A Law & Ethics Approach to Working with Suicidal Clients

2 CE Credit Hours. Legal-Ethical. Continuing Education Session Replay

Presented By: Eric Ström, JD, PhD, LMHC

Fear of liability for suicidal clients is not an uncommon experience for behavioral health providers. This fear can unintentionally lead clinicians to inaction and avoidance thereby increasing a client’s risk of death by suicide. Join AMHCA ethics committee member, therapist and HIPAA lawyer, Eric Ström, JD PhD LMHC, as he demystifies true legal risks involved in client self harm and provides an ethical framework for ethically and effectively working with clients who are experiencing suicidality.

Course Description

Educational Objectives

Participants in this workshop will be able to:
1) Identify the sources of legal liability when working with client suicidality
2) Describe the ethical standards when working with client suicidality
3) Create and evaluate strategies to systematically approach client suicidality
4) Apply best practice standards to create a clinical plan to best support client
safety.

Syllabus

Sources of Standards (.25 hours)
Confidentiality & Duty to Report/Warn (.5 hours)
Three Factor Model of Suicidality (1hour)
Documentation (.25 hours)

References

American Psychological Association, (2003). Practice Guideline for the assessment and treatment of patients with suicidal behaviors.
Drye, R. C., Goulding, R. L., & Goulding, M. E. (1973). No-suicide decisions: Client monitoring of suicidal risk. American Journal of Psychiatry, 130(2), 171–174.
Joiner T. E., Van Orden, K. A., Witte, T. K., & Rudd, D., M. (2009). The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide: Guidance for Working with Suicidal Clients. American Psychological Association:Washington DC.
Kaplan, M. S., Huguet, N., McFarland, B. H., & Newsom, J. T. (2007). Suicide among male veterans: A prospective population-based study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61, 619-624
Kroll, J. The American Journal of Psychiatry (2000). Use of no-suicide contracts by psychiatrists in Minnesota., 157, 1684-1686.
Lee, J., B., & Bartlet, M., L. (2005). Suicide prevention: Critical elements for managing suicidal clients and counselor liability without the use of a no-suicide contract. Death Studies, 29, 847-865.
Maynard, C., & Boyko, E. J. (2015). Datapoints: Suicide rates in the Washington State veteran population. Psychiatric Services, 59(11),1245.
Packman, W. L., O’Connor Pennuto, T., Bongar, B., & Orthwein, J. (2004). Legal issues of professional negligence in suicide cases. Behavioral Sciences & The Law, 22(5), 697-713.

2 CE Credit Hours.

$49.00

Presented/Developed By

Eric Ström JD PhD LMHC, is an attorney and Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Seattle, Washington. As an attorney, Eric provides legal counsel, consultation, and guidance to mental health professionals. Eric’s counseling practice is focused on providing counseling services to combat veterans as well as providing supervision and consultation to other clinicians. Eric currently serves on the American Mental Health Counselors Association Ethics Committee, and is the ethics advisor for the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association. Eric has taught a range of courses in counseling and professional ethics at a variety of graduate and undergraduate programs.

Eric earned a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision at Oregon State University, a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology from the Northwest School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University Seattle, graduated cum laude from Wayne State University School of Law in Detroit Michigan, attended the Hague Academy of International Law in the Hague Netherlands, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics from the University of Michigan.

Program Notices

Accuracy, Utility, and Risks Statement: This program discusses strategies for complying with HIPAA, state rules in general, and covered ethics codes. It may not include information on all applicable state laws. Misapplication of the materials, or errors in the materials, could result in security problems, data breaches, or non-compliance with applicable laws or ethics codes.

Conflicts of Interest: None noted.

Commercial Support: None.

This course is subject to our cancellation/refund policy and complaint policy.