VISN 17 Center of Excellence
Recent Training Events
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Beyond the Letter: Ethical, Legal, and VA Policy Considerations for Mental Health Providers Responding to Reasonable Accommodation RequestsErin Andrews-Ash, PsyD, ABPPMany VA mental health providers, including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and licensed professional counselors, are frequently asked to provide documentation regarding functional impairment or workplace accommodations, yet receive little formal training on the ethical, legal, and policy boundaries of this role. Currently, providers may inconsistently apply VHA Directive 1134(2) and relevant professional ethics codes, creating risk for both patients and clinicians. This program will enhance provider competence in ethically sound documentation, improve consistency and compliance with VA policy, and ultimately support better functional and employment outcomes for Veterans by ensuring appropriate, well-reasoned advocacy within professional scope. |
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Medical Decision-Making Capacity Evaluations: Ethical ConsiderationsPatricia Cornett, Ph.D.All medical and mental health providers are trained in obtaining informed consent. However, there are multiple factors that affect whether patients possess the capacity to make their own medical decisions. Medical decision-making capacity (MDC), a critical component of informed consent, refers to an individual’s ability to understand the benefits and risks of treatment. It assesses domains of understanding, appreciation, reasoning, and communication. When MDC is impaired permanently or temporarily due to potentially diminished cognitive abilities, providers need to be ready to consider ethical principles to guide their own evaluation. This talk focuses on the ethical dilemmas providers face and aims to strengthen confidence and effectiveness in assessing medical decision-making capacity. |
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Ethical Considerations in Telehealth: Navigating Challenges and Best PracticesRahel Pearson, Ph.D.The purpose of this webinar is to equip healthcare professionals with the tools and strategies to identify, analyze, and address ethical challenges unique to telehealth practice. While telehealth has become a standard mode of delivering care, many healthcare professionals lack structured guidance on how to apply established ethical principles in virtual settings. |
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The Ethics of SupervisionBenjamin Jurek, Psy.D., & Nicole Hofman, Ph.D.The VA is one of the nation’s leaders in training and education, training approximately 120,000 health professions trainees each year. However, to fulfil this mission, it is crucial to have supervisors prepared to guide their training and adequately responding to challenges in supervision. In this live knowledge-based presentation, psychologists, social workers, and other mental health and healthcare supervisors will learn from evidence-based articles and other educational sources to provide best practice supervision techniques. The content of this presentation will focus on ethics in the context of supervision. Time will be spent discussing common ethical challenges and how to identify the presence of an ethical dilemma within the supervisory relationship. In addition, the importance of developing and maintaining competency as a supervisor will be discussed in the context of providing ethical supervision. |
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The Ethics of Discussing Firearms: Firearm Safety Counseling as Suicide PreventionAlison Krauss, Ph.D.Firearms are used in less than 5% of suicide attempts but account for over half of suicide deaths (Conner et al., 2019). Almost 90% of suicide attempts with a firearm are fatal, compared to around 55% of attempts by drowning, 53% by hanging, 28% by jumping, and 3% by intentional poisoning (Conner et al., 2019). Unfortunately, Veteran suicide deaths more often involve firearms (72.2%) compared to civilian suicide deaths (52.2%) (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, 2023). Unsurprisingly, safe firearm storage and lethal means safety is a top clinical priority of VA and a primary tenant of Veteran suicide prevention. Yet many providers report discomfort with firearm safety counseling due, in part, to concerns about negative impacts on the therapeutic relationship, lack of knowledge about firearms, or lack of time (Hoyt et al., 2021). Additionally, provider concerns occur within the context of changing laws which can create confusion around lethal means safety. The current webinar will provide an introduction on firearm ownership as a topic of suicide prevention, discuss ethical considerations of firearm safety counseling, and offer guidance on firearm safety counseling in VA. |
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Military-Related Moral Injury: Treatment, Therapist, and Ethical ConsiderationsSheila O'Brien, Ph.D.The moral injury (MI) construct describes the distress and functional impairments evoked by deep violations of right or wrong by oneself or trusted authority figures and is gaining increased attention in research and clinical settings (Shay, 2014). Violations of right and wrong (i.e., potentially morally injurious events [PMIEs]) may be high magnitude stressors akin to ‘potentially traumatic events,’ or result from the accumulating insults and injuries due to chronic environmental and social inequities and discrimination. Empirical research supports the clinical relevance of moral injury, demonstrating associations with problems such as suicidality, depression, PTSD, anxiety, substance use (Griffin et al., 2019). This talk will provide a practical overview of existing treatments for moral injury and supporting evidence. Special attention will be given to issues surrounding the therapeutic relationship and the role of the therapist / provider in moral injury treatment, including ethical considerations around reporting obligations, documentation, and consultation. |
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Psychological Health for Perinatal Women in the Military and BeyondLT Samantha Giangrande, Psy.D., ABPP, LT Amber R. Morris, Psy.D., & LT Gretchen E. Kirk, Ph.D.The "fourth trimester" is the three-month period immediately following birth. This time is typically when the mother recovers from childbirth. During this period, mothers are at higher risk for postpartum symptoms, especially if they had a previous mental health diagnosis prior to or during pregnancy. Many women note that they were unaware of the challenges that can present during the fourth trimester and were not adequately educated on resources available. There is an emotional narrative that isn’t regularly discussed with expecting parents. Psychologists have a unique opportunity to educate on the emotional and psychological aspects of the fourth trimester and provide treatment interventions specifically focused on postpartum. Service members in all branches have robust resources at their disposal but many are not knowledgeable of these. Perhaps mental health challenges could be lessened or avoided if service members and their families were adequately educated on the fourth trimester and provided with resources prior to the birth experience. Dr. Giangrande, Dr. Kirk, and Dr. Morris will discuss important aspects of the fourth trimester following birth, educate on the necessity of bringing awareness to and focusing on discussing the fourth trimester with expecting families and patients, and how to best support service members and prepare them for post-birth mental health symptoms and fourth trimester challenges. |
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Ethical Considerations When Working with DementiaCrystal Lantrip, Ph.D.Dementia is becoming a more significant public health concern with an increasingly aging population, causing a progressive impact in aging Veterans. In addition to Veterans of the Vietnam and Gulf War eras, post-911 Veterans are approaching later middle-adulthood, when pre-clinical cognitive conditions begin to emerge. Having knowledge and awareness of the clinical presentations of different, and common types of dementia conditions is important for veteran providers. |
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Compassion Fatigue and the Ethics of Self-CareCharles Weinberg, LCSWAlthough health providers spend substantial amounts of time educating patients about healthy ways of coping to foster well-being, it is often true that the same principles of self-care are not regularly utilized to promote provider’s well-being. In this way, “teaching best what we need to learn most”, and “not practicing what we preach.” However, across healthcare professions the codes of ethics establish the need for professional self-care in order to provide best care to others. During this live webinar training, participants will review ways health providers can improve their self-care strategies to cope with stress, considering the ethical implications of its value. Additionally, the presentation will discuss ways to improve clinical outcomes, to help avoid, minimize or mediate the effects of Compassion Fatigue, or the physical, emotional, and psychological impact of helping others. |
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Mental Health Ethics and the Duty to ProtectBob Stinson, Psy.D., J.D., LICDC-CS, ABPPThis presentation will focus on the ethical standards and dilemmas that most frequently arise when mental health professionals have a duty to protect third parties from potentially violent patients. In addition to learning how to navigate potentially conflicting ethical standards in these high-risk situations, attendees will understand and be able to apply legal concepts that apply in many jurisdictions. By the end of this course, attendees will meet the following objectives: (1) State three ethics standards to be considered in "duty to protect" situations; (2) Understand the concepts of "attachment" and "discharge of duty;" and (3) Apply the concepts of "attachment" and "discharge of duty" in duty to protect situations. |
