Interacting with the legal system can be stressful and intimidating for mental health professionals. This trusted book provides user-friendly strategies to help clinicians prepare for giving testimony in court and participating in other legal proceedings. Using vivid case scenarios from family, criminal, and mental health law, the author explains legal terms and offers practical suggestions for avoiding pitfalls and managing ethical dilemmas. Thoroughly revised to incorporate updates in research, case law, statutes, and practice, the second edition addresses several new topics and includes an appendix with reflection questions extending the scope of each chapter. The book takes clinicians through the entire legal process, from first contact and the preparation stage to testimony and follow-up. It covers the nuts and bolts of how to respond to subpoenas, consult and strategize with attorneys, and develop sound record-keeping practices. Guidelines are presented for performing effectively on the stand as a fact witness or expert witness. The second edition gives increased attention to ethical issues, such as dual relationships, professional boundaries, confidentiality, and competence. It also explores special issues that may arise in cases involving children and examines the developing role of mental health professionals as forensic consultants. Reproducible agreements and other sample documentation can be photocopied from the appendices or downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size. Supplemental materials for course use--including an instructor's manual--are available at the author's website. Written in an empathetic, down-to-earth style, this book is an invaluable resource for clinical psychologists, social workers, family therapists and counselors, psychiatrists, and child welfare professionals, as well as forensic psychologists and psychiatrists. It is widely used as a text in graduate-level courses dealing with clinical practice and the law.

Interacting with the legal system can be stressful and intimidating for mental health professionals. This trusted book provides user-friendly strategies to help clinicians prepare for testimony in court and other legal proceedings. Using vivid case scenarios, the author explains legal terms and offers practical suggestions for avoiding pitfalls and managing ethical dilemmas. Clear guidelines are presented for record keeping, responding to subpoenas, preparing reports, and performing effectively on the stand as a fact witness or expert witness. Reproducible agreements and other sample documentation can be photocopied from the appendices or downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size. New to This Edition * Incorporates updates in research, case law, statutes, and practice. * Examines the developing role of mental health professionals as forensic consultants. * Increased attention to ethical issues, such as dual relationships, professional boundaries, confidentiality, and competence. * An appendix with reflection questions that extend the scope of each chapter. * Explores special issues that may arise in cases involving children * Supplemental materials for course use--including an instructor's manual--are available at the author's website.

Mental health and human service professionals are often called on to give evidence or expert testimony in a range of circumstances, including family law and child welfare trials, mental health hearings, malpractice lawsuits, criminal trials, government hearings, and private arbitration. Interacting with the legal system poses many potential challenges, but adequate preparation and a basic understanding of legal processes and terminology can make the experience a more positive one. This volume provides practical information and proven guidelines to help clinicians from any background understand their role in legal proceedings-and participate effectively, ethically, and with minimal stress. Special features include helpful checklists and samples of affidavits, retainer agreements, and other materials that can be adapted for use in the reader's own practice.

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

This influential work has now been substantially revised with over 60% new material reflecting over a dozen years of research and clinical advances. Leading experts describe innovative ways to use dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) in a wide range of real-world clinical and community settings. The volume provides wise guidance on setting up, running, and evaluating a comprehensive DBT program. It also presents adaptations designed to meet the needs of particular client populations as time- and cost-effectively as possible. Vivid case examples illustrate diverse applications of DBT for helping adults, adolescents, and children reduce suicidal and self-harming behavior; overcome complex, multiple challenges; and build a life worth living. New to This Edition *Presents current best practices for making DBT more efficient and accessible while maximizing program fidelity. *Chapters on additional populations, including persons with posttraumatic stress disorder and preadolescent children. *Chapters on additional settings, including milieu-based programs, university counseling centers, and middle and high schools. *Chapters on pharmacotherapy, promoting employment and self-sufficiency, training and supervision, and DBT beyond Stage 1. See also Doing Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Practical Guide, by Kelly Koerner, which demonstrates DBT techniques in detail.

Mental health professionals are often called on to give evidence or expert testimony in a range of circumstances, including family law and child welfare trials, mental health hearings, malpractice lawsuits, criminal trials, government hearings, and private arbitration.This volume provides practical information and proven guidelines to help clinicians from any background understand their role in legal proceedings--and participate effectively, ethically, and with minimal stress. Including case examples that illustrate each stage of the legal process, the book describes how to respond to subpoenas or contacts from lawyers; what to do to prepare for particular court actions or adjudicative proceedings; and how to ensure that all documentation is complete and legally admissible and confidentiality requirements are met. Also presented is valuable advice on avoiding legal pitfalls and coping with challenging situations on and off the witness stand. Special features include helpful checklists; samples of affidavits, retainer agreements, and other materials that can be adapted for use in the reader's own practice; and a glossary of relevant legal terms.

The second edition of Chronic Pain now covers a vast scientific and clinical arena, with the scientific background and therapeutic options much expanded. In common with the other titles comprising Clinical Pain Management, the volume gathers together the available evidence-based information in a reader-friendly format without unnecessary detail, and is divided into three parts. The broad coverage under Part One encompasses basic science, including applied physiology, genetics and epidemiology, through societal aspects of chronic pain and disability, to patient assessment, diagnostic procedures and outcome measures. Part Two considers the different therapies available, including pharmacological, psychological, behavioural, interventional and alternative. In Part Three specific and non-specific pain syndromes and their management are described, including pain in neurological disease, in HIV and AIDS patients, and after surgery or spinal cord injury, regional pain in the head, face, neck, back, joints, chest, abdomen and pelvis, and issues related to pain in children, the elderly and in association with substance misuse.