All Webinars

This webinar will satisfy your ethics requirement. 

 “I felt this was a very strong presentation and the clarity was extremely helpful. I liked the way the presenter listed components of ethical conduct - they are achievable and straightforward, easily applicable in practice with clients and in relationships with colleagues/supervisors.”-Bethanne S., Social Worker, Illinois

This concrete and lively seminar explores the origins of our personal ethics, along with ways to use our ethics in working with clients. Using a model for thinking about ethics in a practical, real-world action-focused manner, this lively seminar uses lecture, video and personal reflection activities as building blocks to renewed selfawareness of personal ethical behavior. 

Knowing when – or how – to do the right thing has never been easy. Behaving ethically is even harder in today’s fast-paced world of fluid values and changing social climate. The increasingly present expectation to tweak personal ethics in service of compassion, workplace requirements, cultural issues or sheer mental/physical exhaustion further complicates the dilemma of knowing when – and how to do the right thing. 

Beginning with a new way to look at ethics-in-practice, participants will discover a fresh awareness of their own ethics and will gain practical tips for ethical behavior that promotes common ground. Concrete techniques for behaving ethically in an increasingly fragmented world, without compromising personal values., will be presented.

“Very good presenter.  Very well-organized.  Very personable in responding to questions from participants.  Adept at integrating Power Point slides with his verbal presentation. Clearly knowledgeable in this field - both theoretically and clinically.  Gracious with his time in being willing to stay online afterward to answer questions.”-Shirley R., Professional Counselor and Psychotherapist, Alabama

Non-prescribing therapists are crucial to the effective and safe use of psychiatric medications by their clients.  In contrast to clinicians who focus primarily on medications, therapists generally spend more time with their clients and are more familiar with their history and current situation. They also tend to develop a greater rapport. And  considering that most clients diagnosed with depression, anxiety, psychosis, posttraumatic stress disorder, and virtually every other psychiatric disorder receive pharmacological interventions, the non-prescribing therapist needs to understand how psychiatric medications work, their limitations and side effects, and how to help their clients maximize gains through increasing medication compliance.   This course is designed to present the non-prescribing mental health practitioner with a review of basic concepts in clinical psychopharmacology and the effective use of common psychiatric medications in the treatment of mental health conditions.  Effective medication strategies for treating depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, psychosis, sleep disorders, and other common psychiatric conditions are covered in detail. Basic general pharmacological concepts such as pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics are reviewed as are more specific concepts such as drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination.  You will also become aware of common medication treatment errors to avoid and learn tips for helping your clients become more educated about the medications they take as well as help them manage their side effects.

The manner in which mental illness has been dealt with in the criminal justice system especially regarding capital punishment has been described as “the shame of the states. “However the death penalty is not the only area in which we see misuse of psychological theories and research. We see this frequently in such areas as competency to stand trial, the insanity defense, involuntary medication, and failure to recognize the impacts of traumatic brain injury on cognitive functioning.Many of these areas are totally ignored in the law due to two forces: sanism and pretextuality.Sanism represents a bias against mentally ill individuals much like racial or gender bias.  Pretextualism refers to performing some forensic function in a careless or slipshod manner, but presenting it to the court in a manner suggesting that it is scientifically valid.