This program will offer three, one-hour consecutive ethic presentations on January 26, 2021.These presentations will meet the Ethics requirements for LSW/LCSW/LPC/LMFT and APA requirements. 

Registration closes at noon on Monday, Jan. 25, 2021

1:00 to 2:00 PM 

Ethics in Practice: An Introductory Guide to Decision Making in The Medical Setting

Darcy Moschenross, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

This course will provide an introduction to ethical principles in the medical setting, including the core principles of medical ethics and how these translate in in the hospital, we will also discuss how to assess capacity in clinical practice , how to document, who to get involved if/when needed.
 

2:10 to 3:10 PM

Ethical Issues and Practical Considerations when Working with Justice-involved Youth

Jessica Gahr, MA
Treatment Clinician
Services for Adolescent and Family Enrichment (SAFE) Program
UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Allegheny County Juvenile Court

The Services for Adolescent and Family Enrichment (SAFE) and Services Aimed at Fire Education and Treatment for Youth (SAFETY) Programs strive to provide evidence-based treatment to juvenile justice-involved youth in an outpatient, community setting through intensive collaboration between mental health and juvenile justice professionals.  The current presentation will include an overview of the collaboration between the Allegheny County Juvenile Court and SAFE and SAFETY treatment providers. SAFE clinician Jessica Gahr will (1) present current organizational practices to ensure collaborative services, (2) discuss practical techniques to balance maintaining therapeutic rapport with limits to confidentiality, including what must be reported to the juvenile court and probation, and (3) review the advantages and disadvantages to clinicians’ active participation in multi-disciplinary teams.  Participants will understand how they can better serve their clients through the collaborative efforts of mental health providers and the juvenile justice system.

3:20 to 4:20 PM

Making Sense of Maas: Understanding the Expanded Duty to Warn in Pennsylvania

John "Jack" Rozel, MD, MSL
Medical Director, re:solve Crisis Services
UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Adjunct Professor of Law
Affiliate Faculty of the Center for Bioethics and Health Law at the University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA

In July, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court handed down a ruling in the Maas v. UPMC case.  In this case, a patient murdered a woman who lived five doors down a hallway from him after making a series of vague threats – including, at one point, “a neighbor” – but never identifying a target in any way.  The Supreme Court ruled that the entire floor, if not the entire apartment building, should have been warned and identified that, in certain circumstances, entire groups may need to be warned if specifically targeted individuals cannot be personally identified.  Maas has expanded mental health professionals’ duties to third parties with little guidance on how such duties (and liabilities) may be limited.  This presentation will explore the newly enumerated duty in the context of Emerich, Tarasoff, and HIPAA.