Rhode Island Legal and Ethical Issues for Mental Health Clinicians – Susan Lewis – PESI

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Exploring the Essential Features of “Rhode Island Legal and Ethical Issues for Mental Health Clinicians – Susan Lewis – PESI”

• Avoid litigation dilemmas, complaints and malpractice actions
• The latest updates on HIPAA and Rhode Island laws and regulations
• What every Rhode Island mental health professional needs to know to avoid litigation!

Join Susan Lewis, psychologist and attorney, for this must-watch seminar that will prepare you for litigation issues which can put your client, your license and your practice at risk. You will learn how to structure your practice to limit exposure of risk, as well as discover simple records, notes and actions that will protect you in the event of a complaint. Susan will provide you with the following take-home tools to minimize risk:

• Updates on HIPAA and Rhode Island laws and regulations
• Risk management strategies
• How to avoid litigation dilemmas, complaints and malpractice actions
• Best practices in the professional relationship, informed consent and office policies

You will learn through problem-solving discussions that are representative of actual ethical decisions you encounter in your clinical practice. The blending of Susan’s experience as a lawyer, work within the court system and extensive clinical experience makes her a hands-on, knowledgeable instructor!

This seminar will leave you fearless and competent when and if you are faced with litigation.

Speaker

Susan 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 DSM-5® 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 on legal decision-making. Dr. Lewis has been adjudicated an expert in almost all of the district and superior courts in Massachusetts.

Her extensive clinical experience makes her a hands-on, knowledgeable instructor. She is engaging and has a wonderful sense of humor, which she brings to her seminars.

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.

Target Audience

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

Objectives

1. Explain the best practices in the professional relationship; informed consent, office policies and Rhode Island limits on confidentiality.
2. Discuss updates on HIPAA and Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island legal system to better your understanding.
6. Outline the differences for treatment of minors.

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

• Rhode Island case law & danger to others
• Rhode Island 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

• Rhode Island-specific statues
• Rhode Island 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

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

Case Studies

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