OLERE OLERE - Oklahoma Legal and Ethical Responsibilities Crisis Intervention and Duty to Protect 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Oklahoma LPC Act, when is pursuing involuntary commitment for a client most clinically and legally appropriate?
- Whenever a client expresses any sadness or hopelessness
- When the client is imminently dangerous to self or others and refuses voluntary treatment (Correct answer)
- At the formal written request of the client's family members
- Only when insurance will cover inpatient services
Correct answer: When the client is imminently dangerous to self or others and refuses voluntary treatment
Involuntary commitment is appropriate when a client presents with imminent danger to self or others and refuses voluntary hospitalization — it is not triggered by general distress.
Question 2: What is the primary purpose of a Tarasoff-type duty-to-warn obligation in Oklahoma counseling law?
- To protect the counselor's professional reputation from liability claims
- To protect identifiable third parties from serious harm posed by a client (Correct answer)
- To report all criminal activity disclosed in counseling sessions
- To limit the total number of high-risk clients an LPC may serve
Correct answer: To protect identifiable third parties from serious harm posed by a client
The duty-to-warn principle, as applied in Oklahoma, is designed to protect reasonably identifiable third parties when a client poses a serious threat to their safety.
Question 3: When a minor client in Oklahoma is in crisis, the counselor's obligation to notify parents is:
- Never required regardless of severity
- Required unless notification would harm the minor or conflict with mandatory reporting obligations (Correct answer)
- Always required under all circumstances without exception
- Deferred automatically to the next scheduled family session
Correct answer: Required unless notification would harm the minor or conflict with mandatory reporting obligations
Parental notification for a minor in crisis is required in most circumstances, but clinical judgment and mandatory reporting rules may override parental notification in certain cases.
Question 4: Which combination of factors MOST significantly elevates the level of lethality risk in a suicidal client being assessed by an Oklahoma LPC?
- Feeling overwhelmed and reporting occasional low mood
- Specific lethal plan, access to means, expressed intent, and no protective factors (Correct answer)
- History of counseling and current medication compliance
- Reports of sadness following a recent disagreement with a coworker
Correct answer: Specific lethal plan, access to means, expressed intent, and no protective factors
High lethality is indicated by a specific plan, access to the means to carry it out, clear intent, and an absence of protective factors that might buffer against self-harm.
Question 5: After a client returns from inpatient hospitalization, the Oklahoma LPC's ethical responsibilities include:
- Treating the hospitalization as a clean slate with no reference to prior events
- Reviewing discharge summaries, updating the treatment plan, and addressing the precipitating crisis (Correct answer)
- Requiring an entirely new intake process as if the client were never seen before
- Immediately transitioning the client to a higher-level-of-care provider permanently
Correct answer: Reviewing discharge summaries, updating the treatment plan, and addressing the precipitating crisis
Continuity of care requires reviewing discharge information, updating the treatment plan to reflect the crisis and its context, and addressing the factors that led to hospitalization.
Question 6: Oklahoma LPCs are ethically required to have a formal plan for which of the following situations?
- Marketing their services when practice volume is low
- Ensuring client coverage and access to crisis resources when the LPC is unavailable (Correct answer)
- Billing clients for missed sessions during periods of hospitalization
- Terminating all high-risk clients prior to taking scheduled leave
Correct answer: Ensuring client coverage and access to crisis resources when the LPC is unavailable
Ethical practice requires LPCs to have documented coverage plans so clients — especially high-risk ones — can access appropriate care when the counselor is unavailable.
OLERE OLERE - Oklahoma Legal and Ethical Responsibilities Crisis Intervention and Duty to Protect 2
Under the Oklahoma LPC Act, when is pursuing involuntary commitment for a client most clinically and legally appropriate?