The Portable Lawyer for Mental Health Professionals: An A-Z Guide to Protecting Your Clients, Your Practice, and Yourself 3rd Edition

Everything you need to legally safeguard your mental health practice

Fully revised, The Portable Lawyer for Mental Health Professionals, Third Edition identifies, explores, and presents solutions to both the simple and complex legal questions that mental health practices must deal with daily. Written by Thomas Hartsell Jr. and Barton Bernstein attorneys and therapists specializing in legal issues concerning mental health this essential guide arms professionals with the expert knowledge needed to avoid a legal violation, or to know how to handle a situation if a complaint is filed.

With downloadable sample forms and contracts including the new Informed Consent for Psychological Testing and Professional Limited Liability Member Agreement forms this complete resource features step-by-step guidance, helpful case studies, and “legal light bulbs” to alert clinicians to warning signs and help them steer clear of legally questionable situations.

New to the Third Edition:

• Coverage of how to conduct business in a digital world, including how to handle confidentiality issues surrounding electronic health records and cloud computing, distance therapy, and maintaining a professional client-therapist relationship in a Facebook world
• Vital information on a variety of associations’ ethics guidelines
• A look at the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act
• Considerations for using or not using evidence-based treatments
• New information on working with minors and dealing with homicidal clients

Convenient and comprehensive, The Portable Lawyer for Mental Health Professionals, Third Edition is the quick-reference resource that mental health professionals, graduate students, attorneys, and clients alike can rely on to make informed legal decisions.

THOMAS L. HARTSELL Jr., JD, is an attorney and mediator in private practice in Dallas, Texas. He is a frequent workshop presenter on topics related to ethics, managed care, confidentiality, informed consent, abuse allegations, and other legal aspects of mental health practice.

BARTON E. BERNSTEIN, JD, LMSW, is an attorney in private practice in Dallas, Texas, and a Licensed Master Social Worker. He conducts workshops and seminars throughout the United States.