2017 - Risk Management, Professional Codes of Ethics, and Ethical Practice for Mental Health Professionals: A Comprehensive Guide to Navigating Ethics and Law

Overview:
Nowhere but in mental health are there more diverse clinicians providing the same or similar services of counselling and therapy. Various codes of ethics and state laws intersect to govern each mental health care practitioner.
Mental health practitioners are faced with a variety of high risk management process and legal situations. These events can expose clinicians to liability, lawsuits, and complaints to state licensing boards. This webinar surveys ethics and law for mental health practitioners. Learn about ethical practices, risk management, and professional codes of ethics.
Mental health professionals are faced with a variety of life or death, high risk, legal situations.
These events can expose clinicians to liability, lawsuits, and complaints to state licensing boards. For example, dual relationships and standard of care are two of the most common issues associated with the sanctioning of mental health practitioners. Assessing and treating patients who are suicidal or violent creates fear in the mental health practitioner.
What violations may trap the unwary clinician? Erase the uncertainty by knowing the intersection of ethics and law for mental health practitioners.
Why Should You Attend:
Mental health care practitioners work in today’s diverse, fast-changing, multidisciplinary health care environment. Nowhere but in mental health is there such diversity of clinicians who provide the same or similar services of counselling and therapy. Yet each individual mental health profession has a unique education, training, and experience requirement for practice.
The state’s authority and power over mental health practitioners often presents challenges to mental health professionals that are not easy to navigate.
All mental health practitioners must adhere to standards of state law which govern their professional practices, including the doctor-patient relationship. Codes of ethics and state law may both apply to govern the conduct of this clinician. Complaints that are received and investigated by a state agency leave the mental health practitioner with an uncertain process to handle the state action against them.
Areas Covered in this Webinar:
Learn to identify and understand an ethical framework for a sound mental health practice. Describe the inherent risks in mental health practice. Review the three most common violations of law against mental health clinicians. Compare and contrast regulatory laws and codes of ethics. Learn practical tips about how to avoid liability and manage risk in clinical settings.
This allows the mental health care practitioner to avoid sanctions and to defend against legal actions which may result in ruinous practice and career consequences for the mental health practitioner.
This webinar offers an objective, thorough review of ethics and law for mental health practitioners.
Learning Objectives:
Identify an ethical framework for sound mental health assessment practice
Describe the inherent risks in mental health practice
Review three most common complaints filed against clinicians to state mental health licensing boards
Compare and contrast regulatory laws and codes of ethics for mental health professionals
Provide practical tips about how to avoid liability and manage risk in clinical settings
Who Will Benefit:
Psychologists
Compliance Officer
Marriage and Family Therapists
Professional Counsellors
Social Workers
Alcohol and Drug Counsellors
Individual Health Care Practitioners
Health Care Attorneys
Corporate Counsel in Health Care
University Faculty in Allied Health Care
Speaker Profile:
Mark Brengelman worked as the assigned counsel to numerous health professions licensure boards as an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Moving to private practice, he now helps private clients including health care practitioners who are professionally licensed in a wide variety of contexts.
Mark became interested in the law when he graduated with both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Philosophy from Emory University in Atlanta. He then earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Kentucky College of Law. In 1995, Mark became an Assistant Attorney General and focused in the area of administrative and professional law where he represented multiple boards as General Counsel and Prosecuting Attorney.