101PD

LMFT Law and Ethics · 12 hours

California LMFT Law and Ethics Exam Prep — California Exam Prep, 12 hours

California LMFT Law and Ethics Exam Prep covers the LMFT-specific BBS examination scope, professional conduct, consent, confidentiality, supervision, records, reporting, telehealth, advertising, and discipline. Delivery, credential, and regulatory-credit eligibility are stated on the course page.

Professional training or exam-preparation material. No CE/MCLE/CPE credit hours are issued.

Course at a glance

Level
Beginner
Estimated time
12 hours
Prerequisite
No prior 101PD course is required. Check any separate exam, employer, or role eligibility before relying on this training.

Skills you will practice

  • Explain and apply §1.0 The exam frame.
  • Explain and apply §1.1 Pre-treatment disclosures.
  • Explain and apply §1.2 Informed consent.
  • Explain and apply §1.3 Minors.
  • Explain and apply §1.4 Confidentiality (CMIA).

Learning objectives

  • Explain and apply §1.0 The exam frame.
  • Explain and apply §1.1 Pre-treatment disclosures.
  • Explain and apply §1.2 Informed consent.
  • Explain and apply §1.3 Minors.
  • Explain and apply §1.4 Confidentiality (CMIA).

Assessment and timing

Knowledge check plus 2 final exam versions.

Passing score: 70%.

Final timing: 1 minute per question.

Hands-on practice

Applied course exercises

Use the course rules in practical scenarios and exercises drawn from the published syllabus.

  • Answer-elimination workshop
  • §1.14 Records-request decision workbook — ten walked calls
  • §1.23 Units-of-treatment case file — the Marin family, four configurations
  • Answer-elimination workshop
  • §2.13 CANRA decision workbook — ten walked calls
  • §2.14 Tarasoff case lab — the §43.92 discharge sequence

Full syllabus

Chapter 1 — Consent, Confidentiality, and Privilege (12 of 75 Q)

  • §1.0 The exam frame
  • §1.1 Pre-treatment disclosures
  • §1.2 Informed consent
  • §1.3 Minors
  • §1.4 Confidentiality (CMIA)
  • §1.5 Privilege (Evid C §§1010–1015)
  • §1.6 Records
  • §1.7 Subpoenas vs. orders
  • §1.8 Telehealth law
  • §1.9 HIPAA + CMIA
  • Exam triggers
  • Trap pairs
  • Five-question self-test (answers below)
  • Worked mini-drill
  • Master clocks table — every 1A number
  • Answer-elimination workshop

Chapter 1 — Consent, Confidentiality, and Privilege (Exam Plan 1A)

  • §1.0 The exam itself — mechanics, plan, and how to prepare with this course
  • §1.1 Required disclosures before services begin
  • §1.2 Informed consent to treatment
  • §1.3 Treating minors — every consent route, and what each one means for records
  • §1.4 Confidentiality — the working duty, and the unit-of-treatment problem
  • §1.5 Privilege — who holds it, who claims it, and what it protects
  • §1.6 Client records — access, copies, summaries, addenda, and refusals
  • §1.7 Subpoenas, court orders, and the therapist's middle path
  • §1.8 Telehealth under California law
  • §1.9 HIPAA and CMIA together — the more-protective rule
  • §1.10 Exam lens — chapter 1 trap pairs
  • §1.11 Applied drills (worked)
  • §1.12 Vocabulary bank
  • §1.13 Guided statute reading — the privilege core (Evidence Code §§1010–1015)
  • §1.14 Records-request decision workbook — ten walked calls
  • §1.15 Minor-consent decision tree — run every minor through five gates
  • §1.16 Telehealth setup checklist — the compliant first session
  • §1.17 Myths ledger — fifteen wrong beliefs, corrected
  • §1.18 Guided reading — CMIA's working provisions (Civil Code §56 et seq.)
  • §1.19 The disclosure log — proving lawfulness after the fact
  • §1.20 Consent-content checklist — the intake packet, audited
  • §1.21 Rapid review — thirty 1A anchors
  • §1.22 Self-test (answers below)
  • §1.23 Units-of-treatment case file — the Marin family, four configurations

Chapter 2 — Limits to Confidentiality and Mandated Reporting (12 of 75 Q)

  • §2.1 The method
  • §2.2 CANRA (Pen C §§11164–11174.3)
  • §2.3 Elder/dependent adult (W&I §15630)
  • §2.4 Danger to others (Civ C §43.92)
  • §2.5 Danger to self
  • §2.6 LPS holds and grave disability
  • §2.7 Privilege exceptions (Evid C)
  • §2.8 Evaluator roles
  • Exam triggers
  • Trap pairs
  • Five-question self-test (answers below)
  • Worked mini-drill
  • Reporting one-liners — say them in your sleep
  • Answer-elimination workshop

Chapter 2 — Limits to Confidentiality and Mandated Reporting (Exam Plan 1B)

  • §2.1 The architecture: confidentiality's statutory exits
  • §2.2 Child abuse and neglect — CANRA (Penal Code §§11164–11174.3)
  • §2.3 Elder and dependent adult abuse — W&I Code §15630 (EADACPA)
  • §2.4 Danger to others — Tarasoff and Civil Code §43.92
  • §2.5 Danger to self — the permissive disclosure
  • §2.6 Grave disability and involuntary holds — the LPS Act
  • §2.7 Privilege exceptions — the litigation cluster
  • §2.8 Court-appointed and third-party evaluations — role clarity
  • §2.9 Exam lens — chapter 2 trap pairs
  • §2.10 Applied drills (worked)
  • §2.11 Vocabulary bank
  • §2.12 The reporting-clock master table
  • §2.13 CANRA decision workbook — ten walked calls
  • §2.14 Tarasoff case lab — the §43.92 discharge sequence
  • §2.15 Privilege-exception decision tree
  • §2.16 Integration cases — law meeting law
  • §2.17 Danger-to-self workbook — six graded responses
  • §2.18 Elder/dependent-adult scenario set — five walked
  • §2.19 The 1B master flowchart — one page before the exam
  • §2.20 Self-test (answers below)
  • §2.21 Rapid review — twenty-five 1B anchors
  • §2.22 The reporter's script library — three calls, verbatim-ready

Chapter 3 — Legal Standards for Professional Practice (9 of 75 Q)

  • §3.1 Scope of practice (B&P §4980.02)
  • §3.2 Unprofessional conduct (§4982) and discipline
  • §3.3 Sexual misconduct — three statutes
  • §3.4 Records law
  • §3.5 Advertising (B&P §651; 16 CCR §1811)
  • §3.6 Fees, billing, payors
  • §3.7 Referral fees (B&P §650)
  • Exam triggers
  • Trap pairs
  • Five-question self-test (answers below)
  • Worked mini-drill
  • The money-and-conduct grid
  • Answer-elimination workshop

Chapter 3 — Legal Standards for Professional Practice (Exam Plan 1C)

  • §3.1 Scope of practice — what an LMFT may and may not do
  • §3.2 Unprofessional conduct and the discipline machine
  • §3.3 Sexual misconduct — the three statutes
  • §3.4 Records and documentation — the legal floor
  • §3.5 Advertising — truthful, substantiated, and fully labeled
  • §3.6 Fees, billing, collections, and third-party payors
  • §3.7 Referral fees and fee-splitting — the bright line
  • §3.8 Exam lens — chapter 3 trap pairs
  • §3.9 Applied drills (worked)
  • §3.10 Vocabulary bank
  • §3.11 Discipline case gallery — six decided patterns
  • §3.12 Documentation clinic — the anatomy of a defensible note
  • §3.13 Advertising makeover lab — five ads, fixed
  • §3.14 Billing-fraud gallery — the payor edition
  • §3.15 The associate's employment file — what must exist before day one
  • §3.16 The 1C statute map — one screen, every anchor
  • §3.17 Fee-agreement anatomy — the compliant money frame
  • §3.18 Scope-boundary drills — ten rapid calls
  • §3.19 Self-test (answers below)
  • §3.20 Statute reading room — §4982 walked, subsection by scenario
  • §3.21 The associate's year-one compliance calendar

Chapter 4 — Professional Competence and Integrity (12 of 75 Q)

  • §4.1 Scope of competence
  • §4.2 Cultural competence
  • §4.3 Conflicts of interest
  • §4.4 Boundaries and dual relationships
  • §4.5 Sexual ethics beyond statute
  • §4.6 Personal values
  • §4.7 Impairment
  • §4.8 Consultation
  • Exam triggers
  • Trap pairs
  • Five-question self-test (answers below)
  • Worked mini-drill
  • The dual-relationship verdict table
  • Answer-elimination workshop

Chapter 4 — Professional Competence and Integrity (Exam Plan 2A)

  • §4.1 Scope of competence — the personal boundary
  • §4.2 Cultural competence and humility
  • §4.3 Conflicts of interest
  • §4.4 Boundaries, dual relationships, and nonprofessional interactions
  • §4.5 Sexual ethics — beyond the statutes
  • §4.6 Personal values, moral judgments, and the refusal problem
  • §4.7 Impairment — yours and your colleagues'
  • §4.8 Consultation — the ethics exam's favorite verb
  • §4.9 Exam lens — chapter 4 trap pairs
  • §4.10 Applied drills (worked)
  • §4.11 Vocabulary bank
  • §4.12 Dual-relationship decision workbook — ten walked calls
  • §4.13 Cultural-formulation lab — four assessments, reframed
  • §4.14 Impairment self-audit — the honest twenty
  • §4.15 Integration cases — competence meeting law
  • §4.16 Values workshop — mapping your pressure points
  • §4.17 Consultation-documentation lab — the defensible consult note
  • §4.18 The competence-growth file — documenting your development
  • §4.19 Self-test (answers below)
  • §4.20 Rapid review — twenty 2A anchors

Chapter 5 — Responsibility to Clients and the Counseling Relationship (18 of 75 Q)

  • §5.1 Consent as ethics
  • §5.2 Other providers
  • §5.3 Benefit and necessity
  • §5.4 Autonomy
  • §5.5 Confidentiality ethics in context
  • §5.6 Safety management
  • §5.7 Law-ethics collisions
  • §5.8 Advocacy and collaboration
  • §5.9 Referral standards
  • §5.10 Interruption and termination
  • Exam triggers
  • Trap pairs
  • Five-question self-test (answers below)
  • Worked mini-drill
  • The termination verdict table
  • Answer-elimination workshop

Chapter 5 — Responsibility to Clients and the Counseling Relationship (Exam Plan 2B)

  • §5.1 Informed consent as ethics — beyond the legal floor
  • §5.2 Clients who already have providers
  • §5.3 Client benefit, medical necessity, and honest treatment planning
  • §5.4 Autonomy and self-determination
  • §5.5 Confidentiality ethics in context
  • §5.6 Safety and crisis management — the clinical-ethical merge
  • §5.7 When law and ethics collide
  • §5.8 Advocacy, access, and interdisciplinary work
  • §5.9 Referral and transfer done right
  • §5.10 Interruption, discontinuation, and termination — the abandonment cluster
  • §5.11 Exam lens — chapter 5 trap pairs
  • §5.12 Applied drills (worked)
  • §5.13 Vocabulary bank
  • §5.14 Termination-letter anatomy — the compliant closing
  • §5.15 Abandonment case files — five, judged
  • §5.16 Managed-care denial script lab
  • §5.17 Crisis-session walkthrough — sixty minutes, documented
  • §5.18 Integration cases — 2B meeting everything else
  • §5.19 The client-rights charter — what every client can expect
  • §5.20 Termination-grounds sorter — legitimate vs. suspect
  • §5.21 Crisis-resource map — what you hand the client
  • §5.22 Self-test (answers below)
  • §5.23 Rapid review — twenty-five 2B anchors
  • §5.24 Termination case file — documenting the ending that protects everyone

Chapter 6 — Practice Policies and Professional Responsibilities (12 of 75 Q)

  • §6.1 Technology, telehealth ethics, AI
  • §6.2 Financial ethics
  • §6.3 Gifts
  • §6.4 Advertising and testimonials
  • §6.5 Multiple roles and forensic work
  • §6.6 Research and case material
  • §6.7 Colleague misconduct
  • §6.8 Supervision
  • Exam triggers
  • Trap pairs
  • Five-question self-test (answers below)
  • Worked mini-drill
  • The technology verdict table
  • Answer-elimination workshop

Chapter 6 — Practice Policies and Professional Responsibilities (Exam Plan 2C)

  • §6.1 Technology, telehealth ethics, and AI
  • §6.2 Financial ethics beyond the legal floor
  • §6.3 Gifts — the cultural-clinical analysis
  • §6.4 Advertising and testimonial ethics
  • §6.5 Multiple roles, forensic work, and evaluations
  • §6.6 Research, teaching, and publication ethics
  • §6.7 Colleagues behaving badly — the intervention ladder
  • §6.8 Supervision — duties on both sides
  • §6.9 Exam lens — chapter 6 trap pairs
  • §6.10 Applied drills (worked)
  • §6.11 Master vocabulary bank (Chapters 4–6 ethics core)
  • §6.12 Learner FAQ — the course and the real exam
  • §6.13 Final-week calendar
  • §6.14 Technology-policy walkthrough — the intake frame, clause by clause
  • §6.15 AI vetting checklist — before any tool touches client data
  • §6.16 Supervision-contract anatomy
  • §6.17 Forensic-request decision tree
  • §6.18 Integration cases — 2C meeting the whole exam
  • §6.19 Records-lifecycle workshop — birth to shredder
  • §6.20 The plan crosswalk — every 2C task to its section
  • §6.21 Capstone — the integrated final vignette, worked end to end
  • §6.22 Self-test (answers below)
  • §6.23 The 40-item final sweep — one pass before exam day
  • §6.24 Rapid review — twenty 2C anchors
  • §6.25 Extended glossary — the 2C working vocabulary

Sample from Part I

Chapter 1 — Consent, Confidentiality, and Privilege (12 of 75 Q) High-yield review. Full doctrine: Treatise Ch. 1. Practice material — not affiliated with the BBS or Pearson VUE. §1.0 The exam frame - 75 Q / 90 min; 50 scored + 25 unscored pretest; pass/fail; fail = numeric score + 90-day wait; $150/attempt to BBS; Pearson VUE. AMFTs: take each renewal year until passed. - Plan: Law 44 (1A 16 · 1B 16 · 1C 12) + Ethics 56 (2A 16 · 2B 24 · 2C 16). - Read the call: "legally required" ≠ "ethically required" ≠ "best/first." Must beats good practice. §1.1 Pre-treatment disclosures - Fees + basis before treatment (§4982(n)). Changes = re-disclose. - AMFT triple disclosure before services: unlicensed + supervised + supervisor name (§4980.44). Ads add: full title, registration #, supervisor, supervised status (16 CCR §1811). - BBS consumer notice (§4980.55/16 CCR §1810); fictitious-name ownership before treatment (§4980.46); no recording without all-party consent (Pen C §632). §1.2 Informed consent - Capacity + knowledge + voluntariness, documented; revisited at material changes (new modality, added members, recording, observation, research). - Unit-specific: each competent adult consents; clarify who the client is. - Consent never authorizes unlawful acts and never waives mandated reporting. §1.3 Minors - Default: parent with legal custody/guardian; joint legal custody → either parent unless order requires both; caregiver affidavit (Fam C §6550) = school/medical; emancipated (§7002) = adult. - Fam C §6924: 12+, mature, plus danger to self/others OR abuse/incest victim. - H&S §124260: 12+, mature — no danger element. Includes LMFT/AMFT/trainee. - Both: involve parents unless inappropriate (consult minor; document). Parents not liable for fees unless participating. - Self-consented care → minor holds records/authorization rights. Parent-consented care → parent access subject to detriment denial (H&S §123115(a)(2)). §1.4 Confidentiality (CMIA) - Civil Code §56 et seq.; breach = §4982(m) + civil liability. Fact of treatment is itself confidential. - §56.11 authorization: 14-point type or handwritten, separate document, specific uses/recipients, expiration, revocable, copy to signer. - Conjoint records: every adult participant signs. Individual disclosures inside couple/ family work → follow the written secrets policy set at intake. - Group: member confidentiality agreements; members not legally bound like the therapist. - Collaterals are not clients. Death → personal representative holds rights. §1.5 Privilege (Evid C §§1010–1015) - Courtroom face of confidentiality (§1014). Psychotherapist includes AMFTs/trainees (§1010). Patient = anyone consulting for diagnosis/treatment (§1011), intake included. - §1012: third parties furthering the patient's interest (conjoint members, interpreters) don't destroy privilege. - Patient holds (§1013); therapist must claim when present (§1015). Waiver = holder's voluntary disclosure/consent (§912); one spouse's waiver ≠ the other's. - Deceased → personal representative. §1.6 Records - Inspect: 5 working days. Copies: 15 days, ≤$0.25/page ($0.50 microfilm). Summary option: 10 working days (→30 with notice) (H&S §123110/§123130). - Addendum: 250 words (§123111). Never withheld for unpaid bills. - Mental-health refusal: substantial risk of significant adverse consequences — document; offer inspection via licensed professional of client's choice (§123115(b)). - Retention: 7 years from termination; minors 7

Available in these packages

California LMFT Law and Ethics Exam Prep

Course FAQ

What will California LMFT Law and Ethics Exam Prep cover?

The planned syllabus covers the LMFT-specific BBS examination scope, professional conduct, consent, confidentiality, supervision, records, reporting, telehealth, advertising, and discipline with California-specific explanations and practical applications.

Can I enroll now?

Enrollment opens only after the content status is PUBLISHED. Drafting pages offer a waitlist instead.

Publicly verifiable completion

After passing, the certificate PDF includes a unique certificate number, a random secure verification code, a record fingerprint, and a scannable QR link. The online record confirms the 101PD completion and preserves the distinction between training and regulator-approved credit.

Open certificate verification