Jeffrey Ashby – Ethics 2.0

Digital Technology Has Changed the Way We Serve and Interact with Clients.

Let’s face it—the digital age is here to stay, and it has ushered in a complete paradigm shift in what it means to provide quality, ethical mental health treatment.

Your current clients, and potential new ones, are accustomed to being able to receive every imaginable service using technology as the format. It only stands to reason that they are seeking, and even expecting, the type of services you provide to be available in the same fashion.

Whether you are already in the digital space, or you realize that you want and even need to be, the ethical considerations are unique, complex, and exciting all at the same time.

Let Jeff Ashby, PhD, ABPP, RPT-S – a mental health clinician with 20 years of clinical and research experience – be your guide as you explore the ethical issues related to social media, blogs, websites, and more.

Through discussion and case examples, this recording will help you learn how to address complex ethical dilemmas while maintaining the highest standards of clinical practice.

What You’ll Learn In Ethics 2.0

Objectives

• Explain how a practical model for ethical decision-making informs the clinical practice setting.
• Articulate the legal and ethical codes that relate to utilizing technology while providing mental health services.
• Establish ethical practices to ensure client safety, maintain confidentiality, and obtain informed consent when utilizing distance mental health services.
• Consider cultural differences when using technology and articulate how this may inform the clinician’s choice of treatment interventions.
• Establish clear ethical guidelines to address the potential for a dual relationship when interreacting with clients via technology.

Outline

Nothing as Practical as a Good Theory

• How theories of ethical decision-making inform practice
• What’s your ethical theory? (And yes, you do have one)
• Consequentialism, Deontology, and other theories

Understanding Ethical Decision Making

• Models of ethical decision-making
• The pre-critical process of decision-making
• Values, morals, laws, and other “cousins” of ethics

Identify Contemporary Challenges

• Technology
• How the codes written for paper records apply to electronic records
• Digital communication
• Distance therapy
• Professional guidelines and positions papers
• Skype anyone?
• Social media
• Internet
• Website content and structure
• When and if to blog
• Navigating consumer review sites

Informed Consent

• What information should be included?
• How much information is enough?
• Updated content for your Informed Consent Form
• Case examples
• “I know what I signed–but that’s not what I understand”
• “And now my insurance won’t pay”

Clinical Competence

• Boundaries of competence
• Understanding emotional competence
• Addressing cultural competence
• Supervision vs. consultation
• Case examples
• “Re-specializing”
• “When you can’t refer”

Confidentiality

• Online disclosures
• ICD-10, HIPAA, and communicating with third-party payers
• Encryption, storage, and the cloud
• Case examples
• “Confidentiality online”
• “Alternate forms of communication”

Multiple Relationships

• What kind of online relationship is really a “relationship”?
• Managing beneficial multiple relationships
• Gifts, bartering, and social contact
• Case examples
• “One of 5,000 friends”
• “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to”

Put it All Together

• Anticipating future ethical challenges
• Using a decision-making model that will work in the future
• Understanding the role of ethics in quality client care

About Jeffrey Ashby, PhD, ABPP, RPT-S

Jeff Ashby, PhD, ABPP, RPT-S, is a professor in the department of counseling and psychological services at Georgia State University. He is the director of Georgia State’s Counseling Psychology doctoral program, a licensed psychologist, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology.

Dr. Ashby has taught ethics at the graduate level for over 20 years and has served as the chair of the Ethics Committee of the International Association of Play Therapy and as an ethics content expert with the State of Georgia Psychology board. He has made over 100 presentations at professional conferences and authored/co-authored more than 80 articles in refereed journals, numerous book chapters, and two books.

Dr. Ashby received a BA in psychology and english literature from the University of Kansas, an MEd in counseling and school psychology from Wichita State University, and a PhD in counseling psychology from Penn State.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Dr. Jeff Ashby has an employment relationship with Georgia State University. He is a published author and receives royalties, and he receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Jeff Ashby is a fellow with the American Academy of Counseling Psychology, and a member of the American Psychological Association, International Association of Play Therapy, and the Georgia Psychological Association. He is an Ad hoc reviewer for several peer review journals, for a complete list contact PESI, Inc.

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