Domain D6 · Maintaining Ethical, Legal, and Professional Standards · 19% of the exam
Maintaining Ethical, Legal, and Professional Standards: the AAMFT Code, law, and professional practice
Outline: draftBy The Licensure Professor
Study material in progress. This is a lesson outline, not finished lesson text. Nothing on this page is official exam content. Items were written for this site and checked against published sources. They have not yet been reviewed by a licensed marriage and family therapist.
Learning objectives
- Apply the AAMFT Code of Ethics to confidentiality in conjoint and family work, including who the client is.
- Handle multiple relationships, boundaries, and sexual intimacy rules.
- Meet record-keeping, informed consent, and telehealth duties.
- Maintain competence, supervision, and self-care.
- Describe how ethical duties apply when AI is used in practice.
Key terms
- Who is the client
- Secrets in conjoint therapy
- Informed consent
- Multiple relationships
- Competence
- Technology-assisted services
- Records
- Supervision
- Scope of practice
Suggested sources
- American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. (2026). AAMFT code of ethics (effective January 1, 2026). https://www.aamft.org/common/Uploaded%20files/Legal%20Ethics/AAMFT%20Code%20of%20Ethics.pdf
- Nichols, M. P., & Davis, S. D. (2020). Family therapy: Concepts and methods (12th ed.). Pearson.
- Goldenberg, H., Stanton, M., & Goldenberg, I. (2017). Family therapy: An overview (9th ed.). Cengage.
- Association of Marital and Family Therapy Regulatory Boards. (2026). AMFTRB MFT national examination handbook for candidates (2027 ed.). https://ptcny.com/pdf/AMFTRB.pdf
Ethics content on this section follows the AAMFT Code of Ethics (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy).