ETHICS TRAINING through Deb’s BEYOND ETHICS, LLC
In 2018, I will be presenting three sessions, but the topic is not finalized yet. If you have requests for certain topic areas, please email me. I will be offering something like: The Troublesome Interface of Legal and Clinical Issues. I am also considering The Therapist’s Use of the Authentic Self in Cases Involving Clients’ Legal Battles. Let me know if these sound interesting to you.
The topic will definitely satisfy your 3.0 hours Ethics CEU requirement for license renewal. The training will also occur on a Friday, most probably and likely be held at East Jefferson General Hospital, as usual.
“I always train with case examples and lots of humor, and – most importantly – audience participation with difficult situations, clinically and legally. I try to convey the way to protect yourself professionally – acting ethically AND self-protectively are not in conflict.”
NOTE: If you are not on Deb’s email list for Beyond Ethics, LLC trainings and would like to receive notification (or your friend or colleague isn’t getting this email and wants to sign up), please go to beyond-ethics.com and sign up for Deb’s newsletter and training email notices.
REVIEWS
- 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 licensing boards, but [she helped me] know what possible protections I can possibly provide for clients and myself.
Question/Answer Corner: What’s On Your Mind?
Q: You have been working at an agency for several years as well as in private practice. You are getting ready to terminate at the agency and go into private practice full-time. At the agency, you have been seeing a client for about a year and you would like to continue working with the client. Can you just tell the client the location of your private practice and say once you leave the agency you will continue to see her at that other location?
A: Not that simple. First, you should work out a termination plan with the agency. Technically, the client records belong to that agency. Additionally, the agency administrator and you should develop a letter for all your current clients notifying them of the date that you will be leaving the agency and of the clients’ decision to continue with another therapist at the agency or to transfer to your private practice.
There may be financial considerations; for example, if the agency offers a sliding scale and the client is paying less than full fee, you may have to decide whether you can offer that same fee to the client in your private practice. The agency cannot prevent a client from transferring with you because of the client’s right to self-determination, but both options should be set forth in the letter so that your clients can make an informed decision.
Other blog posts you might be interested in:
Engagement
Transforming Our Relationships With Our Adult Children
Separation Pondering, Continued
Pondering Separation of All Types
Control Versus Resilience: Emotional Balance
Multi-Career Professionals or Juggling Many Balls
Deb’s Louisiana Law Practice
(1) Case/Clinical/Legal Consultations – can be undertaken via teleconference or in person. Call or email for appointment. Flat fee for up to one hour is charged. I am in New Orleans every month or so to meet with licensees who prefer face-to-face in person consultations, but also can arrange consultations via Skype or video face time (with android phones).
(2) Defense for Licensing Board Complaints – with Social Work, LPC, or Psychology Board. Other health professionals are also represented.
(3) Adoptions – while I do not have an “inventory” of babies, many of my clients have found babies who are available for adoption through friends or relatives. The latter is easier to accomplish because it is an “intrafamily” adoption and much easier to accomplish. Stepparent adoptions are considered “intrafamily” adoptions, too. Private (non-family) adoptions are not extremely expensive, but do require a private Home Study by another social worker and that adds to the cost of that type of adoption. Now that the United States Supreme Court has ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, Louisiana has to recognize the marriage of same-sex couples and I can get a second parent adoption accomplished via the Intrafamily adoption statute in any parish.
What people said about my most recent seminars:
- “This seminar was extremely insightful and Deb’s delivery and presentation was right up my alley!”
- “Enjoy your workshops – always so informative and interesting. Time flies!”
- “I think Deb is a great presenter.”
- “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.”
- “Thank you for the best Ethics presentation I have been to in 25 years of practice. Your recommendations for protecting ourselves and our clients were exceptional! I will come to any presentation you have in the future. Thank you so very much!”
- “I always enjoy your trainings. I appreciate your flexibility in regards to discussing audience members’ concerns/experiences.”
- “My third seminar with you — you are great! Keep on teaching this class…”
- “Always great! Thank you! Wish you had more throughout the year… You are engaging and positive.”
- “Excellent! I could not think of anything to improve on this workshop. Keep doing what you’re doing.”
- “I thoroughly enjoyed your training. The intimate setting allowed for increased participation. I enjoyed the relevant examples/cases. I have been to Ethics seminars where the presenter went through the code of ethics (boring!). You discussed relevant issues that stimulated our interest in a fascinating way.”
- “Excellent presentation. Very informative and well thought out frame work. Thanks Deb!”
- “Nice work! Very interesting, especially when examining specific case studies.”
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)
Deb Henson is an Attorney and LCSW (Tulane School of Social Work, MSW) in private practice in Denver and New Orleans, specializing in mental health licensing defense. She represents clinicians in DORA grievances (CO) and licensing board Complaints (LA) and regularly consults with clinicians in both states to help them deal with legal and clinical conundrums, such as: (1) the receipt of subpoenas for records or testimony; (2) the escalation of high-risk clinical situations; and (3) other sticky ethical wickets that arise in clinical practice. Deb helps clinicians develop self-protective, clinically sound and legally proper strategies for risk prevention.
Deb has been presenting half- and full-day seminars on “Avoiding Ethics Complaints and Malpractice Lawsuits” or “Legal and Ethical Issues in Clinical Practice” around the country through PESI, Inc. for over 7 years and presenting for many CEU groups in Louisiana and Colorado. She also has lectured for Tulane School of Social Work Continuing Education and the University of Texas School of Social Work (Austin) Continuing Professional Development program, and for many other clinical and counseling groups. Deb started her own training biz — Beyond Ethics, LLC — in 2009. Contact Deb for group presentations to agency staff and/or private practice consultation groups.
Deb can be reached through her law and social work web site: www.deborahmhenson.com or through her training web site: www.beyond-ethics.com. Deb can also be emailed at [email protected] or [email protected]. And, you can use the old tried and true method of calling her at 504.232.8884.