The Couples Institute is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformance with the American Psychological Association's Ethical Principles of Psychologists. The Couples Institute will comply with all legal and ethical responsibilities to be non-discriminatory in promotional activities, program content and in the treatment of program participants. The monitoring and assessment of compliance with these standards will be the responsibility of the Education Chair in consultation with the members of the continuing education committee.

While The Couples Institute goes to great lengths to assure fair treatment for all participants and attempts to anticipate problems, there will be occasional issues which come to our attention which require intervention and/or action on the part of The Couples Institute. This procedural description serves as a guideline for handling such grievances.

When a participant, either orally or in written format, files a grievance and expects action on the complaint, the following actions will be taken.

1. If the grievance concerns a speaker, the content presented by the speaker, or the style of presentation, the individual filing the grievance will be asked to put his/her comments in written format. The CE Administrator will then pass on the comments to the speaker, assuring the confidentiality of the grieved individual.

2. If the grievance concerns a training program, its content, level of presentation, or the facilities in which the workshop was offered, The Couples Institute will mediate and will be the final arbitrator. If the participant requests action, the CE Administrator will:

a. attempt to move the participant to another training program or
b. provide a credit for a subsequent year's program or
c. provide full refund of the workshop fee.

Actions 2b and 2c will require a written note, documenting the grievance, for record keeping purposes. The note need not be signed by the grieved individual.

3. If the grievance concerns a CE program offered by The Couples Institute, in a specific regard, the CE Administrator will attempt to arbitrate.

To submit a complaint or if you have additional questions, please contact CE Administrator, The Couples Institute, 445 Burgess Dr, Menlo Park, CA 94025, 650-327-5915, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .