Provider: Therapist Resources
NBCC policy reference: C.3, C.11, C.14, J.4(b)
Purpose
Therapist Resources writes about and evaluates the tools clinicians use, and accepts sponsorship from some of the companies that make them. This policy states what sponsorship means here and what it does not buy. It exists so a clinician reading our materials can tell a recommendation apart from a paid relationship.
Arrangements where Therapist Resources and another company do something together, such as a joint event or a cross-promotion, are governed by the Partnership Policy. A relationship can be both, and when it is, both policies apply.
Guidelines
1. What sponsorship is
Sponsorship is financial or in-kind support for Therapist Resources content, programs, or events. A sponsor helps fund the work.
Sponsorship does not buy a recommendation, a review outcome, placement inside course content, or influence over what Therapist Resources teaches.
2. Who is eligible
A company is considered for sponsorship only after it has been evaluated, independently of and before any sponsorship conversation, as:
- offering a service that meets a real functional need for mental health and health care providers,
- demonstrating integrity and trustworthiness in its business practices, and
- responsive to risk-management concerns raised by its customers or by Therapist Resources.
A vendor that handles protected health information must be willing to sign a business associate agreement.
A company that approaches Therapist Resources about sponsorship is evaluated on the same terms as any other. The approach itself gives it no standing.
These criteria are the shared standard for both sponsors and partners. The Partnership Policy refers back to this section.
3. What sponsorship does not mean
Sponsorship indicates that a company met the criteria above. It says nothing about that company's competitors, which may be equally good or better for a given practice. A sponsor has decided to help fund the work of supplying clinicians with useful information.
4. NBCC boundaries
For any program offered for NBCC credit:
- No sponsor is described as approved, endorsed, or recommended by NBCC. NBCC approval applies to the program and never to a sponsor, product, or service.
- Sponsor branding stays visually separate from the NBCC approval statement and the NBCC ACEP logo wherever both appear.
- Sponsorship has no bearing on learning objectives, program content, presenter selection, or assessment questions.
- A sponsor receives no participant names, contact information, or evaluation responses.
Therapist Resources displays no statement about NBCC approval or endorsement beyond the approval statement NBCC requires, unless NBCC expressly authorizes it (Policy Section J.4(b)).
A sponsor is not a cosponsor. Cosponsorship is a distinct arrangement NBCC must approve in advance under Policy Section J.7, and it is covered in the Partnership Policy.
5. Required disclosure
Promotional and learning materials for a sponsored program, event, or piece of content display this statement prominently:
Therapist Resources is sponsored by [company or product name]. This sponsorship is not a recommendation for [company or product name] over any competitor, unless Therapist Resources states that recommendation directly. Sponsorship is contingent on meeting the criteria in the Therapist Resources Sponsorship Policy.
6. When a sponsor is also something we review
Therapist Resources evaluates tools clinicians use, and a sponsor may be one of them. Partnership creates an implied endorsement even when no endorsement is stated, and that sits alongside the work of reviewing the same product honestly.
We disclose the sponsorship inside the review, and we hold sponsored and unsponsored tools to the same standard. When a finding about a sponsor is unfavorable, we publish it.
7. Declining and ending sponsorship
Therapist Resources declines sponsorships that do not meet these criteria, including from companies whose products are widely used or whose offer is substantial.
A sponsorship ends when a sponsor stops meeting the eligibility criteria, becomes unresponsive to risk-management concerns, or asks for influence over content.
Contact Information
Therapist Resources
Email: rindie@therapistresources.com
Website: https://therapistresources.com