Marriage and Family Therapist Code of Ethics: Practice Checklist

AAMFT standards checklist

Read each standard in full in the AAMFT Code of Ethics before deciding. For a legal or licensing question, consult the applicable law, licensing board, supervisor, attorney, or other appropriate authority; when the code or applicable law does not settle the question, document that consultation.

Standard	What it covers	Practice decision
Standard I. Responsibility to Clients	Responsibility to clients, including informed consent, client welfare, multiple-client work, and the limits of the therapeutic relationship.	Before treatment or a material change, record what each client needs to understand and choose the action that protects the clients rather than your convenience.
Standard II. Confidentiality	Confidentiality, including protecting information, explaining limits, handling disclosures, and maintaining records with appropriate care.	Before collecting or disclosing information, record the authority or consent, recipient, necessary content, and explanation.
Standard III. Professional Competence and Integrity	Professional competence and integrity, including practicing within competence, maintaining professional integrity, recognizing impairment or conflicts, and presenting qualifications honestly.	Before proceeding, record whether the service is within your competence and role; obtain training, referral, consultation, or correction when it is not.
Standard IV. Responsibility to Students and Supervisees	Responsibility to students, trainees, and supervisees, including evaluation, boundaries, feedback, and the power difference in supervision.	Before supervision or evaluation proceeds, record the role, standards, feedback process, confidentiality limits, and any conflict discussed with the learner.
Standard V. Research and Publication	Research and publication, including ethical treatment of research participants and responsible conduct in publishing, presenting, or using professional work.	Before collecting or presenting information, record the consent, privacy, authorship, data-handling, and review steps completed.
Standard VI. Technology-Assisted Professional Services	Technology-assisted professional services, including competence, informed consent, privacy, security, and documentation.	Before using a platform, record why it fits this client and service, then explain its risks, privacy limits, and alternatives.
Standard VII. Professional Services Within the Legal System	Professional services within the legal system, including forensic services, testimony, legal-system evaluations, role conflicts, and related duties.	Before providing the service, record the role, authorization, information supporting your opinion, recipient, and limits you will state.
Standard VIII. Financial Arrangements	Financial arrangements, including fees, payment, financial policies, and arrangements handled without exploitation or misleading pressure.	Before service begins or terms change, record what the client will pay, when, and for what service.
Standard IX. Advertising	Advertising, including public statements about the therapist, services, credentials, outcomes, and professional identity.	Before posting or approving a statement, record its support and check that it is accurate, clear about what you offer, and not misleading.

Use the marriage and family therapist code of ethics before you answer the email, open the second chart, accept the research payment, post the testimonial, or let a platform record a session. Keep the decision visible without turning an ethics question into a box-checking exercise.

Start with the code and the situation

For AAMFT members, apply the marriage and family therapist code of ethics to professional conduct, including work performed inside an organization. Open the current AAMFT provision and identify the law, board rule, or setting requirement that applies to your jurisdiction and role before you choose an action.

Read the official code’s introductory explanation and numbered provisions, and distinguish its aspirational values from its ethical standards before you rely on a summary.

A five-line decision record

If the decision involves an immediate safety risk, a mandated report, a court order, or a question of law, follow the current emergency, reporting, board, or legal procedure for your jurisdiction and setting. Do not rely on this page to resolve the safety, reporting, court, or legal question.

Standards I through III

The first three standards govern the relationship with clients and the professional conditions that make the relationship trustworthy. Open the official text for every numbered provision.

Review informed consent as often as necessary rather than treating a signature as the end of the conversation. Revisit the discussion when the service, participants, technology, fees, foreseeable risks, or limits of confidentiality change in a way that could affect the client’s decision.

A consent conversation in a family system

The example shows the decision shape, not a universal family-therapy policy. Match the conversation to the clients, setting, law, and current code.

Standards IV through VI: Supervision, Research, and Technology

These standards cover teaching and supervision, research and publication, and technology-assisted professional services. Apply the relevant duty to the learner, participant, or client in front of you rather than treating the technology template as a substitute for supervision or research safeguards.

Use the marriage and family therapist code of ethics to name the duty before you document the action, especially when a learner, research participant, or client may be affected by the decision.

Explain the technology-assisted service, its risks, privacy and security limits, and the record-handling process. As a separate workflow check, record connection or urgent-care planning when it is appropriate to the client, service, and setting, using the requirements that apply to your jurisdiction and service.

Technology review before a session

Use these questions to prompt your review; verify the legal, contractual, and security requirements that apply to your platform and service.

Standards VII through IX

Apply the last three standards when you provide professional services within the legal system, discuss financial arrangements, or make a public professional statement.

A directory profile is still a public professional statement. Review the words you use for credentials, specialties, outcomes, fees, testimonials, and the identity of the person or practice making the claim.

A supported evaluation statement

The exact decision depends on the current code, the authorization, the therapist’s role, the law, and the receiving setting. If the question is legal or forensic, obtain the appropriate consultation.

Put the marriage and family therapist code of ethics into your practice

Use the marriage and family therapist code of ethics as a prompt for a decision, not as a label that ends the decision. A useful review has four parts:

1. Facts. What happened, who is affected, and what do you know rather than assume?
2. Authority. Which current AAMFT provision, law, rule, agreement, or policy did you open?
3. Action. What will you do, what will you tell the relevant people, and what will you document?
4. Review. What could change, who will you consult, and when will you revisit the decision?

If the code and a law or organizational mandate appear to conflict, open both sources and seek qualified consultation. The official AAMFT code says therapists should comply with legal mandates, communicate their commitment to the code, and take reasonable steps to resolve conflicts responsibly. Do not infer a state-law conclusion from this page.

The therapy practice compliance guides are the wider map. For a decision that is still unsettled, use the ethical decision-making model for counseling as a separate worksheet; it is an ACA resource and is not the AAMFT code. For a relationship that may involve a second role, use dual relationships in therapy before you decide whether the issue belongs in this general record.

Keep the marriage and family therapist code of ethics open while you compare the standard with the facts, authority, action, and review date in your record.

Download the consent and ethics decision pack

The consent and ethics decision pack gives you a printable consent form and decision cards for common ethics conversations. Use it as paper beside the current AAMFT text, not as a replacement for that text.

References

• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. (2026). AAMFT Code of Ethics (effective January 1, 2026).