Course Catalog

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Assessment and Diagnosis Catalog

[Note: The 'number' in the course designation - e.g., 4G, 3C or 4D - denotes the number of credit hours awarded for the course.]

Please click the + signs in front of any course which you want to know more about.

These courses address various aspects of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment issues - including the documentation of these things in the client's treatment record.

We take a look at multiple populations, with a different slant for each. In all of these courses, we address the clinical necessity and the professional ethics of assessing a client in a manner which allows good differential diagnosis, and the necessity of accurately documenting and addressing ALL diagnoses which are clinically evident from a clinical and historical basis. We pay particular attention to assessment and documentation of dual diagnoses when they are evident, i.e., both a mental health diagnosis and an AOD-SA-CD diagnosis.

Assessment of children and adolescents. Assessment Course 3C addresses serious assessment ERRORS to avoid, which can result in LEGAL complications and PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY issues, as well as the implications of erroneous or ignored DIAGNOSIS. Although the course focuses upon Assessment and Diagnosis of minors, much of the material can be applied to adults (particularly the Crisis Assessment section). For both AOD and Mental Health providers.
Assessment and treatment of geriatric/aging individuals. Is there a difference between dementia and non-Alzheimer's cognitive confusion? Yes. And if it's non-Alzheimer's cognitive impairment, how do you treat it? We demonstrate, with actual sample cases, HOW to assess the treatment priorities, when you have both cognitive confusion AND serious behavioral issues. Watch a DEMO of our Aging Course 4G.
The ethics of assessment, diagnosis, and documentation with clients who have serious mental health and/or addiction issues, when insurance or other managed care contracts are paying the bill. This course approaches assessment, diagnosis, and documentation from a professional ethics perspective. How specific must we be in the client's clinical record, regarding the multiple aspects of assessment - i.e., definitive diagnosis, prognosis, and the response to treatment? Watch a DEMO of Ethics Courses 3D and 4D.

Course 3C - Beyond the Yellow Legal Pad! Child/Adol Mental Health and Substance Abuse Assessment

Aging Course 4G - Treatment of Cognitive and Behavioral Functioning for Aging Adults

Earn a certificate for 4 or 0.4 credits immediately upon completion of this module.

Only $28.00

Aging Course 4G - Treatment of Cognitive and Behavioral Functioning for Aging Adults

$28.00 - [Want to watch the Aging COURSE DEMO? Click here]. This 4 Credit-Hour course presents a STRUCTURED SKILLS-BASED TREATMENT APPROACH to assessing and treating specific functional difficulties of the elderly, in various settings. The assessment and treatment interventions taught in this course address COGNITIVE CONFUSION AND IMPAIRMENT in aging individuals (which at times may mimic dementia) - oftentimes appearing concurrent with serious AFFECTIVE conditions (such as DEPRESSION with or without agitation) and BEHAVIORAL difficulties (such as angry or explosive behavior, aggression, refusal to perform essential activities, and other behaviors which may lead to inpatient care if not stabilized).

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS in this age group is crucial and oftentimes more difficult than with the non-elderly client population. The clinical picture presented by such clients is oftentimes confusing and misleading, i.e., what “looks like Alzheimer’s” isn’t always Alzheimer’s disease, and isn’t always a case of organically based dementia which can be unresponsive to non-medical treatment interventions.

In the non-Alzheimer’s client, what we frequently see is cognitive confusion and behavioral abnormality following medical trauma including strokes and major surgery, loss of health or home or independence, and other such disruptive events. These functional difficulties are oftentimes complicated by depression and anxiety, and perhaps by difficulty in communicating basic wants and needs. These issues may lead to withdrawal from the environment and from social interaction, which can mimic organically based dementia.

Oftentimes we must “back into a diagnosis” . . . interacting with the individual in the treatment environment for a period of time that exceeds that normally required with non-elderly clients, and then formulate a differential diagnosis based on our experiences with the individual.

Perhaps more than with any other age group, ASSESSMENT AND DIAGNOSIS with the elderly is a DYNAMIC process. We must observe changes in affect and functional response to treatment interventions for a period of time that extends beyond a formal “intake evaluation”. How best to approach these non-Alzheimer's AGING issues, therapeutically, in a variety of settings? That’s the focus of this course.

Details: The course presents a STRUCTURED SKILLS-BASED APPROACH to assessing, treating, and documenting cognitive and behavioral difficulties of the elderly, in various settings. We present information that will allow you to effectively ASSESS and PRIORITIZE the cognitive and behavioral issues at hand, and to develop creative INTERVENTIONS that work!

We may find our aging clients in an outpatient clinic, residing in nursing facilities or participating in Day Care Centers operated by churches or private individuals – or simply living at home with adult children or other relatives.

More details: The interventions are particularly helpful with COGNITIVE confusion or impairment and BEHAVIORAL difficulties associated with any one of a number of precipitating factors – e.g., a mild stroke resulting in cognitive disturbance (with sensory-motor issues, perhaps receptive or expressive aphasia, mental confusion, etc) .... or cognitive confusion resulting from grief, loss, dislocation, etc. (e.g., a move to a nursing home, the loss of one’s personal home and possessions, death of a spouse, loss of independence, etc.).

Such elderly individuals oftentimes present with agitated or angry behavior, along with confusion. Such behavior is oftentimes accompanied by depressed and anxious emotionality, which can mimic dementia. How best to approach these issues therapeutically? And how best to resurrect cognitive skills which have fallen into disuse or impaired due to a stroke or situational trauma? That’s the focus of this course.

More details: The interventions we describe can be employed in multiple settings, including mental health clinics, professionally operated church day care programs for aging individuals with mental health issues, nursing homes – and at home with family, under professional supervision.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES OF THIS COURSE:

1. Obtain an Overview of Cognitive and Behavioral (Functional) Deficits of the non-Alzheimer’s Geriatric Population.

2. Learn Specific Techniques for Reconnecting and Reinforcing Cognitive Processes

3. :Awareness of Behavioral Management Techniques Tailored To The Geriatric Patient.

4. Know How to Design and Implement Individualized Treatment Plans for Cognitively and Behaviorally Impaired Geriatric Mental Health Consumers.

5. Effective Documentation of Such Treatment

Ethics 4D - The Ethics of Treatment Documentation and Other Ethical Dilemmas When Insurance Is Paying The Bill

Earn a certificate for 4 or 0.4 credits immediately upon completion of this module.

Only $28.00

Ethics 4D - When Insurance and State Contracts Are Paying the Bill – The Ethics of Treatment Documentation and Other Ethical Dilemmas in Today’s World.

$28.00 - Four (4) Credit Hour Ethics CEUs for Professional Counselors, MFTs, Social Workers, Substance Abuse Counselors, and other behavioral health practitioners in ALMOST EVERY STATE.

Ethics 4D is a fast-paced SLIDESHOW with content that's easy to understand and never boring - regarding the ETHICAL DILEMMAS (and PRESSURES) encountered on a daily basis by those whose clients' fees are paid by insurance, managed care, or closely monitored state or local contracts.

Ethics 4D contains the same core material as the 3 credit-hour Ethics Course 3D, except that 4D includes additional material regarding these ethical issues. [Want to watch a short Ethics COURSE DEMO, with material from Ethics 4D and 3D? Click here.]

The first part of the course is a close-up view of that sticky issue ... what to write (and not write) in a client's treatment record, from an ETHICS perspective, in this new era of tightly controlled health care. How much do you divulge about your assessment of the client's diagnosis, his prognosis, his functional status, and his response to treatment? What's ETHICAL - when the payor is demanding details? What's NECESSARY?

In Ethics 4D we ALSO take a look at such ethical questions as the contract manager's focus upon YOUR effectiveness in the treatment process - i.e., is your approach to treatment effective (or not)? Is such scrutiny legitimate and ethical, or is it an invasion of your (and your client's) privacy? And is it ethical to provide the requested information? And .... does this emphasis upon YOUR EFFECTIVENESS have anything to do with your own ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY, as required by your license standards? ?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Understand the ETHICAL AND PRACTICAL impact of CARE MANAGEMENT upon WHO gets treatment, WHAT treatments they may receive, and HOW MUCH of each treatment is allowed.

2. Identify the new ETHICAL ISSUES faced by providers as a function of this new approach to authorization - i.e., JUSTIFYING and DELIVERING treatment services to our clients within this environment, and DOCUMENTING the ASSESSMENT, DIAGNOSIS, and RESPONSE TO TREATMENT.

3. Learn HOW we can ETHICALLY accommodate these new treatment and documentation requirements, while simultaneously meeting the requirements of our Provider Agreements.

4. Identify additional ETHICAL DILEMMAS encountered in treatment of mental health and substance abuse clients, including the ethics of the Quality Management - Treatment Effectiveness scrutiny which HMOs and other such contract managers place upon the work we do. Is it ETHICAL activity, or is it invasive?

Ethics 3D - The Ethics of Treatment Documentation When Insurance Is Paying The Bill

Earn a certificate for 3 or 0.3 credits immediately upon completion of this module.

Only $24.00

Ethics 3D - When Insurance and State Contracts Are Paying the Bill – The Ethics of Treatment Documentation in Today’s World.

$24.00 - Three (3) Credit Hour Ethics CEUs for Professional Counselors, MFTs, Social Workers, Substance Abuse Counselors, and other behavioral health practitioners in ALMOST EVERY STATE.

Ethics 3D is a fast-paced SLIDESHOW with content that's easy to understand and never boring - regarding the ETHICAL DILEMMAS (and PRESSURES) encountered on a daily basis by those whose clients' fees are paid by insurance, managed care, or closely monitored state or local contracts.

NOTE: Ethics 3D contains the same core material as the 4 credit-hour Ethics Course 4D, except that 4D includes additional material regarding these ethical issues. [Want to watch a short Ethics COURSE DEMO, with material from Ethics 4D and 3D? Click here.]

This course is a close-up view of that sticky issue ... what to write (and not write) in a client's treatment record, from an ETHICS perspective, in this new era of tightly controlled health care. How much do you divulge about your ASSESSMENT of the client's DIAGNOSIS(ES), his prognosis, his functional status, and his response to treatment? What's ETHICAL - when the payor is demanding details? What's NECESSARY?

Is such scrutiny legitimate and ethical, or is it an invasion of your (and your client's) privacy? And is it ethical to provide the requested information? Do your own licensure standards SUPPORT - or OVERRULE - this type of documentation of a client's treatment information?

SUMMARY OF GOALS:

1. Understand the ETHICAL AND PRACTICAL impact of CARE MANAGEMENT upon WHO gets treatment, WHAT treatments they may receive, and HOW MUCH of each treatment is allowed.

2. Identify the ETHICAL ISSUES faced by providers due to this new approach to authorization - in both the delivery of treatment services AND in the DOCUMENTATION of the ASSESSMENT, DIAGNOSIS, and TREATMENT RESPONSE.

3. Learn how we can ETHICALLY accommodate these new treatment and documentation requirements, while simultaneously meeting the requirements of our Provider Agreements.

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