(NE Alliance) Mental Health Training: Being "Goodish": The Ethical Obligation to Move from Perception to Perspective (Recording)

Research shows that clinicians struggle with knowing when clients are not progressing, and that the difference between effective and ineffective practitioners outweighs the difference between good and bad treatment models. Yet our ethical frameworks have been slow to address practitioner self-awareness as a core competency.  Ethical practice demands more than good intentions — it requires honest self-examination of the gap between what we believe we are doing in the clinical hour and what is actually happening.

This presentation uses structured protocols, case scenarios, and clinical interaction analysis to examine the ethical obligations that underpin effective practice. Participants will explore how clinical judgment and bias — left unexamined — can compromise the therapeutic relationship, distort intervention choices, and undermine our ability to accurately evaluate client progress. Engaging directly with scenarios drawn from supervision and feedback-informed approaches, attendees will have the opportunity to identify interaction patterns associated with both positive and harmful outcomes.

Presented by:

Geoffrey C. Sidoli, MSW, LCSW is a nationally recognized clinical social worker, consultant, and trainer with over three decades of experience in childhood trauma, child abuse prevention, and the assessment and treatment of children and youth exhibiting Problematic Sexual Behaviors (PSB). He is widely sought for his expertise in trauma-informed approaches, coordinated community responses to PSB, and ethical practice in the field of sexual abuse. Based in Asheville, NC, Geoff's career has spanned direct clinical practice, organizational leadership, and national training and policy work. He maintained a private practice in Asheville for over two decades, providing individual and family therapy, assessments of sexualized behaviors, and evaluations for juveniles and adults involved in the legal system. He served as Executive Director of the Mountain Child Advocacy Center and oversaw the clinical operations of seven evidence-based treatment models. He co-developed an enhancement of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) for children with Problematic Sexual Behaviors, chaired NCA's annual national mental health conference "Seamless," and facilitates NCA's national work group on Youth with Problematic Sexual Behaviors. He also operates his own national consulting practice, providing training, clinical supervision, and expert testimony to Child Advocacy Centers, multidisciplinary teams, and communities across the country.