The Importance of Maintaining Boundaries Within Clinician/Client Relationships: A Summary of AK, ID, OR, & WA Law & Ethics

For behavioral health providers, the effectiveness of clinical work is dependent upon the clinician/client relationship. When appropriate boundaries are not maintained, it is these same relationships that can be at the root of serious professional misconduct. In this one hour workshop, participants will be provided with a summary overview of the legal ethical standards regarding non-clinical relationships with behavioral health clients. We will then apply these standards to discussion of scenarios and real-world examples. The focus will be dedicated to applying legal and standards from Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

After this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Summarize state laws regarding non-clinical relationships with clients
• Summarize ethics code standards regarding non-clinical relationships with clients
• Apply legal and ethical standards to the analysis of a range of client/clinician relationships

Presenter: Eric Ström, JD, PhD, LMHC, attorney and Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Seattle, Washington. As an attorney, Eric provides legal counsel, consultation, and guidance to mental health professionals. Eric's clinical practice is focused on providing counseling services to combat veterans as well as providing supervision and consultation to other clinicians. Eric currently serves on the American Mental Health Counselors Association Ethics Committee, is the ethics advisor for the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association.