New Ethics/Professional Standards Requirement:

Because we take our role as a leader in the education of ethical practice so seriously, the Board voted to add 3 hours of accredited ethics course work, beginning with the class of 2010.  This is required of all certification programs and is part of the required total accredited continuing education hours.

Why was this requirement added?

BCIA’s role

The BCIA Board has redefined our role in the ethical and professional work of our certificants to become more of an educator and to better reflect the way health care is handled at the state level. As you know, BCIA’s certificants must carry an appropriate license/credential valid in the state of practice in a BCIA-approved health care field when treating a medical or psychological disorder. If unlicensed, the certificant must agree to work under appropriate supervision. The licensing body has legal jurisdiction over your clinical practice. Many of our certificants do not have a professional organization nor licensing board to guide their work. It is our hope that adding this requirement will be helpful to the field.

Because BCIA has no legal jurisdiction over our certificants’ professional practice, we will not review written or verbal complaints until all other options have been exhausted and the appropriate state regulating bodies have reviewed and reached a decision on the case. If the appropriate regulating body confirms a complaint dealing with the professional biofeedback practice of one of our certificants, we will seriously consider its findings, and our response may range from provider education/supervision to revocation of certification.

The fundamental ethics document was revised to reflect this shift and as well include the scope of our international certificants. The new document is entitled BCIA Professional Standards and Ethical Principles (PSEP). Please be familiar with these guidelines prior to recertification.

Ethics/Professional Standards Course Options

There are many affordable accredited courses available online to fulfill this requirement. We urge you to select the one that will best fit your needs and may also be acceptable by your state licensing board, if applicable. Many state licensing boards already require completion of ethics/professional standards course work as a routine part of license maintenance.  Any accredited work you do in this area, including topics like HIPAA, compliance, patient records, etc. may be used. 

The following BCIA accredited training providers offer course work covering the complete bio and neurofeedback blueprints as a distance education venue. You may wish to contact these vendors to purchase their ethics module.

Behavioral Medicine Research & Training Foundation

New Mind Neurofeedback

Widener University