August 02, 2021

How to Fire Your Clients (Ethically)

32 minutes

Curt and Katie chat about how to appropriately terminate with clients when icky situations arise. We explore how therapists can develop an ethical decision-making process to protect themselves against possible complaints to ethics boards. We also talk about how privilege plays a role in icky terminations and how therapists can work to balance their safety and self-care with their responsibilities.

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

How ethics are discussed in social media groups (ethical concerns vs. I don’t like this)

When we can terminate with clients, why can we do it, when we cannot terminate with clients, and what our responsibilities are in these situations.

How therapist’s personal feelings can influence premature terminations and the problems this can lead to (e.g., client abandonment, continuity of care).

Feelings that arise for both the therapist and client when icky terminations happen.

How ethics committees think about complaints and disciplinary actions.

Developing an ethical decision-making process that demonstrates professionalism.

Explore how therapists are held to a higher standard than the general public.

Discuss how privilege (or lack thereof) impacts perceptions professionalism.

How to maintain professional standards when your safety is at risk.

Developing plans for possible icky terminations.

We look at how many therapists are actually reported to ethics boards and how this information is unhelpful.

Managing racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. comments in session and taking care of yourself.

Explore how the structure of ethics committees create barriers to therapists being their authentic self, while also needing these committees to protect the field.

Balancing therapist safety and self-care with therapist responsibilities.

Resources mentioned:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!

CPH Article: Duty to the Patient – Termination of Treatment and Understanding Your Patient

Relevant Episodes:

Therapist Safety

Managing Vicarious Trauma

Bad Business Practices

Ending Therapy

Noteworthy Documentation

Irrational Ethics

That’s Unethical

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By Curt Widhalm, LMFT and Katie Vernoy, LMFT

4.3

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