Product Detail

1. Explain the best practices in the professional relationship; informed consent, office policies and Colorado limits on confidentiality.
2. Discuss updates on HIPAA and Colorado laws and regulations.
3. Identify risk management strategies in clinical practice.
4. Describe how to avoid litigation dilemmas, licensing complaints and malpractice actions.
5. Summarize the Colorado legal system to better your understanding.
6. Outline the differences for treatment of minors.

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 on confidentiality
  • Colorado case law & danger to others
  • Colorado 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
  • Colorado specific statues
  • Colorado 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

• Colorado age of majority
• Consent to treatment
• Privilege/confidentiality
• Separation & divorce

Case Studies

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 DSM5® 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 of legal decision-making. Dr. Lewis has been adjudicated an expert in almost all of the district and superior courts in Massachusetts.

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.

For U.S. and Canadian customers, a CE test is available for $9.99 USD per participant. International CE rates may vary; please contact our Customer Service at 1-800-844-8260 for more details.

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.

Certificates of Successful Completion may be emailed, faxed or mailed to participants completing the post-test/evaluation and paying the CE fee.

**Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of mental health professionals. 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 professions 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.

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Ethics
This self-study course includes 6.25 hours of state specific 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.

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Addiction Counselors

This self-study course has been approved by PESI, Inc., as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for 6.0 CE in the Legal, Ethical and Professional Development 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.

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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.

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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 the 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.

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Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, and Clinical Nurse Specialists
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 the 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.

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Psychologists & Physicians
PHYSICIANS: PESI, Inc. is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. PESI, Inc. designates this enduring material for a maximum of 6.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. This activity was originally recorded on 03/04/2015. It was last reviewed on 12/18/2018 and is valid until 12/18/2021. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

PSYCHOLOGISTS: The following state psychologist boards recognize activities sponsored by PESI, Inc. as an approved ACCME provider: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wisconsin. This self-study activity consists of 6.0 clock hours of continuing education instruction. Certificates of attendance will be issued for you to submit to your state licensing board to recognize for continuing education credit. You are required to successfully complete and submit a post-test prior to receiving a certificate of completion.

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Social Workers
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 6.25 Ethics continuing education credits.

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

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Other Professions
This self-study activity qualifies for 6.25 clock hours of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

Disclaimer: **Information obtained in this course should be used within your scope of practice.
**It is your ethical responsibility to report accurate hours to your licensing board.
**All self-study participants must complete and pass (80% or better) a post-test and evaluation prior to receiving a certificate of completion. If you require a copy of the test/evaluation for CE purposes, please print at the time you take the test. Or you may call our customer service department and a copy of your test/evaluation will be emailed to you. Please allow 30-45 days.

Addiction Counselors, Counselors, Marriage & Family Therapists, Nurses, Psychologists, Social Workers, and other Mental Health Professionals