Title: Law & Ethics of the Clinical Use of Artificial Intelligence: Implications in Clinical Practice – 2025 Update

Authors/Presenters: Eric Ström, JD, PhD, LMHC
CE Length: 3 CE credit hours, legal-ethical
Legal-Ethical CE Hours: 3 legal-ethical CE hour 

Meet Our Presenters

Presented by

Eric Strom JD PhD LMHC

Eric Ström JD PhD LMHC, is an attorney and Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Seattle, Washington. As an attorney, Eric provides legal counsel, consultation, and guidance to mental health professionals. Eric’s counseling practice is focused on providing counseling services to combat veterans as well as providing supervision and consultation to other clinicians. Eric currently serves on the American Mental Health Counselors Association Ethics Committee, and is the ethics advisor for the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association. Eric has taught a range of courses in counseling and professional ethics at a variety of graduate and undergraduate programs.

Eric earned a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision at Oregon State University, a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology from the Northwest School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University Seattle, graduated cum laude from Wayne State University School of Law in Detroit Michigan, attended the Hague Academy of International Law in the Hague Netherlands, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics from the University of Michigan.

Resources & Citations

• Abrams, Z. (2024). Addressing equity and ethics in artificial intelligence. Monitor on Psychology, 55(3), 24.
• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. (2015). AAMFT Code of ethics. https://www.aamft.org/Legal_Ethics/Code_of_Ethics.aspx
• American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA Code of ethics. https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf
• American Counseling Association. (n.d.). Recommendations for practicing counselors: Artificial intelligence in counseling. https://www.counseling.org/resources/research-reports/artificial-intelligence-counseling/recommendations-for-practicing-counselors#
• American Mental Health Counselors Association. (2020). AMHCA Code of ethics. https://www.amhca.org/publications/ethics
• American Mental Health Counselors Association. (2023). 2023 update to the AMHCA Code of ethics. https://www.amhca.org/events/publications/ethics
• American Psychological Association. (2002, amended 2010 & 2016). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. https://www.apa.org/ethics/code
• American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Policy on use of generative artificial intelligence in APA-published journals. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/resources/publishing-tips/policy-generative-ai
• BBC News. (2024, January 8). AI-generated child sexual abuse images evade detection. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67872693
• Faughnan, M. (2023, May 30). Use the right tool for the job. Faughnan on Ethics. https://faughnanonethics.com/use-the-right-tool-for-the-job/
• IBM Data and AI Team. (2023, March 23). Shedding light on AI bias with real-world examples. IBM. https://www.ibm.com/blog/shedding-light-on-ai-bias-with-real-world-examples/
• Mata v. Avianca, Inc., No. 22-cv-1461 (S.D.N.Y. June 22, 2023).
• NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. (2021). NAADAC Code of ethics. https://www.naadac.org/code-of-ethics
• National Association of Social Workers. (2021). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English
• National Board for Certified Counselors. (2023). NBCC Code of ethics. https://www.nbcc.org/Ethics/CodeOfEthics
• National Board for Certified Counselors. (2024, April 12). Ethical principles for artificial intelligence in counseling. https://www.nbcc.org/Ethics/AI
• OpenAI. (2024). Terms of use. https://openai.com/policies/terms-of-use
• Schwartz, R., Vassilev, A., Greene, K., Perine, L., Burt, A., & Hall, P. (2022). Towards a standard for identifying and managing bias in artificial intelligence (NIST Special Publication). National Institute of Standards and Technology. https://doi.org/[add DOI if available]
• Simon, R. I. (1992). Treatment boundary violations: Clinical, ethical, and legal considerations. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, 20(3), 269–288.
• Norton, A. (2020). COVID [full title of article] [PDF]. https://www.anorton.com/userfiles/688392/file/COVID%20Aaron%20Article.pdf
• Norton, A. (2021). Counseling during a pandemic [PDF]. https://www.anorton.com/userfiles/688392/file/Counseling%20During%20a%20Pandemic%202021.pdf
• White House. (2025, January). Removing barriers to American leadership in artificial intelligence. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/removing-barriers-to-american-leadership-in-artificial-intelligence/
• 15 U.S.C. § 9401(3) (2023).
• 45 C.F.R. § 160.103 (2023).
• 45 C.F.R. § 160.514(b)(2)(i) (2023).
• 45 C.F.R. § 164.314(a)(1) (2023).

Accuracy, Utility, and Risks Statement: This program discusses strategies for complying with HIPAA, state rules in general, and covered ethics codes. It may not include information on all applicable state laws. Misapplication of the materials, or errors in the materials, could result in security problems, data breaches, or non-compliance with applicable laws or ethics codes.

Conflicts of Interest: None noted

Commercial Support: None.