When “Good Intentions” Become Clinical Risk — And Integrity Becomes the Intervention

Some boundary issues are obvious. The ones that matter most… aren’t. They show up in the moments where you feel the pull to do more—because the person in front of you is suffering, destabilizing, alone, or high-risk.

They show up when the system is failing, the crisis is escalating, and you’re the only stable anchor in the room.

And they show up in the most dangerous form of all – A Boundary drift disguised as compassion.

This is the advanced training clinicians have been waiting for—because in real-world practice, the hardest ethical decisions are not about right vs. wrong.

They’re about pressure, power, fear, urgency, and emotional pull.

And the question becomes: Can you stay human… without losing the structure that makes healing safe?

Date: Monday, February 23, 2026

Time: 12-2pm (EST)

CEUs: 2

Format: Live on Zoom

This course is eligible for 2 CEUs for social workers through the NASW National CE Approval Program in 48 states (EXCLUDING: New Jersey and West Virginia).

This course is eligible for 2 CEUs for Licensed Social Workers, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists and Psychologists in New York State

For more information about CEU approval, please click here.

What You’ll Learn (Advanced + Real-World + Immediately Usable)

•      High-frequency contact and crisis-driven exceptions

•      Trauma bonding, dependency shaping, and rescue dynamics

•      Gifts, favors, social media exposure, and blurred roles

•      Care coordination pressures and system failure “over-functioning”

•      Documentation and consultation that protects the client and the clinician

•      The difference between flexibility with structure vs. exceptions without structure

Learning Objectives

1.    Differentiate standard boundary issues from complex boundary dilemmas involving power, dependency, and role diffusion

2.    Identify high-risk “gray zone” scenarios and the ethical risks associated with each

3.    Apply a structured ethical decision-making framework to advanced real-world cases

4.    Analyze boundary dilemmas through the SWEET Four Layers to detect drift early

5.    Demonstrate documentation strategies that strengthen ethical defensibility and clinical protection

6.    Create a personal Boundary Integrity Plan for immediate implementation

The SWEET Four Layers of Transformation: Boundaries as a Path to Mastery

This seminar goes beyond “rules” and teaches boundary mastery through the SWEET Four Layers of Transformation:

•      Conscious Layer: What you do in the moment

•      Preconscious Layer: The story you tell yourself (“just this once…”)

•      Unconscious Layer: The pull beneath the pull (enactments, countertransference, rescue fantasies)

•      Existential Layer: The clinician you become through your choices

Because boundaries aren’t just ethical decisions. They are identity decisions.

This Training Is For You If You’ve Ever Thought:

•      “If I don’t respond, something might happen.”

•      “They have no one else.”

•      “I know this isn’t ideal… but the system is failing.”

•      “Am I being supportive—or reinforcing dependency?”

•      “I don’t want to abandon them… but I also can’t keep doing this.”

This training gives you a way forward that is clear, ethical, compassionate, and sustainable.

Takeaway

Boundaries are not walls. They are the architecture of safety. And the moment you hold them with clarity, you don’t reduce care—you protect the work. You protect the client.You protect yourself. You make healing possible.

Here's what attendees have been saying about SWEET seminars:

"Wonderful and informative workshop, never boring." - Dr. Arlene, LMHC

"Great information that is very practical and easily relatable to the work I do. Great feedback as well." - Shellion, LMSW

"Enjoyed learning about this subject. Thank you!" - Lynn, LMSW