The 2025 ABCSW Conference: Ethical  Dilemmas in Clinical Social Work

A Virtual Conference Jointly Sponsored by The American Board of Clinical Social Work & Washington University Brown School of Social Work. 

This live, interactive, virtual conference will be held on April 4th and 5th of 2025 and will explore the ethical dilemmas facing the clinical social work profession.  The ABCSW is offering continuing education through ASWB. Completion of interactive case studies, sessions, and session evaluations are required to qualify for continuing education credit.

Our featured speaker will be Allan Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD.  Dr. Barsky will offer participants a comprehensive and pragmatic framework for identifying and managing complex practice situations when their ethical, legal, and organizational obligations are in conflict.  He will teach us how to apply four distinct approaches to ethical analysis: legalism, principle-based, consequentialist, and virtue ethics.  Practice-based discussions will focus on critical issues such as managing situations that involve serious but non-imminent harm, navigating the use of artificial intelligence in clinical practice, responding to dual relationships and potential professional boundary issues, and considering alternatives to substitute decision-making for clients whose mental capacity is in question.  Scenarios for discussion will present an array of clients, including children, older adults, military service members, and people with disabilities. Participants who attend Dr. Barsky’s presentation will leave with enhanced confidence in their ability to manage challenging ethical dilemmas by collaborating with their clients, family members, and co-professionals in a compassionate, prudent, and professional manner.

Dr. Barsky is a professor with Florida Atlantic University’s Sandler School of Social Work in Boca Raton.  His book credits include Ethics and Values in Social Work, Clinicians in Court, Essential Ethics for Social Work Practice, Conflict Resolution for the Helping Professions, and  Interprofessional Practice with Diverse Populations.  Dr. Barsky chaired the National Association of Social Workers (USA) National Ethics Committee, as well as its Code of Ethics Review Committee which updated the code to reflect growing use of technology in practice.  He was also awarded NASW’s “Excellence in Ethics Award.”