Recommendations for Prevention of Misconduct

All in all, the likelihood that you are going to receive disciplinary action as a therapist is very low as it is currently an unregulated industry. The purpose of this course was not to scare you but to simply educate you on the possible risk factors that could lead to malpractice complaints. However, you can not go around doing whatever you want without consequences. Just because you are not going to be reprimanded by the authorities doesn’t mean that you can not cause serious, life-long damage to clients when acting without integrity. 

The desire to not cause harm needs to come from a deeper place than to simply not get sued. When you are practising within your scope, seeking regular support and supervision, writing accurate case notes and attending regular ongoing personal and professional development, there is an ease and flow to working with clients. You feel much more confident and settled in your personal and professional life and things become beautifully simple. It also protects you from experiencing burnout and supports you to maintain professional boundaries with clients. 

Below is a summary of the course and a list of recommendations on how to avoid malpractice complaints. These recommendations were developed in reflection upon the root causes of the majority of complaints by Grenyer & Lewis (2012): 

  1. Obtain regular supervision from an experienced practitioner.
  2. Spend time to explain to clients the purpose of interviews, assessments, and treatments; the likely outcomes; the limits of confidentiality, and fees, and to obtain their understanding and consent in writing.
  3. Treat clients with dignity and respect.
  4. Maintain professional premises and business hours, and try to work in group practices with support rather than alone, and adhere to professional practice standards.
  5. Attend to your private life and relationships to achieve a healthy work–life balance. Do not practise if you are impaired or going through major stress. Maintain appropriate professional boundaries in relationships.
  6. Do not practise outside expertise—recognise limits in knowledge, experience, and skills.
  7. Engage in continuous professional development and training, including study of ethical codes and best-practice report writing.
  8. Only use recognised contemporary evidence-based practices and be able to justify your practices by reference to accepted professional treatment guidelines.
  9. Put your professional ethics and obligations above the needs of individual clients, employees, contractors, or lawyers. Act on mandatory reporting and registration board requirements.
  10. Consult senior colleagues to obtain regular peer review of your professional practice.

 

References

Grenyer & Lewis. (2012). Prevalence, Prediction, and Prevention of Psychologist Misconduct. Australian Psychologist. 47. 68-76. 10.1111/j.1742-9544.2010.00019.x.