ethical and related legal issues governing the practice of energy therapies so as be able to identify behavior that is considered unethical, including:
a. Practicing outside the scope of practice.
b. Fraud/misrepresentation
c. Failure to obtain informed consent
d. Breaches of confidentiality and privacy
e. Boundary issues (physical, emotional, intellectual, sexual and energetic boundaries).3. Identify the core psychological concepts in ethics and understand how the traditional psychological/medical ethical framework can be expanded to include working with clients on an intuitive/energetic level and in non-ordinary states of consciousness.
4. Identify the terms of the sacred contract between practitioner and client and how archetypes can assist in the therapeutic process.
Course Outline
MODULE 1
Establishing Right Relationship in the Practice of Energy Therapies
1. Introduction
2. Need for an ethic that addresses the practice of energy healing
3. Establishing right relationships within the practice of energy therapies
4. The evolution of ethics from prevention of harming to transformational consciousness
MODULE 2
Energy Healing Concepts within Complementary and Alternative Medicine
1. Introduction
2. Mind/Body approaches as a foundation for energy healing concepts
3. Definition of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and energy medicine
4. Integrative medicine – the future of health care
5. National CAM organizations and educational resources
a. The National Academies, Institute of Medicine
b. Integrated Health Care Consortium
c. National Health Freedom Coalition
d. Complementary and Alternative Law Blog.
6. The importance of national organizations and ethics codes.
MODULE 3
Ethical and Legal Principles for Energy-Oriented Practices
1. Introduction
2. Definition and key terms
a. Ethics
b. Values
c. Principles
d. Integrity
e. Morals
f. Laws
g. Professionalism3. Areas in which ethical violations occur
4. Self-accountability as the cornerstone of ethical behavior
5. Core psychological concepts in ethics
a. Client-centered
b. Fiduciary relationship
c. Power differential
d. Safety and structure
e. Transference and countertransference6. Essential legal principles for non-licensed and licensed professionals
a. Licensure and scope of practice
b. Malpractice and negligence
c. Informed consent
d. Fraud and misrepresentation
e. Confidentiality and privacy
g. Assault and battery7. Boundaries
a. Concept of boundaries
b. Respecting boundaries
c. Types of boundaries1. Physical
2. Emotional
3. Intellectual
4. Sexual
5. Energetic8. Healer vulnerabilities which can lead to unethical behavior
MODULE 4
The Sacred Contract between Practitioner and Client; Archetypes as Guardians of Right Relationships
1. Introduction to the concept of Sacred Contracts to define the therapeutic relationship
2. Overview of archetypes
3. The 4 major archetypes based on Caroline Myss’ book Sacred Contracts
1. Child archetype
2. Victim archetype
3. Prostitute archetype
4. Saboteur archetype4. Other archetypal pattern pertaining to the therapeutic relationship
5. Summary
Course Information
Upon successful completion of the course, including an 80% passing rate on the multiple choice exam, the applicant will be granted an appropriate Certificate of Completion
References
Aiken, R. (2004), A Buddhist bible. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Also, Kornfield J. (1993) A Path with Heart. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
Benjamin B, Sohnen-Moe, C. The Ethics of Touch. Tucson, AZ: SMA, 2003
Cleary, T.S. & Shapiro, S.I. (1995) “The plateau experience and the post-mortem life: Abraham Maslow’s unfinished theory”. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 27:1, 1-24.
Cohen MH. Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Legal Boundaries and Regulatory Perspectives. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
Cohen MH. Beyond Complementary Medicine: Legal and Ethical Perspectives on Health Care and Human Evolution. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
Cohen MH. Future Medicine: Ethical Dilemmas, Regulatory Challenges, and Therapeutic Pathways to Health and Human Healing in Human Transformation. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press; 2003.
Eisenberg DM, et al. (1998) “Trends in alternative medicine use in the United States, 1990-1997” Journal of the American Medicine Association 280(18) 1569-1575.
Hover-Kramer D., Murphy, M. Creating Right Relationship: a practical guide to ethics in energy therapies. Eugene, OR: Territorial Publishing, 2005.
Institute of Medicine, Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the U.S. (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2005).
Karpman, S.B. (1968) “Fairy tales and script drama analysis,” Transactional Analysis Bulletin, 7:27, 39-43. Also discussed in James, M. * Jongeward, D. (1973) Born to win, Reading MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Maslow, A (1971). The Further Reaches of Human Nature. New York, NY. Penguin Books
Myss, C (2001) Sacred Contracts. New, NY: Harmony Books
Schouten R & Cohen MH. Legal issues in integration of complementary therapies into cardiology. In: Frishman WH, Weintraub MI, Micozzi MS, editors. Complementary and Integrative Therapies for Cardiovascular Disease (Elsevier, 2004); pp.20-55.
Taylor, K. The ethics of caring. Santa Cruz: Hanford Mead Publishers, 1995
Course Faculty
Midge Murphy, JD, Ph.D. has over a decade of legal and business experience before opening her consulting and teaching firm specializing in the ethical and legal issues in complementary and alternative medicine, specializing in energy-based therapies. She served as General Counsel for Patagonia, Lost Arrow Corporation, EMP American Inc., and Trans World Entertainment; as Head of the Motion Picture Division Legal Department for American Broadcasting Companies; and as Vice President for Business/Legal Affairs in Network Television at the Walt Disney Company.
Midge is the first attorney to receive her Ph.D. in energy medicine from Holos University, working under the auspices of Norm Shealy, MD, Ph.D., and Caroline Myss. With her unique experiences in both law and energy medicine, Midge offer consulting services to practitioners of energy based therapies, institutions granting certifications and academic degrees in energy therapies, and national complementary and alternative medicine organizations.
Midge is the creator of cutting edge continuing education and academic courses on the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues in energy medicine and energy based therapies. She is a professor at Energy Medicine University and offers her continuing educations course live and on her website. Midge is a sought after speaker at national conferences. She is the co-author of Creating Right Relationships: a Practical Guide to Ethics in Energy Therapies with Dorothea Hover-Kramer.
Midge has been a student of shamanism for over 10 years and is a Therapeutic Touch Practitioner.
Contact Information
Midge Murphy, JD, Ph.D.
Correspondence to: 82985 Territorial Hwy, Eugene, OR 97405
Telephone: (541) 344-4743
Website: www.midgemurphy.com
ETHICS
FOR PRACTITIONERS OF ACUPUNCTURE
AND TRADITIONAL ORIENTAL MEDICINE
LEARNING PRACTICE
BOUNDARIES
A CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE SYLLABUS
Created by; Michael
H. Cohen, JD and Midge Murphy, JD, Ph.D.
www.midgemurphy.com
Complementary and
Alternative Medicine Law Blog
Copyright Michael H. Cohen and Midge Murphy (all rights reserved)
Introduction
What This Course Is About
This 4-hour, on-line course will assist licensed
practitioners of acupuncture and traditional oriental medicine to understand
the core ethical issues that affect their clinical practice. With the busy
schedules of most practitioners, this course is designed to be self-paced,
so each participant can take the time he/she needs to complete it.
Like other healing modalities within the broad field of complementary and
alternative medicine (CAM), the practice of acupuncture and traditional oriental
medicine is growing exponentially. Ethical conduct is vital to the integrity,
authenticity, and acceptance of CAM practitioners, including practitioners
of acupuncture and traditional oriental medicine, as they participate in the
larger health care industry.
The purpose of this course is to provide participants with the opportunity
to learn about ethical concepts in CAM generally, and in acupuncture and traditional
oriental medicine specifically. This broad framework is necessary as CAM practitioners
increasingly intersect with conventional health care practitioners, work in
conventional medical settings such as hospitals, and participate in integrative
health care clinics and facilities alongside physicians and allied health
providers. In addition to learning to understand the overarching ethical framework,
participants will receive some tools to help them identify the potential ethical
vulnerabilities that could be present in their practices. These tools ideally
will help correct these vulnerabilities so practitioners can ethically manage
their practices, and thereby remain within the boundaries of professional
disciplinary rules. Practitioners also will learn the psychological considerations
underpinning concerns for boundary violations, and how these considerations
apply to CAM practices that incorporate the intuitive/energetic level and
non-ordinary states of consciousness.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to:
1. Understand key ethical (and related legal) principles in health care practice generally, and in the practice of acupuncture and oriental medicine specifically.2. Understand key ethical (and related legal) issues governing the practice of acupuncture and oriental medicine in order to identify behavior that is considered unethical, including:
a. Practicing outside the scope of practice in your state.
b. Fraud/misrepresentation
c. Improper billing
d. Breaches of confidentiality and privacy
e. Boundary violations (including, but not limited to, physical, emotional, intellectual, sexual and energetic boundary violations).
3. Identify the core psychological concepts in ethics and understand how the traditional psychological/medical ethical framework can be applied to working with clients on an intuitive/energetic level and in non-ordinary states of consciousness.
4. Understand the structure of professional disciplinary regulations, and the kinds of sanctions available to professional regulatory boards to discipline practitioners who are considered to be practicing unethically.
Course Information
Upon successful completion of the course,
including an 80% passing rate on the multiple choice exam, the applicant will
be granted an appropriate certificate of completion.
Each of the 4 learning objectives will require approximately one hour of course
time to complete; each hour to consist of approximately 40-50 minutes reviewing
material, and approximately 10-20 minutes completing multiple-choice questions
relating to that objective.
Course Instructor: Midge Murphy, JD, Ph.D. - Telephone: (541) 344-4743
COURSE OUTLINE
MODULE 1
Key ethical (and related legal) principles of health care practice
1. Essential principles of health care ethicsa. Autonomy
b. Beneficence
c. Non-maleficence
d. Justice2. Conflicts between principles
3. Institute of Medicine report on CAM
4. Pluralism
5. Accountability
6. Essential legal principles
a. Licensure and scope of practice
b. Malpractice
c. Informed consent
d. Fraud and misrepresentation
e. Fraud in billing
f. Confidentiality and privacy
g. Assault and battery
MODULE 2
Unethical Behavior1. Scope of practice
2. Improper billing
a. Medically unnecessary care
b. Upcoding
c. Other billing issues3. Breaches of confidentiality and privacy
a. Common law obligations
b. HIPPA4. Boundary Violations
a. Concept of boundaries
b. Respecting boundaries
c. Inappropriate touch
d. Careless or Uninvited Words
e. Inappropriate Self-Disclosure
f. Energetic Complications
MODULE 3
Psychological Concepts Underpinning Ethical Rules1. The therapeutic relationship
a. Client-centered
b. Structure
c. Safety
d. Fiduciary relationship
e. Power differential1. The practitioner’s role
2. The client’s rolef. Transference
g. Countertransference
h. Defense mechanisms1. Projection
2. Repression
3. Denial2. Types of Boundaries
a. Physical
b. Emotional
c. Intellectual
d. Sexual
e. Energetic3. Healer vulnerabilities
MODULE 4
The Disciplinary Process1. The authority and power of the regulatory board
2. Federalism – state’s authority to regulate
3. Board regulations
4. NCAOM’s disciplinary action procedures
a. Authority to discipline.
b Investigation process
c. Typical disciplinary issues
d. RDC review and decision
e. Potential sanction/consequences
f. Potential parallel legal actions
Conclusion
References
Benjamin BE, Sohnen-Moe, C. The ethics of touch. Tucson: SMA, 2003Cohen MH. Complementary and alternative medicine: legal boundaries and regulatory perspectives. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
Cohen MH. Beyond complementary medicine: legal and ethical perspectives on health care and human evolution. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
Cohen MH. Future medicine: ethical dilemmas, regulatory challenges, and therapeutic pathways to health and human healing in human transformation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; 2003.
Cohen MH, Eisenberg DM. Potential physician malpractice liability associated with complementary/integrative medical therapies. Ann Intern Med; 2002;136:596-603.
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-417, 108 Stat. 4325, 21 U.S.C. §§ 301 et seq. (1994); proposed Access to Medical Treatment Act, H.R. 746, § 3(a) (Feb. 19, 1997); S. 578, 105th Cong., 1st Sess. (Apr. 18, 1997)
Dumoff A. CPT coding for ACM services: a short course. Alternative/Complementary Therapies 2000;6(3):152-161.
Dumoff A. A coding system for alternative and complementary therapies: it’s not as easy as ABC. Alternative/Complementary Therapies 2002;8(4):246-252.
Eisenberg DM, Cohen MH, Hrbek A, Grayzel J, van Rompay MI, Cooper, RA. Credentialing complementary and alternative medical providers. Ann Intern Med; 2002;137:965-973.
Ernst E, Cohen M H. Informed consent in complementary and alternative medicine. Arch Intern Med 2001;161:2288-2292.
Hover-Kramer D., Murphy, M. Creating Right Relationship: a practical guide to ethical and legal issues in energy therapies. Eugene: Territorial Publishing, 2005.
In re Guess, 393 S.E.2d 833 (N.C. 1990) (quoting N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90–14(a)(6)), cert. denied, Guess v. North Carolina Bd. of Medical Examiners, 498 U.S. 1047 (1991), later proceeding, Guess v. Board of Medical Examiners, 967 F.2d 998 (4th Cir. 1992).
Institute of Medicine, Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the U.S. (Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2005).
National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Code of Ethics [www.nccaom.org/ethics.htm].
Schouten R & Cohen MH. Legal issues in integration of complementary therapies into cardiology. In: Frishman WH, Weintraub MI, Micozzi MS, editors. Complementary and Integrative Therapies for Cardiovascular Disease (Elsevier, 2004);pp.20-55.Taylor, K. The ethics of caring. Santa Cruz: Hanford Mead Publishers, 1995
Course Faculty
Michael H. Cohen, JD, MBA
Midge Murphy, JD, PhD
The instructors’ biographies are detailed below.Michael H. Cohen is Principal in the Law Offices of Michael H. Cohen.
He is the author of several books including, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Legal Boundaries and Regulatory Perspectives (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998). He received his JD from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley; his MBA from the Haas School of Management, University of California, Berkeley; his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop; and his BA from Columbia University. After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk to Hon. Thomas P. Griesa in the Southern District of New York; he subsequently practiced law at Davis Polk & Wardwell, a Wall Street law firm.
He is Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of Legal Programs at the Harvard Medical School Osher Institute and Harvard Medical School Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies. He has served as Principal Investigator on a grant entitled Legal and Social Barriers to Alternative Therapies, funded by the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health; Principal Investigator on a grant from the Greenwall Foundation entitled Pediatric Use of Complementary Therapies by Parents: Ethical and Policy Choices; and co-investigator on grants funded by American Specialty Health, the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation, Toronto, the Epilepsy Foundation, the Medtronic Foundation, Inc., and the Rudolph Steiner Foundation. His responsibilities at Harvard Medical School have included designing policies and procedures for a reproducible model of integrative health care within Harvard-affiliated hospitals (as co-investigator on a grant from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine entitled Models of Integrative Care in an Academic Health Center), and negotiating intellectual property templates for international scientific collaboration regarding research of Asian herbs (as co-investigator on a grant from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine entitled International Center for CAM Research).
While at Harvard, he served as a Fortieth Anniversary Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School, and has taught Alternative Medicine: Health Law & Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Midge Murphy, JD, Ph.D. has over a decade of legal and business experience before opening her consulting and teaching business specializing in the ethical and legal issues in complementary and alternative medicine, specializing in energy-based therapies. She served as General Counsel for Patagonia, Lost Arrow Corporation, EMP American Inc., and Trans World Entertainment; as Head of the Motion Picture Division Legal Department for American Broadcasting Companies; and as Vice President for Business/Legal Affairs in Network Television at the Walt Disney Company.
Midge is the first attorney to receive her Ph.D. in energy medicine from Holos University, working under the auspices of Norm Shealy, MD, Ph.D., and Caroline Myss. With her unique experiences in both law and energy medicine, Midge offer consulting services to practitioners of energy based therapies, institutions granting certifications and academic degrees in energy therapies, and national complementary and alternative medicine organizations.
Midge is the creator of cutting edge continuing education and academic courses on the legal, regulatory, and ethical issues in energy medicine and energy based therapies. She is a professor at Energy Medicine University and offers her continuing educations course live and on her website. Midge is a sought after speaker at national conferences. She is the co-author of Creating Right Relationships: a Practical Guide to Ethics in Energy Therapies with Dorothea Hover-Kramer.Midge has been a student of shamanism for over 10 years and is a Therapeutic Touch Practitioner
Contact Information
The course faculty can be reached at:
Midge Murphy
82985 Territorial Hwy
Eugene, OR 97405
Telephone: 541 344-4743
Website www.midgemurphy.comLaw Offices of Michael H. Cohen
770 Massachusetts Avenue, POB 391108
Cambridge, MA 02149
Telephone: (617) 541-4743
Website: www.camlawblog.com
