Pillars of Practice: North Stars for Clinical Practice (4 Ethics CEs)

Explore 5 Core Pillars required for sound clinical practice, and create an ethical decision making to use immediately within your work.
About this Event

Session Focus: Ethics (4 CE hours)

Pillars of Practice is an ethics centered session exploring five foundational pillars that guide ethical and effective clinical practice, differentiating between the non-negotiable/mandatory and the negotiable/fluid pillars. Participants will learn how to navigate complex ethical decision-making when these guiding pillars intersect or conflict, strengthening their ability to respond with clarity, integrity, and professional accountability. Through updated law and board requirement reviews, applied case study and personal mapping, participants will practice consulting state laws, rules, their professional ethics and values when navigating clinical decision making — and leave with a personalized ethical decision-making plan to navigate complex situations with clarity, integrity, and confidence

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify and describe the five primary pillars that guide ethical and clinical practice across mental health disciplines.
2. Differentiate between the non-negotiable/mandatory and negotiable/fluid pillars within professional practice.
3. Examine our role and function as mental health providers using Ecological Systems Theory and Social Determinants of Health
4. Locate and reference key state laws, rules, and regulations relevant to their specific license and clinical role.
5. Interpret and apply the ethical codes of their respective licensing boards when faced with complex clinical decisions.
6. Analyze scenarios in which ethical, legal, and professional pillars may conflict, and identify strategies for resolution.
7. Apply structured ethical decision-making frameworks to navigate real-world clinical dilemmas.
8. Develop a personalized ethical decision-making plan to integrate into ongoing professional practice.

Continuing Education will be provided through NBCC. is approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7962. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Sankofa Counseling is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.

Sankofa Counseling, LLC is a culturally specific behavioral health organization located in Portland, Oregon. We were founded in 2017 to address persistent mental health inequities impacting Black and African American communities in Oregon. Our mission is to reduce mental health disparities by increasing access to highly skilled, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive care while strengthening and sustaining the behavioral health workforce.

Our vision is a behavioral health system in which racial justice, clinical excellence, and workforce sustainability coexist — where providers are resourced, supported, and equipped to deliver care that reflects the lived realities of the communities they serve.

We center our work in the values of liberation psychology, cultural humility, stewardship, transparency, racial equity, community care, integrity, and courage. These values guide not only our clinical services but also our leadership development, workforce training, and community facing programs. We believe that sustainable change requires both theory and operationalization — aligning policy, workflow, and decision-making structures with culturally centered and equity-driven practice. Learn more at www.SankofaCounseling.org or on Instagram @SankofaCounseling

Vanessa Washington is the Founder + Clinic Director of Sankofa Counseling, a culturally specific group practice in Portland, Oregon committed to individual and collective healing. She is licensed in Oregon (LPC) and Washington (LMHC), and a Clinical Supervisor with 15+ years providing direct mental health care to individuals, youth and families; she also provides consultation and continuing education for healthcare professionals, educators, and executive leadership across industries.

Vanessa approaches mental health through a structural lens, building community-based healing initiatives designed to address systemic stress and trauma that disproportionately impacts marginalized communities. Her approach bridges nervous system regulation, systems analysis, and liberatory frameworks to ensure that individuals and teams are resourced internally while advancing equity externally.

Vanessa holds a BA in Psychology & Spanish, MA in Clinical Counseling, with post-graduate studies in Attachment Focused EMDR (AF-EMDR) and various Somatic interventions for trauma recovery (nervous system regulation, co-regulating touch, somatic resilience + regulation), Cross-cultural effectiveness, facilitating Critical Conversations around Race, and Coaching for Equity.

Have questions? Contact us at [email protected]