COLORADO TRAINING – AUGUST 28TH
SEE BELOW FOR MORE INFO
Self-Protective, Ethical Practices with High-Stress Clients/Situations: Walking the High Wire in Stressful Clinical Situations and Legal Involvement

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Question/Answer Corner: What’s On Your Mind?

Q: You have seen a couple for marital/relationship counseling for about 6 months. Despite your great work with them (!!), they have decided to split up. You wish them well and they terminate appropriately. About 3 months later, you receive a request from one of the parties asking you to provide a written summary of the therapy to her attorney. What should you do?

A: Any time one party requests a written statement from you for use in litigation context, beware. If you voluntarily provide such a statement of your opinion, or even a summary, you might be perceived by the other party as being biased in favor of the client for whom you wrote the statement.

Additionally, with couples therapy, you have to get authorization from BOTH parties before any release of records, even by subpoena. Some therapists have asked me if they can merely redact the info concerning the non-authorizing party and give some info concerning the therapy but only stating what the authorizing party said, but the answer is still NO. Each party is entitled to the therapist’s adherence to the privilege of confidentiality and must consent to any release of their records.

As to the request by the client (above) to furnish a summary of the treatment, you can inform her that you cannot do so without the other party’s consent. If he refused to consent, the only way for the records (not your statement at that point) to be entered into the litigation would be pursuant to subpoena. And, even then, you would have to obtain his consent before you release or else you would have to file a motion to quash the subpoena and only release if the Judge ordered you to do so.

If you receive a subpoena, it is best to seek legal consultation, which your liability insurance should pay for.

Therapy Office Available For Sublet

Deb’s therapy office in Lakewood (Green Mountain area) is available for subletting – only evenings and one half day left. Please check out her listing on Craigslist Denver or call her for more info or to schedule a time to visit the office. 504.232.8884

You can view photos of the office and read specifics of subletting at:
https://denver.craigslist.org/off/6211714990.html

DORA: What’s On the Various Boards’ Radar?

I try to attend many of the public Board meetings of all the Mental Health Boards: Social Work, Professional Counselors, Psychologists, Marriage & Family Therapists, Addiction Counselors, and Registered Psychotherapists. Each newsletter, this section will address current issues that arise in various Board meetings that may seem helpful for practicing clinicians.

Here are some allegations from the Social Work and LPC Board meetings:

1. Complainant alleged substandard practice due to the therapist’s letter to client written in a sarcastic tone and stating, “No wonder you have marital problems.”
2. Complainant alleged the therapist agreed to hold money for client and also clipped client’s toenails. Licensee denied keeping money.
3. Alleged possible Medicaid fraud.
4. Alleged that therapist agreed to do something for client and then failed to follow through. The Board was not too concerned about the substantive allegation, but noted that there was no mandatory disclosure provide and that the Response was late.
5. Therapist allegedly recommended that client see psychiatrist to get on a specific SSRI. Response seemed to satisfy Board – the therapist said she recommended anti-depressant medication to augment therapy, but did not recommend a specific medication.
6. This matter involved a self-report by a licensee to DORA after the licensee received a DUI. The Board was pleased that the report was made so promptly and referred the licensee for a Mental Status Examination, include substance abuse assessment.
7. Several cases involved allegations that therapists failed to release records. This is the reason for the suggestion above that if you receive a subpoena or a request/demand from a client to release to him/her, you seek legal consultation. These matters are steeped in risk for the therapist.

Additional issues will be listed in the coming newsletters and Deb is always available to consult with your agency, private practice groups, clinical consultation groups, or with you individually to discuss potential high-risk situations.

Training/Consultation For Clinicians/Agencies

Deb has been providing training for high risk clinical situations and legal involvement of the therapist for groups here in Colorado. Deb consults with individual practitioners, small groups of clinicians, and agencies to help therapists prepare for deposition or trial testimony, or to handle a subpoena request for clinical records.

Deb is available to meet with individual therapists who need risk prevention consultation and/or with groups of any size for any type of self-protective, clinical practice in this litigious age. Deb can custom tailor training to your particular agency or small group with questions submitted in advance by participants, if desired.

COLORADO training

On August 28th, Deb will present through her training business, Beyond Ethics, LLC, a 3-hour seminar entitled:

Self-Protective, Ethical Practices with High-Stress Clients/Situations: Walking the High Wire in Stressful Clinical Situations and Legal Involvement

Description of Seminar

This workshop presents vital information for handling high-risk clients and/or situations in this litigious society. Presented by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 30 years clinical experience, who is also a Mental Health Attorney defending clinicians in DORA grievances, you will learn practical, ethical, self-protective methods for managing a high-risk practice and responding to subpoenas for records and/or your testimony at depositions or trial.

Participants will also be encouraged to submit clinical dilemmas and/or ethical minefield examples ahead of time. A good portion of the seminar will be discussing case examples that I have encountered in my law and/or clinical practices and any situations that participants send in ahead of time or raise during the seminar.

Although the training concerns a serious topic, Deb believes that seminars should also be fun – so be ready to laugh some along the way. Deb also plans to have you leave the seminar with less stress than when you entered the room. You will understand specific steps for responding to high-anxiety situations in your practice so such events will not be foreign when and if they occur. Deb is also available for subsequent consultations when needed.

Registration for Sungate Linkage Therapists will be discounted from the regular fee of $60 for the 3-hour seminar to $50. You can register at: www.beyond-ethics.com or email Deb at [email protected]. Certificates will be provided.

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Some of the participants had this to say about Deb’s training:

• “Very helpful and informative. Thank you!”
• “Great info – very knowledgeable and great examples. Great reminders as well as some new nuggets.”
• “Could have listened to you all day! Great info. Lots to think about.”
• “Very good! Lively! Engaging! Knowledgeable! Very important information. Perfect timing.”
• “Deb presented excellent information that I feel will help me with my practice. Excellent info! Great workshop.”
• “I attend multiple, legal, ethical practice trainings and Deb is excellent in presentation. Thank you!”
• “Great advice about staying balanced/grounded in testifying.”
• “I appreciate Deborah being both a clinician and an attorney. Frightening possibilities regarding DORA, but [she helped me] know what possible protections I can possibly provide for clients and myself.”

Deb will be scheduling additional trainings concerning The Troublesome Interface of Legal and Clinical Issues in the near future in the Denver area.

LOUISIANA training

Deb will be doing another 3-hour Beyond Ethics training in New Orleans on November 3, 2017 entitled:

Ethical, Clinical Practice in the Electronic Age

Deb’s Clinical Practice

(1) Referrals being accepted for women’s therapy group. Good candidates include women between ages approximately 35 – 60 who are undergoing a significant life transition, such as (a) loss of job, (b) major health issue, (c) divorce or death of partner, or (d) depression/anxiety that you believe group work would help. Client would continue in individual therapy with referring therapist – group would only augment clinical work. Group will meet in the evening at Deb’s Lakewood office.

(2) Deb will be teaming up with a Yoga instructor who offers Trauma Sensitive Yoga for survivors – both a teen group and a women’s group. We will be offering short-term (probably 6-week) groups starting in the New Year. These groups will be structured around providing a safe space for survivors of any type of trauma. Here is the blurb about the group:

Certified Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Instructor Rachel Stroud and Therapist Deborah M. Henson, LCSW are collaborating to offer two 6-week Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Workshops. One workshop is aimed towards teens who have survived or are enduring any type of trauma and the other is geared towards women trauma survivors. We are reaching out to the communities in Denver/Lakewood and surrounding areas to invite trauma survivors to start or continue their healing journey. If you are a trauma survivor or know of someone who could benefit from this type of workshop, we’d love to hear from you so we can come together to find a 6-week slot that works for the majority. Please email Rachel Stroud at [email protected] or call at 405-640-5132 to express interest and to collaborate meeting times.

Rachel & Deb are passionate about helping trauma survivors navigate through their healing journey and offering a safe place for them to heal from the deep places where trauma is held within the body. Trauma-Sensitive Yoga provides survivors with the opportunity to heal from the source, empowering them with renewed relationships with their bodies.

• Learn how to connect with your breath, mind and body to provide calm and safety within
• Learn techniques to help release stress, tension and anxiety
• Find connection, strength and support with others in a safe setting
• Learn to process your trauma & healing through movement, optional group sharing, journaling and mindfulness.

Trauma is different for everyone. The exact same traumatic event can, and likely will, affect individuals differently. Trauma can be, but it not limited to:

• PTSD of any kind
• Childhood trauma
• Sexual trauma
• Surviving a natural disaster
• Surviving/witnessing an attack
• First responders holding trauma from their first-hand accounts on the job
• LGBTQ processing/marginalization/discrimination/questioning…etc.
• Emotional/spiritual/physical abuse or trauma
• Death of a loved one and/or close encounters with death
• Surviving an accident
• Surviving or witnessing anything horrific and/or traumatizing

Again, please email Rachel Stroud at [email protected] or call at 405-640-5132 for inquiries and interest. Thank you!

(3) Deb offers family counseling to those who have a LGBTQ kid or family member of any age coming out. If sufficient referrals come forth, Deb and another clinician will start a multi-family group, which is very potent for families who feel isolated as in these situations. For more info, please call or have the family member call Deb at 504.232.8884. Deb is also a new Board member for PFLAG and will be assisting with the support groups in the near future, including the family and significant other support groups.

(4) Post-Divorce Facilitation – if any of your clients are considering divorce or have recently gotten divorced, I am available to help facilitate the process between the parents with the co-parenting of their children. It takes a new headset to become successful, non-conflictual co-parents, especially when the baggage of divorce litigation is hanging heavy over their heads. If you want more information about the co-parenting facilitation, feel free to email or call me or have the interested client contact me.

Legal Services Offered

• Legal Representation & Consultation for grievances (complaints) to licensing boards and/or malpractice lawsuits
• Training & Consultation for Clinicians and Agencies (e.g., respond ethically to subpoenas while protecting yourself and your clients; identify high-risk clients and situations to avoid client disciplinary complaints and harm to clients or third parties)