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Digital Seminar

Alaska Legal and Ethical Issues for Mental Health Clinicians


Average Rating:
   1
Faculty:
Susan Lewis, Ph.D., J.D.
Duration:
Full Day
Format:
Audio and Video
Copyright:
Oct 30, 2019
Product Code:
POS045610
Media Type:
Digital Seminar - Also available: DVD


Description

Watch Susan Lewis, psychologist and attorney, in this must-see recording that will prepare you for litigation issues which can put your client, your license and your practice at risk.

You will learn how to structure your practice to limit exposure of risk, as well as discover simple records, notes and actions that will protect you in the event of a complaint.

Susan will provide you with the following take-home tools to minimize risk:

  • Updates on HIPAA and Alaska laws and regulations
  • Risk management strategies
  • How to avoid litigation dilemmas, complaints and malpractice actions
  • Best practices in the professional relationship, informed consent and office policies

You will learn through problem-solving discussions that are representative of actual ethical decisions you encounter in your clinical practice.

The blending of Susan’s experience as a lawyer, work within the court system and extensive clinical experience makes her a hands-on, knowledgeable instructor!

This recording will leave you fearless and competent when and if you are faced with litigation.

Credit


* Credit Note - **

NOTE: Tuition includes one free CE Certificate (participant will be able to print the certificate of completion after completing and passing the on-line post-test evaluation). 

Continuing Education Information:  Listed below are the continuing education credit(s) currently available for this non-interactive self-study package. Please note, your state licensing board dictates whether self-study is an acceptable form of continuing education. Please refer to your state rules and regulations. If your profession is not listed, please contact your licensing board to determine your continuing education requirements and check for reciprocal approval. For other credit inquiries not specified below, please contact cepesi@pesi.com or 800-844-8260 before the event.

 

Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of your profession.  As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice in accordance with and in compliance with your profession's standards.

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.


* Credit Note - Ethics

This self-study activity includes 5.75 hours of ethics instruction. Not all boards allow ethics credit for self-study products. If ethics is not specified within your licensing board’s approval statement below, please contact your board to determine the applicability and amount of ethics allowed.


Social Workers - Social Workers - National ASWB ACE

PESI, Inc., #1062, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: January 27, 2020 - January 27, 2023. Social Workers completing this course receive 5.75 continuing education credits.

Course Level: . Format: Asynchronous distance learning. Full attendance is required; no partial credits will be offered for partial attendance.


Marriage & Family Therapists - Marriage & Family Therapists

This self-study activity consists of 6.25 clock hours of continuing education instruction. Credit requirements and approvals vary per state board regulations. Please save this course outline, the certificate of completion you receive from this self-study activity and contact your state board or organization to determine specific filing requirements. 


Addiction Counselors - Addiction Counselors

NAADAC

This self-study course has been approved by PESI, Inc., as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for 6.0 CE in the skill group. NAADAC Provider #77553. PESI, Inc. is responsible for all aspects of their programming. Full attendance is required; no partial credit will be awarded for partial attendance.


Counselors

This intermediate self-study activity consists of 6.25 clock hours of continuing education instruction. Credit requirements and approvals vary per state board regulations. Please save the course outline, the certificate of completion you receive from the activity and contact your state board or organization to determine specific filing requirements.


Other Professions

This self-study activity qualifies for 6.25 continuing education clock hours as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Save your activity advertisement and certificate of completion, and contact your own board or organization for specific requirements.



Handouts

Faculty

Susan Lewis, Ph.D., J.D. Related seminars and products


Susan J. Lewis, Ph.D., J.D., is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist and lawyer. She has over 25 years of experience in clinical practice with unique populations that have included female sexual offenders incarcerated at a woman’s prison, self-injurious individuals, forensic patients and individuals who suffer from severe and persistent mental illness. In addition to clinical practice, Dr. Lewis has served in leadership roles as clinical director, program manager, and supervisor for psychiatry residents and post-doctoral psychologists.

 

Currently, Dr. Lewis teaches courses on Law and Ethics in Mental Health that are state specific to the laws of each state. She has also lectured nationwide on the DSM-5® and differential diagnosis. She taught courses at Harvard’s Extension School and Northeastern University on The Psychology of Criminal Behavior. She is the author of Legal and Ethical Issues for Mental Health Clinicians: Best Practices for Avoiding Litigation, Complaints and Malpractice (PPM, 2016) and her latest book From Deep Within: A Forensic and Clinical Psychologist's Journey (2018).

 

A sought-after consultant, Dr. Lewis works with attorneys on controversial issues such as dangerousness, competence to stand trial, criminal responsibility evaluations, and civil and criminal commitment. She works with attorneys on strategies of how mental illness might impinge on legal decision-making. Dr. Lewis has been adjudicated an expert in almost all of the district and superior courts in Massachusetts.

 

Her extensive clinical experience makes her a hands-on, knowledgeable instructor. She is engaging and has a wonderful sense of humor, which she brings to her seminars.

 

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Susan Lewis is in private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Susan Lewis is a member of the American Psychological Association.


Additional Info

Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)

Access never expires for this product.


Objectives

  1. Communicate how to avoid litigation dilemmas, licensing complaints and malpractice actions.
  2. Explore the legal and ethical considerations for the treatment of minor populations in Alaska with regard to age of consent, confidentiality and custody concerns.
  3. Communicate how an understanding of common boundary and dual relationships issues/dilemmas can help you maintain appropriate relationships with your clients.
  4. Recognize ethical challenges you should consider when responding to subpoenas that request disclosure of client records.
  5. Analyze the limits of confidentiality as it relates to duty to warn in Alaska.
  6. Articulate how risk management strategies regarding technology can keep client information secure and avoid violating HIPAA.

Outline

Clinician-Client Relationship
  • Law vs. ethics
  • Elements of legal informed consent
  • Nuts and bolts of office policies
    • Records vs. psychotherapy notes
    • What to put in a record
  • Limitations of confidentiality
    • Alaska case law & danger to others
    • Alaska duty to warn potential victims
    • HIPAA
    • The latest updates you need to know
Practical Approach to Risk Management
  • Elements of consent
  • Competence & scope of practice
  • Boundary violations/crossings
  • Issues with modern technology
    • Texting, cell phones, e-mail, video psychotherapy
  • Perils of supervision
Litigation
  • Licensing complaints & malpractice lawsuits
    • Alaska-specific statutes
    • Alaska rules and regulations
    • Case law and how to find it
Navigate the Legal System
  • Roles of attorneys
  • Confidentiality/privilege
  • Subpoena & disclosure of confidential information
  • Depositions, interrogatories, expert testimony
Treatment of Minors
  • Alaska age of majority
  • Consent to treatment
  • Privilege/confidentiality
  • Separation & divorce
Case Studies

Target Audience

  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Case Managers
  • Addiction Counselors
  • Therapists
  • Nurses
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

Reviews

5
4
3
2
1

Overall:      5

Total Reviews: 1

Comments

Kevan W - FAIRBANKS, Alaska

"One of the VERY BEST seminars on ethics (& law) that I've ever attended!"

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