Ethically Competent Mental Health Practice in Colorado

Applying a Contemporary Practice Paradigm

Ethically Competent Mental Health Practice

Increasing numbers of grievances and malpractice suits force mental health professionals to be more risk conscious and aware. It is the responsibility of a professional to be fully informed about legal regulations and ethical standards. Dr. Holman has chaired an Ethical Standards Committee for more than 15 years, developing Guidelines and Recommendations to help mental health professionals practice within ethical and legal standards. She has also been an approved teacher of Jurisprudence Workshops for mental health license applicants in Colorado.

Case consultation with an integrated ethical understanding and clinical focus will engage clinicians in an ethical decision making process aimed to manage risk in sensitive clinical situations.  An understanding of sound ethical standards will be applied to specific client dynamics and therapeutic encounters.  Individual case consultations can be arranged on an as-needed basis, and can occur in person, by email, or by telephone.

Workshops aim to integrate good clinical care with sound ethical and legal standards.

Stages of Professional Development & Clinical Competence. Colorado recently added continuing competence requirements for mental health license renewals requiring a plan of activities for professional development based on a self-assessment.  Autonomous practice requires a high degree of self and relational awareness achieved through self-reflection and review of practice experience with appropriate consultation.

Records and Record Keeping Workshops explore the tension between our ethical responsibility to protect client privacy and the need to document care. Learn ways to document work and progress with sensitivity to privacy.  Consider issues of confidentiality in responding to subpoenas and requests to release records.  Review federal HIPAA and Colorado state regulations regarding mental health records, and review ethical standards for record keeping. 

Privacy and Confidentiality Workshops review state, federal and ethical standards 
regarding confidentiality, identify limits to confidentiality, clarify the rights of minors, discuss confidentiality in family and group interventions, review authorizations to release information and clarify how to handle subpoenas and court orders.

Boundaries: Ethical and Clinical Considerations Workshops discuss "small world" 
situations, identify risky non-sexual dual roles, and consider clinically appropriate boundaries.  Identify and discuss risks to clients and to practitioners within the new relational and intersubjective practice paradigm.

Self-Disclosures: Ethical and Clinical Considerations Workshops review the research on self-disclosure, identify different kinds of self-disclosures, clarify rationales for self-disclosures, and discuss the ethical, legal and clinical risks of self-disclosures for both the client and the clinician.

Workshops on Professional Ethics & Colorado Laws for Clinical Supervisors inform supervisors of current Colorado statutes, Federal regulations, and professional ethical standards related to clinical practice and supervision. Risk and liability issues for supervisors are discussed. Topics include forging a supervisory agreement, record keeping issues and requirements, confidentiality, disclosures and informed consent, conflictual dual role relationships, and continuing competency.

CEC's:

Official NASW Colorado Chapter

Continuing Education Provider.