Product Detail

Massachusetts Legal and Ethical Issues for Mental Health Clinicians
CE Test
$19.99 USD
This purchase is for online CE Test only
Product Details
Format:
Additional Participant CE Test
Author:
SUSAN J. LEWIS, PH.D., J.D.
Publisher:
PESI Inc.
Copyright:
9/29/2020
CE Available:
Yes, See CE credit tab for complete continuing education details
Product Code:
RNT048525
Objectives
  1. Describe how to avoid litigation dilemmas, licensing complaints and malpractice actions.
  2. Analyze the legal and ethical considerations for the treatment of minor populations in Massachusetts with regard to age of consent, confidentiality and custody concerns.
  3. Explain how an understanding of common boundary and dual relationship issues/dilemmas can help you maintain appropriate relationships with your clients.
  4. Identify the ethical challenges you should consider when responding to subpoenas that request disclosure of client records.
  5. Discuss the limits of confidentiality as it relates to duty to warn law in Massachusetts.
  6. Demonstrate how risk management strategies regarding technology can keep client information secure and avoid violating HIPAA.
Outline

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
    • Massachusetts case law & danger to others
    • Massachusetts 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
    • Massachusetts-specific statutes
    • Massachusetts 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

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

Case Studies

Author

SUSAN J. LEWIS, PH.D., J.D.

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.
Continuing Education Credits
Save time and $10 off the price of other submission methods – purchase & take the CE test online for $19.99 USD per participant. Additional processing fees apply for other submission methods (i.e. mail, fax, etc.). 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 are available for email, download and/or printing from your online account immediately following the successful completion of the post-test/evaluation.

**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.


Ethics
This self-study course includes 6.0 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.


Addiction Counselors
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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.


Counselors
This intermediate self-study activity consists of 6.0 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.


Marriage & Family Therapists
This self-study activity consists of 6.0 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.


Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, and Clinical Nurse Specialists
This intermediate activity consists of 6.0 clock hours of continuing education instruction. Credit requirements and approvals vary per state board regulations. Please contact your licensing board to determine if they accept programs or providers approved by other national or state licensing boards. A certificate of attendance will be awarded at the end of the program to participants who are in full attendance and who complete the program evaluation.


Psychologists
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PESI, Inc. is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for this program and its content. PESI, Inc. is offering these self-study materials for 6.0 hours of continuing education credit. Course Level: Intermediate.


Social Workers
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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 6.0 Ethics continuing education credits.

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


Other Professions
This self-study activity qualifies for 6.0 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.


Audience
  • Counselors
  • Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Case Managers
  • Addiction Counselors
  • Therapists
  • Nurses
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Other Mental Health Professionals