A pre-recorded streaming video replay from the September 2016 webcast, Getting the Right Mental Health Resources for Your Case.
Why Attend?
- Understand the differences between the various mental health services and resources
- Learn to ask mental health professionals for and get what your client and their case need
- Discover key characteristics of a high-quality evaluation
Attorneys request mental health testing, evaluations, and services in cases for many reasons, but often knowing what to ask for and how to ask for it so you get what you and your client need can be difficult. Do you need an evaluation and, if so, what kind? What about therapy? How do various types of therapy differ? Can the same therapist fulfill multiple roles in a case? What questions should you ask of therapists who are testifying outside of their roles and data sets at trial? Are there special concerns for mental health professionals when they work with children or incapacitated individuals as opposed to presumably competent adults? What ethical issues are raised for a mental health professional who is asked by an attorney to support a specific point of view?
During this seminar, you will hear from a psychologist and an attorney who will explain the basic differences between various roles mental health professionals may perform in a legal setting. You will learn what evaluative and therapeutic resources may be available to address the issues in the case. You will leave knowing how to identify and ask for what you need from the mental health expert, what ethical limitations mental health professionals must consider that may prevent them from providing what the attorney wants, and how to help mental health professionals avoid or resolve these potential ethical conflicts.
Also covered will be how HIPAA, informed consent, and the application of the therapist/patient confidentiality doctrine may affect your ability to obtain what you need. You will learn how to discern a high-quality evaluation from a low-quality evaluation, which can be especially useful when mounting a challenge to an unfavorable report. This course will teach you how to work with mental health professionals to increase your effectiveness in getting what you need while building positive and cooperative relationships with mental health professionals so that your cases are more productive and less frustrating for both of you.