Ethics Around Clinical Teams, Professional Relationships, & Referral Sources

Date course created: February 2023

The “Ethics Around Clinical Teams, Professional Relationships, & Referral Sources” course offers essential training for clinicians navigating ethical challenges within multi-disciplinary teams. This 3-CE course focuses on maintaining confidentiality, handling dual relationships, and managing ethical dilemmas when working with referral sources. Perfect for mental health professionals seeking to refine their ethical decision-making, this training equips you with practical tools to protect client welfare and professional integrity in clinical settings.

Lots of us work on clinical teams, frequently consult with other professionals, and commonly refer to other clinics, hospitals or professionals in private practice. Sometimes it can be difficult to know what information is ethically forbidden to be disclosed in order to protect client welfare and confidentiality. Some clinicians unknowingly violate ethical guidelines within these relationships and are completely unaware of the risks this carries in terms of client welfare, preservation of confidentiality, and even threat to professional licensure.

Please join us to increase your knowledge and insight in navigating ethical waters as it relates to professional relationships, referral sources and working on a clinical team. Jodi Geis-Crowder will share insight and real-world examples from her 25 years of experience working in community mental health on clinical teams with clients that are often mandated and referred through community partners. In this webinar you will gain knowledge regarding HIPAA, confidentiality, releases of information and sharing information on a need to know basis while preserving the therapeutic alliance with the client. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to be fully engaged and be challenged with this creative presentation!

In addition to the below Objectives, this live webinar will also touch on the following:

• Identify two aspects of subpoenas that you must consider to protect your liability.
• Identify two areas of ethical consideration when working with professionals that you may have dual relationships with in your communities.
• Identify two ways to navigate “sticky’ situations with co-team members when you disagree on the therapeutic goals of a shared client.
• Identify two challenges and how to deal with them if a client revokes a release of information.
• Identify two strategies to assist you to work with the referral sources of mandated clients (probation, department of human services, etc.) when you don’t agree with their recommendation for client treatment.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of obtaining a supervisor or consultant by identifying two ways that consulting with another professional can assist you to maintain professional boundaries with referral sources and other members of the clinical team.

**This is a 3-CE noninteractive, self-paced online video course delivered in home study format via an industry-standard online learning platform**

Objectives:

This training will provide participants clinical knowledge and tools to:

a). After completing this training, participants will be able to identify three reasons why mandatory disclosure is one of the most important aspects of client care and sets the stage for confidentiality, specifically as it relates to mandated clients, referral sources and treatment team approaches, while maintaining the therapeutic relationship.

b). After completing this training, participants will be able to define at least two aspects of team meetings that must be reviewed and discussed with the client prior to each meeting, specifically as it relates to compliant releases of information.

c). After completing this training, participants will be able to define your own ethical decision-making model and identify three points that should be part of your model when working with referral sources and on a clinical team.

Target Audience:

Clinical Mental Health Professionals such as Counselors, Psychologists, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Licensed Clinical Social Workers.

Instructional Level: Intermediate

Instructor(s): Jodi Ann Geis-Crowder, MS, LPC, ACS

Material Author(s): Jodi Ann Geis-Crowder, MS, LPC, ACS  

A native of Wyoming, Jodi holds an Associate of Science Degree in Education from Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Sciences with areas of emphasis in psychology, economics, political science and anthropology, and a Master of Science Degree in Counselor Education and Human Development with an emphasis in Leadership from the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming.  She holds professional counseling licenses in good standing in Colorado (LPC-2476, March 2000) and Wyoming (LPC-1602, September 2016), is an Approved Clinical Supervisor, a certified Solution Focused Brief Therapy practitioner, is a trainer for Professional Case Management and Ethical and Legal Issues in Counseling, holds a certificate in the Human/Animal Bond from the Denver University Graduate School of Social Work, has studied and gained numerous continuing education credits in the area of the human/animal bond, has been registered with three therapy dogs (2005, 2010 and 2019) and is a tester/observer for Alliance of Therapy Dogs, a national credentialing organization for therapy dog teams headquarter in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  Jodi’s passion for culturally meaningful human/animal bond and agriculture related services in rural areas resulted in her developing animal assisted therapy programs for two community behavioral health centers: Centennial Mental Health Center in Northeast Colorado and Peak Wellness Center in Southeast Wyoming.  She also developed a therapeutic horticulture program while at Centennial Mental Health Center.   Jodi has held positions as a clinician, clinical coordinator, clinical supervisor, regional clinical director, telehealth clinical supervisor and education and training coordinator in her years in community behavioral health.  In addition to the program development mentioned above, Jodi was the architect for and developed a centralized telehealth clinical supervision model for Peak Wellness Center.  

For additional information about this course, the instructors, or the material authors, please contact Content Assistance at content@onlinececredits.com.

Course Materials & Delivery Method:

• Course materials – The course is composed of a recorded presentation and written materials (e.g. a slide deck and/or other worksheets, manuals, or handouts as provided by the instructor). The slide deck and any additional worksheets or handouts (as provided by the instructor) are made available inside the Lesson module after a course is purchased.
• Delivery Method – this course is a recorded asynchronous, self-paced webinar training, and there is no access time limit or due date to complete it once enrolled. The enrolled learner will stream the recorded presentation and view the materials from their internet connected device via an industry-standard online learning platform.

CE Approvals:

Online CE Credits has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6795. Programs that do not quality for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Online CE Credits is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Mind Works Professional Education, Inc. DBA Online CE Credits, #1974, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: July 23, 2024 – July 23, 2025. Social workers completing this course receive [see advertisement] asynchronous distance learning continuing education credits.

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