This is the monthly meeting for the Membership Engagement and Outreach Committee. Normally meetings are held the first Tuesday of the month.
Description:
One of the risks of being a counselor is that clients may file complaints against you to the Department of Health (DOH) for unprofessional conduct. In this 6-hour interactive webinar, Fran Schopick, JD, MSW, will help attendees recognize common risk factors and scenarios that may result in a risk of DOH complaints. Participants will learn best practices to clarify both client and counselor roles, avoid misunderstandings that can lead to complaints, and maintain scope of practice when clients enter litigation. We will also consider ways to address working with children, couples, and families engaged in “high conflict” family dynamics.
Objectives:
About the Presenter:
Frances Schopick, JD, MSW is an attorney with an extensive background in clinical Social Work and psychiatric research. She served on the Psychiatry Faculties at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA to research mood disorders, personality disorders, and psychotic illness. Personality disorders focused mainly on narcissistic, borderline, anti-social, and schizotypal personalities.
Now an attorney in WA State, Fran represents health care providers undergoing licensing board investigations. To help licensees avoid such complaints, Fran develops Disclosure and Informed Consent resources tailored to individual practice, so that providers can simultaneously minimize counselor risk and maximize client care. Fran provides legal consultation to counselors and psychologists working with individual adults, children, couples, and families, often in “high conflict” situations. Fran speaks nationally on the importance of well-administered Informed Consent as well as the many factors that can affect and complicate clinical care.
This course is approved for 6 CE hours for LMHCs, LMFTs, LCSWs, and all associate-level licensees in Washington State
Washington Mental Health Association (WMHCA) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 2079. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. WMHCA is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
WMHCA Cancellation Policy
To receive a refund, less a $15 cancellation fee, cancellations must be made by contacting WMHCA at least 48 hours prior to workshop date. There will be no refunds within 48 hours of the workshop date. Please make sure you have the link 24 hours prior to the event starting.
This is the monthly meeting for the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. Normally meetings are held the first Wednesday of the month.
The finance task force is chaired by the treasurer. The task force is responsible for the financial well-being or the organization. They are the primary stakeholders in the creation of the budget. They are currently looking at ways for WMHCA to invest to build financial of the organization over time. The task force typically meets from December to May. They meet the 2nd Monday of the month.
This course is designed for anyone interested in becoming a law enforcement therapeutic provider. Ideally, attendees should have a masters degree or higher in Counseling Psychology, Social Work, or a related field of study. The WA licensure credentials include but are not limited to, LMHC(A), LMFT(A), MSW, and LICSW.
Attendees will become familiar with facets of law enforcement as an industry, profession, culture, and environment with its own challenges and unique setting in which officers function. Further, this two-day course will familiarize the attendee with the family dynamics that interplay with law enforcement as a profession.
After the two-day course, licensed therapists and social workers will have systems familiarity and knowledge in the following areas:
Law Enforcement 101
Structure of the workplace
Paramilitary culture and “sense of family”
How individuals become law enforcement officers
Components of training and expectations of law enforcement
Physical demands of the job
Types of calls law enforcement go to-Trauma exposure
Types of roles law enforcement can hold within a department
Court process, reporting, prosecution, defense, public disclosure requests
Job Security-Complaints, Compliments, “Under the Radar”, resisting counseling
Firearms familiarity / Firearms as an extension of the person
Cultural Introduction
Warrior / Guardian Mentality
Dark humor and desensitization
Types of behavioral health issues first responders face
Suicidality
Peer Support in police vs Peer Support in Therapy
Substance abuse indicators
Barriers to seeking care
Political Terrain Navigation-criticism, kudos, and everything in between
Line of Duty Deaths and symbols
Personal Life and Family Dynamics
Resources available for law enforcement and their families
Common coping skills
Your first session and building a therapeutic alliance (trust means something completely different)
Therapeutic Approaches
Understanding the process of a de-brief and a critical incident stress debrief
Balancing the duty or services to others and duty to self – sacrifice mentality
Mock Scenarios / Table-Top Discussions for Therapeutic Processing
Demonstrating true unconditional positive regard and non-judgement
Susie M. Kroll, MA, MHP, LMHC earned her Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology from City University of Seattle. She is an alum of the University of Washington having earned Bachelors degrees in Speech Communication and Zoology with a Marine Emphasis in 2001. Susie started as a Clinician with a local community behavioral health agency upon earning her Masters. While employed with that agency, she promoted to Clinic Manager, Regional Operations Director, and Division Director overseeing the day-to-day operations of six outpatient behavioral health clinics in King County.
Susie was the founding Mental Health Professional for the Law Enforcement and Mental Health Professional Co-Response Programs in Shoreline, Kenmore, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park, Bothell, Redmond, and Duvall PDs. She is a national educator and speaker on Crisis & De-Escalation, Mental Health, and Crisis Negotiation. She instructs at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission and is the Mental Health Advisor for Crisis Systems Management. She volunteers yearly at the Seattle King County Clinic as the Crisis Response Director. More importantly, she is the fur-mom to two rescued kittens and a very clownish Umbrella Cockatoo.
This course is approved for 15 CE hours for LMHCs, LMFTs, LCSWs, and all associate-level licensees in Washington State.
Workshop Cancellation Policy:
To receive a refund, less a $15 cancellation fee, cancellations must be made by contacting sara@wmhca.org at least 7 days prior to workshop date. There will be no refunds within 7 days of the workshop date.
This is a closed meeting for the Executive Committee.
The Greenwood Senior Center is celebrating the fourth anniversary of its Social Connection Program. Lack of social connection has been shown to have the same negative health impact as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Roughly one third of U.S. adults ages 50-80 report feeling lonely, isolated, or both some of the time or often. Such concerns prompted the creation of the Social Connection Program. What started as a small project has grown into a full-fledged program with many offerings focused on increasing social connection among older adults. The program has a strong focus on helping people understand the underlying reasons for social isolation and loneliness. Some participants desire additional, ongoing counseling to supplement their program participation. Come join Teresa Tam, the Social Connection Program Coordinator, to learn more about the program and partnership possibilities as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington State.
This meeting is for WMHCA board business and updates. WMHCA members are invited to attend. If you are an WMHCA member please come learn about the work WMHCA is doing and participate in the discussion. It is a chance for members to hear more about the initiatives WMHCA is engaged in as well as ability to add their voices. This is not a networking event.
The Washington Mental Health Counselor Association is presenting a free event for members on how to become a licensed mental health counselor in Washington State. Topics include, timeline to a counseling career, WA state Legislation and Licensing, Supervision and Tracking Hours, and much more. It will be 60 to 90 minutes depending on participant engagement and Q&A.
The monthly meeting for the Policy and Professional Advocacy Committee. Meetings are typically held the 1st Thursday of the month.
The monthly meeting for the Professional Development and Education Committee. This committee normally meeting on the first Thursday of the month.
The conference task force is working on planning WMHCA's very first conference in nearly 10 years. We are looking for volunteers to join the conference task force. WMHCA hopes the conference will be in the Spring of 2026. The task force will meet the 1st Fridays of the month.
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