PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY INSURANCE FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: BUYER BEWARE!!!!
NASW Insurance
I want to SHOUT OUT A WARNING for those of you who might be considering renewing or initiating a new policy with NASW. One would think that as a support organization for social workers across the country, they would embrace the philosophy of client’s right to self-determination, as we social workers do for our clients. But no. NASW professional liability insurance does NOT allow their insureds to select their own attorney, under most circumstances. Why? Money. Plain and simple. They pay their attorneys a very low rate, thus placing YOU – their insureds – in a precarious bind. Their attorneys have higher paying work to do, so your matter may not priority as you would wish. They also select lawyers who tend to be newbies, who will work for the low hourly rate they pay them for your representation.
You do NOT have to accept this. I have had clients who very much wanted to have me defend them, not only because of my 20+ years of experience in this niche area, but also because I am a clinician – a Licensed Clinical social Worker with over 30 years clinical experience. I know what it’s like to be in the trenches.
Some of these clients managed to get my fees somewhat covered, but NASW insurance would not cover the total fee even though my hourly fees are definitely below the average for an attorney who has my same level of unique experience in defending mental health professionals in licensing board Complaints.
So, please check your policy or, better yet, call a rep at the company as if you were going to let them know you received a Complaint and planned to select your attorney for the defense. I am not suggesting you make that up, but rather explain that if you were in receipt of a Complaint and wanted your own attorney, would that be a problem and would they cover the attorney’s full fee? Or if not, what is the fee capped at for attorney fee reimbursement. Ask also what they pay for subpoena consultations – those are generally covered by professional liability policies, but I imagine NASW low-balls these reimbursements to you as well. ASK THEM!
Let me know if you hear something other than the information I present above. And if someone there tells you differently, please get their name, email, and telephone number and extension so I can confirm. I will send out any differing information in my next newsletter.
HPSO INSURANCE
I have emailed the contact person from HPSO’s website asking the following questions that you may feel free to use for your survey via phone or email with your current insurer.
Hey Lynette, [[email protected]]
I have a couple questions.
- Can an insured select his/her own attorney to defend a licensing board complaint?
- If so, do you cap the reimbursement based on a certain hourly fee for the attorney?
- Do you reimburse insureds for subpoena consultation legal fees?
- If so, do you cap that subpoena hourly rate for the attorney fee?
So, in the next newsletter I will report her responses. HPSO covers counselors and clinical social workers.
Why don’t we conduct a survey? I would love it if you would ask the above questions of your current insurance company and email me the answers. I will incorporate them into the next newsletter along with the answers I receive from HPSO. I’m happy to serve as a mini forum for this issue of best coverage – may differ depending upon the state.
Coverage of your attorney fees in the event of a subpoena or a board Complaint/Grievance is really the most essential aspect of professional liability insurance. These days are becoming ever more litigious: subpoenas are much more common than back in the dinosaur days (when I went into clinical practice!!), and defense of Complaints/Grievances, although not extremely common, are quite expensive and unique for attorneys.
I am hoping that we can manage to find an insurance company that offers coverage for the attorney YOU SELECT at that attorney’s hourly rate so that you obtain a full reimbursement for your legal fees. You have the right to an experienced attorney. I would also add that the most experienced attorney is an attorney-hybrid, like me, who understands clinical practice and its nuances for the best defense to your licensing board.
Defense for Complaints/Grievances is crucial for your license. The choice of who represents you should be yours alone, not an insurance company’s that is making billions a year and paying out as little as they can manage.
Enough of my tirade. Suffice it to say: Buyer Beware!!!
SPECIAL OFFERS!
Offer #1: Free Webinar Registration
I have been offering this special to clinicians who register for Beyond Ethics, LLC training; it goes out in the “Welcome” email to them when they sign up. So, here it is for all of you as well.
I really appreciate (in advance) any referrals to my mental health defense law practice or to my training biz (Beyond Ethics, LLC). So, here’s the offer for the webinar referrals:
If you refer two (2) people who follow through and register for one of my webinars, you will receive credit for one (1) Beyond Ethics, LLC webinar in the coming year or whenever you want to use it.
One more caveat: the referred individuals must be NEW additions to my email list. My web guy will check it out for us if you are not sure. Thanks!
Offer #2: 30% Discount on Legal Consultation
I would like to reach as many clinicians in Louisiana and Colorado as possible to let them know that I provide self-protective legal defense and/or consultation.
If you refer another clinician to me who requests legal representation or consultation, YOU WILL BE ENTITLED TO 30% OFF A ONE-HOUR, NON-SUBPOENA CONSULTATION FEE (regular fee is $275) to be used any time within a year of the referral.
One more caveat: the referred person must be a NEW client/consultee; that is, never having worked with me previously. Thanks!
UPCOMING WEBINARS IN 2024 – BEYOND ETHICS, LLC
As usual, I mulled and pondered … and reviewed the evaluations sent by my Beyond Ethics, LLC webinar participants. Some of you suggested topics for me to cover; I combined a few ideas to develop the topic for this coming year.
Also, I decided for the first time since operating Beyond Ethics, LLC training, that I would vary the annual schedule from same topic/3x year to two topics, each 2x year. Now I train mostly via webinars, and many of you in Louisiana need to get CEUs by the end of June, so I’m hoping this helps those of you who enjoy my webinars to be able to get 6 hours each year from Beyond Ethics, LLC.
The new schedule will offer the following for 2024:
- Well-Being: February and June
- Divorce: March and May
For more details about the two 2024 Beyond Ethics, LLC webinars, keep reading…
Dates / Times of Webinars
February 23 and June 7, 2024 – ZOOM
Louisiana: 9:45 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (CST)
Colorado: 8:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon (MST)
Description of workshop
What are the necessities (ethical rules) of boundary-setting with clients? What are some challenges? What do we do with the gray areas? Query whether the ethical requirements of our profession help or hinder the well-being of: Our clients? Ourselves?
Many clinicians have struggled over the past few years with COVID worries and the resulting pivot to teletherapy. Although many therapists and their clients enjoy the ease that comes with teletherapy, there are consequences of moving psychotherapy into the digital realm. Sometimes the boundaries become blurred – after-hour texts, emails, phone calls, and of course, those pesky Google reviews.
How has your practice shifted over the past several years? Has it transformed to nearly all remote therapy? Has the transformation positively or negatively affected your quality of life? I’m sure you will answer something like “pros and cons” to the new way. Are you more or less likely to make time for your own well-being? This workshop will look at some ways to improve well-being, which is important for you and important to share with your clients.
The well-being suggestions, from me and participant engagement, will be aimed at helping increase overall well-being for tired, stressed therapists. Of course, your work and self-reflection in this webinar will translate to an increased ability to help your clients achieve a greater sense of well-being.
Come join Deb and the many clinicians who attend her webinars to do a deep dive into your own well-being. This will be a different webinar with more written reflection exercises, followed by group sharing and discussion. Of course, no one will have to share and can learn plenty from merely being present with us all as we grapple with some difficult dilemmas with our clients … and with ourselves.
Register Now
Dates / Times of Webinars
March 8 and May 10, 2024 – ZOOM
Louisiana: 9:45 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (CST)
Colorado: 8:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon (MST)
Description of workshop
Oh no – not another subpoena for my clinical records! Does my client want to authorize the release or not? Will I be deposed and/or have to testify at a Court hearing? How will my entanglement in my client’s litigation affect our subsequent therapeutic relationship? What about one parent’s request for my opinion on whether the child should be alone with the other parent – that is, the information from one parent (perhaps corroborated by the child client) suggests that it might not be emotionally safe to be with other parent for unsupervised visitation. Should I write my opinion knowing it likely will be used in Court against the other parent? And finally, why did I pick this area of practice????
Deb will discuss how to navigate your clinical practice ethically and self-protectively when working with divorced couples. Many of my legal consultations concern this demographic in clinical practice; it is, by far, one of the most clinically challenging and ethically demanding areas of mental health practice.
Therapists who work with children of divorced parents – or one of the spouses individually – frequently find themselves caught in a quagmire: they do not want to jeopardize the child’s or spouse’s therapy, but yet the demanding parents/spouses at war with each other often drag the therapist into the litigation arena. Records are sought. Testimony is compelled. Therapists are anxious and understandably hypervigilant to avoid any misstep that might result in a licensing board Complaint/Grievance. The therapy suffers. The therapist suffers.
Divorce and custody litigation can draw therapists into a black hole and destroy their ability to maintain a healthy, therapeutic relationship with the child (or spouse) client who needs them sorely.
This workshop will help clinicians prepare to handle these white-water rapids with a better understanding of how to shield themselves from harm, albeit probably not from all anxiety.
Deb invites participant discussion throughout the webinar and encourages registrants to submit specific situations in advance to enhance our grist for the training mill.
Register Now
Approvals will be obtained from the Louisiana mental health boards (Social Work & LPC) for 3 hours of CEU credit in Ethics.
ADDITIONAL CUSTOM PRESENTATIONS in 2023
- New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center – LIVE presentation: “Advance Ethical Planning for Therapist’s Unexpected Departure: The Professional Will!!”
- University of Colorado at Colorado Springs School of Social Work in partnership with UCHealth-Memorial Behavioral Health (Zoom): “Ethics and Risk Prevention”
NOTE: If your agency, clinic, university, or consultation group would like a custom training, I am happy to tailor such to your needs. Together we can plan the substance of the training, case examples, length of training, etc.
What people said about my most recent seminars:
- “This was great information for if/when I’m subpoenaed. Wonderful reminder of my role as a counselor and how to make sure I’m protecting myself and [my] license.”
- “The April 1st session on Divorcing Couples with Children was … interactive and informal, balanced well with [Deb’s] knowledge and expertise in the area. I like that she and participants shared real cases that presented a challenge.”
- “Great job with Zoom. It almost was a good as being in the room with you.”
- “Very detailed, helpful … in navigating the legal world from a clinical perspective.”
- “Content was practical and presented in ‘layman’s’ terms. Easy to understand and able to take into practice immediately.”
- “Topic was very pertinent to many things I have experienced.”
- “Very helpful and plan to attend future seminars.”
DEB IS AVAILABLE FOR LEGAL / CLINICAL CONSULTATION and/or TRAINING
I am available to provide legal consultations for your high-risk clients or situations. I offer consultations to individual therapists or clinical group (e.g., clinical consultation groups, suite mates, etc.). I often schedule therapist consultations via telephone but can also schedule via Zoom if you prefer.
Additionally, I also can work with you to design custom training for your agencies, academic mental health programs, and small group practices. The trainings I have provided in the past have included a focus on: (1) ethically managing high-risk clinical situations and legal involvement of the therapist, (2) helping therapists prepare for deposition or trial testimony, and (3) responding to a subpoena request for clinical records or therapist testimony at deposition or trial.
If interested or need additional information, please email me: [email protected].
PREVIOUS ETHICS WEBINARS
[NOTE: these topics/presentations are available for consultation groups, agencies, or university custom trainings – contact Deb for more information or to schedule.]
2022
Divorcing Couples with Children: Ethical, Self-Protective Management of High-Risk Cases and Legal Involvement – April, June, November.
Divorce and custody litigation can draw therapists into a black hole and destroy their ability to maintain a healthy, therapeutic relationship with the child client who needs them sorely.
This workshop will help clinicians prepare to handle these white-water rapids with a better understanding of how to shield themselves from harm, albeit probably not from all anxiety.
Deb invites participant discussion throughout the webinar and encourages registrants to submit specific situations in advance to enhance our grist for the training mill.
2021
June, September, November – a topic that will either intrigue or depress you: The Professional Will. Why would it depress you? Because most of us prefer to avoid the inevitable knowledge that one day we will no longer be around. This topic has been requested by some folks over the years but arises primarily from my several consultations with mental health professionals who had to “pick up the pieces” after a beloved colleague suddenly passed away.
In all my consultations, the mental health provider died, but some situations present a slightly different twist: the therapist suffers a stroke or other type of sudden, debilitating medical event. Poof! Clinical practice is OVER. Suddenly. Without the therapist’s ability to terminate or even email or text her/his clients. How will clients of the suddenly gone therapist be notified that their therapist will no longer be able to see them for their scheduled appointments this coming week?
These experiences that I have been involved with peripherally caused great angst in the mental health professionals who met with me to figure out what to do and how to do it ethically. They were torn between wanting to notify the deceased therapist’s clients but worrying about entering forbidden territory: CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL IN CLIENTS’ CASE FILES.
This is the type of dilemma that a Professional Will seeks to avoid. Similar to a personal estate Last Will and Testament, the Professional Will involves planning for an untoward event where the therapist himself/herself has suddenly departed. Moreover, because therapist’s clients are notified ahead of time, the concerns about breach of confidentiality are eliminated; the client has given advance consent – and those of you who have attended my trainings in Self-Protective High-Risk Clinical Practice know I am keen on advance consents in your Intake paperwork because client’s agreement in advance protects you from breach of confidentiality Complaints/Grievances.
Additionally, as you have heard me say frequently in Beyond Ethics, LLC seminars, self-protective practice is not at odds with caring for our clients’ wellbeing, but rather ensures excellence in clinical practice. This is a great example. If you are self and colleague protective by creating a Professional Will, it also serves to give clients notice not only pertaining to the individual who would handle your caseload wrap-up, but also demonstrates to the client that you care for them enough to plan ahead to protect their confidentiality and continuation of care should something happen to you.
Anyway, for more on why we need Professional Wills, how to create them, how to advise our clients of their existence, how to prepare our practices and assemble a team of trusted others who will be ready to jump in … and lots more: Advance Ethical Planning for Therapist’s Unexpected Departure: The Professional Will!!
2020
March – there were about 30 mental health professionals in the Zoom webinar offered to both Louisiana and Colorado clinicians – Walking the Clinical High Wire with Couples, Families and Legal Involvement: Ethical Management of Risk.
One participant who had sent a couple scenarios to me in advance agreed to present them in our meeting. We had a robust discussion of ideas for her that morphed into other issues and analyses. Quite a fun, engaged, and productive 3 hours.
More comments from my most recent seminars:
- “Really good informative seminar…lots of information that I didn’t know I needed but am so glad to have it! Thank you so much!””
- “Great topic and delivery – love Deb’s navigation of the grey areas. Thank you!”
- “I really enjoyed the training; it was quite applicable to practice.”
- “Information presented in a very clear and precise manner with relevant examples.”
- “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.”
Deborah (Deb) Henson is an Attorney and LCSW (Tulane School of Social Work, MSW) in private practice in Colorado and Louisiana, 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 taught in the MSW programs at Tulane University School of Social Work and the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. She also serves as Expert Witness for litigation cases around the country involving assertions of malpractice against clinicians. She offers Divorce Mediation long-distance (Zoom; Skype; telephone) in Colorado and Louisiana. See her website for more details.
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.