Transformative Communication: Building Trust, Navigating Conflict, and Repairing Rupture

Five core practices for ethical communication and a structured model for repairing rupture.

 Grounded in the NASW and APA Code of Ethics. 

3 CE Hours. Ethics & Clinical Practice

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Communication is never neutral. How we listen, what we disclose, how we handle disagreement, and how we repair harm each shape a professional relationship. Trust is the foundation of that relationship, and it is built or eroded with every conversation.

This training treats communication as a relational and ethical practice. It requires emotional intelligence, awareness of power dynamics, and the capacity to repair when a conversation causes harm. The training follows the structure of its title: building trust, navigating conflict, and repairing rupture.

Date

  • Friday, November 20, 2026

Time:

  • 10:00 AM –

    1:15 PM CT 

Format

  • Live virtual (Zoom) 

Length

  • 3 hours and 15 minutes, including one 15-minute break

Tuition

  • $75

Full attendance is required to receive certificates. 

CE credit certificates are approved and issued by the NASW/TX chapter and delivered by email within 6 weeks after receiving the course evaluation. 

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Why This Training

Every professional conversation with a client, a colleague, or a supervisee has ethical dimensions. The NASW Code of Ethics sets standards for how social workers communicate, and those standards apply to every exchange. Communication is still widely treated as a soft skill that practitioners are expected to have on arrival, and the field rarely teaches it.

This training treats communication as an ethical practice with a teachable structure. Participants work with a framework for intentional, ethically grounded communication and examine how cultural identity and institutional power shape professional exchanges. They then practice a specific model for repair when a conversation causes harm.

Who is this for?

This training is built for licensed social workers, psychologists, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, and other helping professionals.

Practice settings

  • Behavioral health

  • Health care

  • Addiction treatment

  • Community services and resource development

  • Educational services

  • Long-term care & aging services

  • Criminal Justice

Roles

  • Direct clinical practice

  • Case management

  • Supervision and administration

  • Team leadership

  • Policy and planning

  • Managers

  • Directors

What You Will Learn

Learning Objectives: Upon completion of this training, attendees will be able to:

Identify the provisions of the NASW Code of Ethics (§1.01, §1.05, §1.07, §2.01, §2.03, §4.01) and the APA Ethics Code (Standards 3.04, 3.10, 4.01; Principles B and E) that establish ethical standards for communication in clinical practice with clients and in professional practice with colleagues and supervisees. 

1

Apply the QP Ethical Communication Framework — Cultivating Intentionality and the Five Qualities (accurate, inclusive, emotionally intelligent, generative, respectful) — including the distinction between self-regulation as the integration of emotional information versus the suppression of emotional response, in both clinical communication with clients and professional communication with colleagues. 

2

Analyze how cultural identity, power dynamics, and institutional context shape the ethical dimensions of professional communication, applying NASW §1.05 (Cultural Competence) and Hicks's Multicultural Communications Competencies.

3

Demonstrate the QP Five Core Practices of Ethical Communication — generative listening, calling in, direct ethical communication, generative conflict, and the QP Relational Repair model — in both therapeutic alliance contexts (Safran & Muran) and collegial relationships. 

4

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Three hours of instruction plus one 15-minute break, delivered live on Zoom. The session combines lecture with case application and guided practice. Participants work in dyads and small groups and leave with a structured model for repair.

How the Training Works

Teaching Methods:

Didactic lecture 

Small-group dialogue 

Experiential practice 

Role-play  

Research Based

This course draws on the research base for therapeutic alliance rupture and repair, including Safran and Muran’s work on alliance ruptures, alongside Zak’s research on high-trust workplaces and Mark Hicks’s Multicultural Communications Competencies. The ethical frame is drawn directly from the NASW Code of Ethics and the APA Ethics Code. 

The QP Ethical Communication Framework and the QP Relational Repair Model, developed by Quantum Possibilities, bring this research into a practical structure participants can carry back into daily practice. 

Program Information

Credited hours

3.0 CE Contact Hours. The 15-minute break does not count toward the 3.0 CE hours.

CE category

2.5 Ethics and Clinical Practice + 0.5 Distinct Populations

Provider Organization

Quantum Possibilities, LLC 

The NASW and APA Code of Ethics Reference

NASW: §1.01, §1.05, §1.07, §2.01, §2.03, §4.01 / APA: Standards 3.04, 3.10, 4.01; Principles B and E

Tuition

$75

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This workshop has been approved for continuing education credit for Social Workers, LPCs, and LMFTs by the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. 

State and provincial regulatory boards have final authority over which  courses are accepted for continuing education credit. Licensees are responsible for confirming that a course meets their own jurisdiction’s requirements. 

 

Full attendance is required to receive CE credit. Partial credit is not available. 

Faculty

Martha Ramos-Duffer, Psy.D.

Founder & Presenter

Texas-licensed psychologist and founder of Quantum Possibilities, LLC, with 22+ years of experience training clinicians and leaders in wellbeing, supervision, and organizational health.

Director

Jesús Ortega, LMSW, MUP

Licensed Master Social Worker and Director of The QUANTUM Institute, with 25+ years of experience in nonprofit leadership, curriculum design, and organizational transformation.

Director The Quantum Possibilities Institute

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have more questions, please send us a message!

  • This program is designed for licensed social workers (LMSW, LCSW) and is equally relevant to psychologists, licensed professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, and other helping professionals providing clinical services. 

  • Full attendance for the entire 3-hour session is required to receive CE credit. Partial credit is not available. Participants must complete the course evaluation before a certificate is issued. 

    Certificates are approved and issued by NASW/TX and delivered by email within 6 weeks of NASW/TX's receipt of the completed evaluation.

    • Cancellations received at least 48 hours before the session date receive a full refund.

    • Cancellations received less than 48 hours before the session receive a credit toward a future training.  

    • No-shows are not eligible for a refund. 

    • If Quantum Possibilities cancels a session for any reason, participants receive a full refund or the option to transfer to a future date. 

    • Participants with a concern about program content, delivery, facilities, or the handling of CE credit may submit it in writing to jesus@quantumpossibilities.com.

    • Grievances receive a written acknowledgment within 5 business days and a resolution within 30 calendar days of receipt. 

    • Participants who are not satisfied with the outcome may contact the NASW/Texas Chapter directly. 

  • Quantum Possibilities is committed to full accessibility. To request an accommodation — including closed captioning, materials in an alternate format, or other access needs — contact jesus@quantumpossibilities.com at least 7 business days before the session so we can make arrangements. 

  • Martha Ramos-Duffer, Psy.D., is the founder of Quantum Possibilities, LLC and receives compensation for this training.

    Jesús Ortega, LMSW, MUP, is Director of the Quantum Possibilities Institute and receives compensation for this training.

    This program does not include discussion of commercial products or services. No commercial support was received for this program. 

  • State and provincial regulatory boards have final authority over which courses are accepted for continuing education credit. Licensees are responsible for confirming that a course meets their own jurisdiction’s requirements. 

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