Professional Liability And Risk Management

"In preparing this volume, we followed one guiding principle: the contents are confined to what practitioners need to know or should consider. There are three goals: (a) to provide a practical manual that demonstrates how the ethical principles within which a practitioner must operate can be applied in a real world; (b) to help practitioners understand how the laws governing practice work; and (c) to explain some of the basics of how the system that protects practitioners, including insurance, can work for practitioners. This book was designed to answer the questions about professional liability that are asked by all mental health practitioners, not just psychologists. This volume has five chapters, which fall into two sections. Part I (chapters 1 to 3) focuses on the practical meanings of malpractice, duty of care, ethics, the law, and liability insurance and how they interact. Chapter 1 provides a few examples of the types of suits brought against psychologists from all specialties. Chapter 2 discusses the real meaning of ethics and practice guidelines. Chapter 3 discusses the nature of professional liability and its relation to practice. Part II (chapters 4 and 5) provides suggestions about how practitioners can integrate safeguards into daily practice that will best accommodate the interests of clients and practitioners. These practical suggestions appear in chapter 4 in the form of focus lists. Next, chapter 5 explains the role and structure of professional liability insurance"--Introduction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

"In preparing this volume, we followed one guiding principle: the contents are confined to what practitioners need to know or should consider. There are three goals: (a) to provide a practical manual that demonstrates how the ethical principles within which a practitioner must operate can be applied in a real world; (b) to help practitioners understand how the laws governing practice work; and (c) to explain some of the basics of how the system that protects practitioners, including insurance, can work for practitioners. This book was designed to answer the questions about professional liability that are asked by all mental health practitioners, not just psychologists. This volume has five chapters, which fall into two sections. Part I (chapters 1 to 3) focuses on the practical meanings of malpractice, duty of care, ethics, the law, and liability insurance and how they interact. Chapter 1 provides a few examples of the types of suits brought against psychologists from all specialties. Chapter 2 discusses the real meaning of ethics and practice guidelines. Chapter 3 discusses the nature of professional liability and its relation to practice. Part II (chapters 4 and 5) provides suggestions about how practitioners can integrate safeguards into daily practice that will best accommodate the interests of clients and practitioners. These practical suggestions appear in chapter 4 in the form of focus lists. Next, chapter 5 explains the role and structure of professional liability insurance"--Introduction.

The Second Edition of Assessing and Managing Risk in Psychological Practice: An Individualized Approach adds significant new content to its coverage of the basic principles of risk management and its descriptions of how risk management strategies can be applied to specific areas of professional practice. This includes work with children and families, forensic psychology, assessment, psychotherapy, and other emerging areas of practice. Special attention is given to applying risk management principles in accordance with overarching ethical principles with the goal of improving the quality of services provided. The Second Edition will help readers: • Identify the contexts or circumstances that increase the risk of a disciplinary complaint; • Integrate the risk management strategies (documentation, informed consent, and consultation) based on overarching ethical principles into their practices; • Adapt patient-focused risk management strategies according to Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning; • Describe unique ethical and legal risks and practice concerns when considering issues of competence, multiple relationships, and confidentiality; • Describe unique ethical and legal risks and practice concerns when treating couples, children or families, patients who threaten to harm themselves or others, or other difficult patients; • Describe unique ethical and legal risks and practice concerns when engaging in assessment, court appearances, or acting as a consultant or supervisor; and • Describe unique ethical and legal risks and practice concerns when billing for services, considering retirement, or purchasing professional liability insurance. Note that this publication is available in eBook formats.