​CLEARLY THAT VIDEO WAS WHAT NOT TO DO!!!!!

​We will discuss what to do within a counseling relationship!!!!

​Duty and Standard of Care: Do No Harm

• ​What is duty?

  • ​Duty is defined as a legal obligation to act in the best interest of the client.

• ​As professional counselors and therapists we have both a legal and ethical obligation to behave in the best interest of our clients; we do no harm to our clients. We do this by using a basic standard of care which is the foundation upon which all professionals in our field seek to behave by. At the same time, we also have a fiduciary relationship with our clients who trust us to act in the client’s best interest.

​Standard of Care

is defined a set of basic educational, legal, and ethical rules, laws, and behaviors that all respected and reputable people in a professional field practice by​

​Standard of Care Continued

The standard of care by which all therapists and counselors should seek to behave can include the following:

a.     Real-world practice 

b.     Education

c.     Ethics

d.     State and Federal Laws

e.     Credentials

f.      Research and Policies

g.     Third-party payers​

​Informed Consent for Treatment

• The counselor must obtain informed consent. Obtaining informed consent from the client is ensuring that the client understands the basic counseling relationship between the counselor and the client. Informed consent is a verbal and written agreement between the counselor and client (or the parent/guardian). The assumption is that the client fully understands the rules of the counseling relationship.

  Informed consent from a minor (under 18) almost always must be accompanied by one or both parents or guardians (depending on the State one lives and the marital status of the parents).  Also, part of the informed consent process is having a detailed and honest discussion with your client about the implications and consequences of receiving a mental health diagnosis.​

​Fees for Counseling Services

a.     Private practitioners can reasonably expect to be fairly compensated for providing a competent service. Counselors should not believe or feel, or be encouraged to believe or feel, that there is something wrong for being appropriately compensated.

b.     Private practitioners are legally entitled to establish a fee for their time and expertise, except for counselors who enter into third-party contracts.

c.     Establishing a stated “usual and customary” fee communicates an important message about the value of the counseling service.

d.     Ethical jeopardy occurs when practitioners accept clients in their private practices who qualify for services at the agencies in which practitioners are employed (ACA, 201s4, Standard A. 10.a.

•    Basically making a referral to your own practice when the client can obtain services through other agencies for a lower cost.​

Discussion of Fees​

​When discussing fees with a client you should consider the following:

• Fees for services

• Additional time

• Telephone, video conferencing, email, texting consultation.  

• Other Services-letters, reports, testing, evaluations

• Judicial Involvement

• Billing and Interest Accrued

• Cancellations and Missed Appointments   Fee for services

ltation

​Nonpayment of Fees

• ​Counselors can pursue legal action in a small claims court if the client has a past-due account.

  • ​BEWARE that the client can countersue the counselor due to confidentiality. All means necessary must be taken to only use what is minimally necessary to collect the debt

• ​Counseling services can be terminated by the counselor, in the absence of crisis, however referrals should be provided to the client of agencies/organizations that could provide them services within their financial means.

• ​ALL THIS SHOULD BE DOCUMENTED!!!!