What The Ethics!

In this episode we have our first guest host and we review the case of a licensee that uses language that is considered highly offensive and then opens the door to further disciplinary actions as she presents PHI that she has without permission as part of her defense.

Tell us what you think of the episode and the outcome!

www.WhatTheEthics.org

In this special episode, we have our third guest, Mr. Flynn Carey of Mitchell, Stein, Carey, Chapman. Mr. Carey is a defense attorney that has a wide range of services in criminal law and board defense.

• From his website: Flynn represents licensed and certificated professionals before their licensing boards and agencies when facing possible discipline or allegations of unprofessional conduct, and in conjunction with parallel criminal allegations. Flynn appears on behalf of clients before the majority of licensing, regulatory, and professional boards in Arizona.

Mr. Carey agreed to talk to us about his career path and some of the situations that tend to get people in trouble.

• https://mscclaw.com/our-people/flynn-carey/

This case is focused on boundaries and grief. The therapist had a very long relationship with a client that may have left the therapist open to emotional vulnerability and poor judgment when making decisions about receiving gifts. Bert felt that a lack of self-care over the years may have been a contributing factor and Mick felt that the small moments added up into something much bigger than the therapist thought was happening.

Tell us what you thought about the board's decision and what you would have done differently at our website: www.WhatTheEthics.org

This episode was scheduled for release on August 14, 2026. Unfortunately, we attempted to record in a different way to improve audio quality and ended corrupting the audio. After several days, we couldn't salvage enough of the recording to put the episode together. We decided to re-record the discussion using the original format and released this as soon as editing was complete.

Today's case is focused on a HIPAA Violation and we talk about mandated reporting a little bit regarding the behavior of the client. Based on the allegations and our discussion, what do you think about the recommendation?

Hi everyone, we tried something new with the August 2026 episode and it created some unrecoverable audio from the episode. It's going to take longer than expected to get the August episode out while we continue to clean up the episode for public release.

In this special episode, we have our second guest, Patricia Dobratz, JD, LMFT of the Clinical Best Practice Institute.

Patricia brings almost 20 years of experience in the counseling profession and the unique perspective of being a lawyer prior to making the jump to Marriage and Family Therapy. Patricia has previously served on the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners (BBHE) and her insights on ethics has been a crucial resource for all of the therapist licenses.

• Clinical Best Practice Institute
• CBPI's Not Your Typical Therapist Conferences⁠
• ⁠The Board's Website: BBHE.AZ.Gov
• ⁠Southwestern Schools Annual Conference⁠

You can find links to other organizations referenced in our episodes via our website: ⁠www.whattheethics.org⁠. You can also follow us on social media for posting updates.

In this episode we explore the case of associate counselor that made decisions that lead to creating a dual relationship.

1. We start off with trying to understand the initial issue that created a problem.
2. We discuss how the licensee's behaviors could be justified
3. Addressing the situation as a clinical supervisor or consultation.
4. At the end of the episode we review the Board's decision and our own recommendations that the Board didn't give.

Editor's Note: Within the episode, Bert references messages sent at 3am and 5am, this is in error as the reference is actually 12am and 5am.

In this special episode, we're happy to have our very first guest, Tobi Zavala. She’s the Executive Director of the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners (BBHE) that oversees mental health professionals.

Tobi has almost 20 years of experience working with this Board and talks a bit about her own story and how she ended up in her current role. She also shares some helpful advice and thoughts about what’s right and wrong when it comes to decision-making by licensed mental health therapists.

• ​The Board's Website: BBHE.AZ.Gov
• ​Arizona Boards and Commissions Site
• ​Professional Counseling Compact
• ​Social Work Compact
• ​Southwestern Schools Annual Conference

You can find links to other organizations referenced in our episodes via our website: ⁠⁠www.whattheethics.org⁠⁠. You can also follow us on social media for posting updates.

We went to a Board meeting for Arizona BBHE today and we're talking briefly about why making this podcast matters and what the meeting was like. We hope you'll find it important for you as well.

This is just a brief introduction to what we're planning. ~Bert