|
Mental Health Professionals
|
|
|
| After a
hectic holiday season, we are usually bombarded with “Let’s get
fit” ads. Everyone feels that with all the over-indulging during
December, January should be a time to tune up so we can greet the new year
feeling refreshed and ready to make a clean start. But being ready to start anew might take more than just a few trips to the gym or an extra dozen crunches. Sometimes, to paraphrase Frasier Crane, we need someone to listen. The mental health field encompasses a wide range of professionals. The Colorado Mental Health State Department of Regulatory Agencies lists mental health professionals as follows: Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Professional Counselor, Marriage and Family Therapist, Psychologist, all of whom need to be licensed to practice psychotherapy pursuant to state law. There are also unlicensed psychotherapists. An unlicensed psychotherapist is “any person whose primary practice is psychotherapy or who holds himself out to the public as being able to practice psychotherapy for compensation and who is not a certified school psychologist or who is not licensed under this title to practice psychotherapy.” In the State of Colorado when looking for a mental health professional, you have the following rights: • To receive information about methods of therapy, the techniques used, the expected duration of therapy, and the fee. • To seek a second opinion from another professional. • In a professional relationship, sexual intimacy is unethical and illegal. Infractions should be reported to the Department of Regulatory Agencies, • Information provided by a client during therapy sessions is legally confidential except for certain legal exceptions, which include the following: (1) suspected child abuse or neglect (2) information from a client concerning a serious threat of imminent physical violence against a specific person or persons, (3) a client who is dangerous to self or others due to a mental disorder. Finally, you always have the right to ask for the credentials of the person you are considering talking to. |
Posted January 2001