The standard of care has been defined as the usual and customary professional standard practice in the community. There is no one set of rules or textbook that defines the standard of care, and some suggest it is nothing more than a perception. One of the biggest problems with risk management practices is that they are often confused with the standard of care. As a result, many prudent, reasonable and competent therapists, who closely adhere to professional and community standards but do not follow strict and distant analytic guidelines or fear based risk management practices, are unjustly accused of practicing below the standard of care.

This introductory continuing education web conference is designed to:

1. Differentiate between risk management principles and the standard of care.
2. Identify the complexities involved in therapist-client power relationships.
3. Clarify the ethical concerns with dual or multiple relationships.
4. Describe some of the concerns with victims’ responsibility.
5. Explain key points in the debate on whether the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) is a scientifically based document or not.

Format: Asynchronous, distance learning. Non-interactive. Recorded video with transcript.

NAADAC Online CE Completion limits: There is a limit of 8 hours (8 CE) of credit for online courses within a 24-hour period.

Click here to view our policy on Fees, Refunds, and Cancellations 

The course will be available in your account immediately after purchase. The Course Completion Certificate and Letter of Completion will be immediately available in your account upon successful completion of the course post-test (a score of 80% or higher) and completion of the course evaluation. You will have unlimited attempts to pass the post-test.

Do you have questions about this course? Do you require accessibility accommodations? Please visit our FAQ page or Contact Us and we'll be happy to help.

American Psychological Association (APA)

At Health, LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. At Health, LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)

At Health, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6949. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. At Health, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

NAADAC – The Association for Addiction Professionals

Athealth.com is approved as a continuing education provider by the National Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors, the Association for Addiction Professionals. #148460.

Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)

At Health, LLC, Provider #1707, 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: 5/3/2023–5/3/2026.

Page last modified or reviewed by athealth.com on Mar 6, 2026.

Ofer Zur was born in Israel to a German mother, who was a psychologist, and a Hungarian father. He entered the Israeli Defense Forces in 1973 as a lieutenant, and he received his bachelor's degree in physical chemistry in 1975, from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Zur continued studying oceanography and worked as a researcher in East Africa where he helped introduce a new diet to treat a malnourished community. Zur emigrated to the United States in 1980, and his interests shifted to psychology. He graduated with a master's degree in counseling psychology from Lesley College in Massachusetts in 1981. This shift to psychology allowed Zur to discover his own need to heal in order to come to terms with his war experiences. Zur continued his studies, completing his PhD in psychology at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California, in 1984.

Zur worked as a rehabilitation counselor for the Santa Rita Rehabilitation Center at the Alameda County Jail between 1984 and 1987. Next, he acted as Associate Program Director and core faculty member for the graduate psychology program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. In 1988, Zur relocated to Sonoma, California where he established a private practice.

In 1995, Zur established the Zur Institute to provide continuing education courses for mental health professionals, as his career focus shifted to addressing the barriers and challenges that faced the field of psychotherapy. He collaborated with his colleague Arnold Lazarus, and they released the 2002 book, Dual Relationships in Psychotherapy, which was the first of its kind to challenge questionable therapeutic boundaries, address ethical reaches of therapists, and introduce the concept of taking a nonpathologizing view of the client.

BOOKS BY OFER ZUR

• Dual Relationships in Psychotherapy (2002)
• Boundaries in Psychotherapy: Ethical and Clinical Explorations (2007)
• The Complete Fee-for-Service Private Practice Handbook (2011)

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