Writing Clinical Notes

  • Friday, February 21, 2020
  • 8:30 AM - 10:45 AM
  • 338 E Lyman Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789

Registration


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“Writing Clinical Notes” by Burt Bertram, Ed.D., LMHC, LMFT & Nancy Wheeler, J.D.

February 21, 2020

While there is no controversy over the necessity of maintaining clinical notes regarding counseling/psychotherapy, there are considerable differences of opinion about the style and substance of those records. The intent of this presentation is to highlight the known legal and ethical parameters of clinical record keeping such that practitioners can fashion an approach to documentation consistent with the peculiarities of their practice setting.


Learning Objectives:

1. Counselors will learn some of the major legal and ethical parameters of clinical documentation.

2. Counselors will understand the content of documentation essential to an effective defense during a malpractice lawsuit.

3. Counselors will have the opportunity to share styles of documentation that support their particular practice setting.

Burt Bertram, EdD, LMFT, LMHC is a counselor, consultant, author and professor. Dr. Bertram has been in practice in the Orlando area since 1972. His professional efforts focus on assisting individuals, couples, families and work groups to productively identify, understand and address the issues that are influencing or shaping their lives. Until recently he was graduate adjunct professor of counseling in the Mental Health Counseling program at Rollins College where for 25 years, he taught clinical counseling skills, family and couples counseling and ethics in counseling. Burt has served as President of the Florida Mental Health Counselors Association, the Florida Counseling Association, and the Central Florida Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. A nationally recognized expert on legal and ethical issues in counseling, Burt is co-author, with attorney Nancy Wheeler, JD of The Counselor and the Law (8 th Edition), published by the American Counseling Association. Dr. Bertram and Nancy Wheeler have collaborated on numerous publications, tapes, webinars, podcasts and have made over 150 presentations together on topics related to legal and ethical issues in counseling.

Anne Marie “Nancy” Wheeler, JD is an attorney who started her practice of law in
the District of Columbia in 1981; she later became licensed in Maryland. Nancy does not practice law in Florida, where she and her husband “retired” in 2018, but she continues to teach and write about mental health ethics and risk management. For over 30 years, she managed risk management services for the American Counseling Association and the American Psychiatric Association. Through this and private client work with practicing counselors, psychiatrists, and other mental health practitioners, Nancy assisted providers in analyzing and understanding challenging legal, ethical and regulatory issues ranging from privacy to managed care. Nancy also served for 17 years as an affiliate faculty member of the Graduate Pastoral Counseling Program of Loyola University Maryland, where she taught ethics and legal issues courses to masters and doctoral-level students. She was also an adjunct faculty member of the Graduate Department of Counselor Education at Stetson University in Florida. Additionally, she has presented hundreds of seminars, workshops and keynote addresses on medical and mental health legal and ethical issues. She has also produced newsletters, webinars and podcasts on legal compliance and risk management strategies. Nancy writes extensively and has authored or contributed to numerous publications, including the following: Wheeler, A.M. & Bertram, B. (2019). The counselor and the law: a guide to legal and ethical practice (Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association); Reinhardt, R. & Wheeler, A.M. (2014). Private practice preparedness: the health care professional’s guide to closing a practice due to retirement, death or disability. Publisher: Author; and Wheeler, A.M. (2005). Top ten legal and risk management areas of concern for psychiatrists. In J. Lazarus (Ed.), Entering private practice: a handbook for psychiatrists Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.


MEETING AGENDA:

Networking and Registration
8:30-9 a.m. 

 Announcements and Introductions
9 a.m.

Speaker
9:30 - 10:30 a.m

Click below if you would like Burt Bertram's presentation:

Writing Clinical Notes (Burt Bertram, Nancy Wheeler, 022120).pdf


IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

MHCCF meets on the third Friday of every month, except for July and December. Unless otherwise specified, our meetings are held at All Saints Church, 338 E Lyman Ave, Winter Park, FL., with registration starting at 8:30 a.m. and the program from 9 to 10:30 a.m.


It is free to attend MHCCF’s monthly meetings; however you must be a paid, professional member of MHCCF to qualify for 1 CEU. Active professional members of MHCCF are required to sign in and sign out at each meeting to receive a CEU. Please have your license number available upon check-in.


To become a member of MHCCF, please visit our website at mhccf.com and select the “Join Us” tab, or, sign up during networking & registration (8:30-9 am) at our monthly meeting. MHCCF accepts credit card or check payments at the door. We do not accept cash payments.


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