Understand the Legal System
- Statutes
- Rules and regulations
- Case law
- Finding the law
Legal Exposure
- Criminal liability
- Civil liability
- Licensing complaints
- Organization complaints
Establish the Treatment Relationship
- The professional relationship
- The legal and ethical principle of informed consent
- Informed consent as part of the treatment modality
- Use of and reliance upon written consent forms
Record-Keeping Practices
- Record-keeping regulations
- Items which constitute the record, personal notes vs. charting, raw data, computer printouts and third-party records
- Access to records by written requests, subpoenas and court orders
The Ethics of Duty to Warn
- Duty to warn potential third-party victims
- Review of specific Georgia case law governing danger to others
- A clinical approach to the duty to protect
Treatment of Minors
- Age of majority
- Consent to treatment and access to records
- Clinical implications in the treatment of the older adolescent
- Treatment of minors in situations of family separation and divorce
Non-Sexual Boundary Violations
- Email correspondence and cell phone contacts
- Treatment vs. advocacy for patients
- Professional contacts with attorneys and the legal profession
- In-court expert testimony






