How to Fire Your Clients (Ethically) Curt and Katie chat about how to appropriately terminate with clients when icky situations arise. We explore how therapists can develop an ethical decision-making process to protect themselves against possible complaints to ethics boards. We also talk about how privilege plays a role in icky terminations and how therapists can work to balance their safety and self-care with their responsibilities. It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age. In this episode we talk about: How ethics are discussed in social media groups (ethical concerns vs. I don’t like this) When we can terminate with clients, why can we do it, when we cannot terminate with clients, and what our responsibilities are in these situations. How therapist’s personal feelings can influence premature terminations and the problems this can lead to (e.g., client abandonment, continuity of care). Feelings that arise for both the therapist and client when icky terminations happen. How ethics committees think about complaints and disciplinary actions. Developing an ethical decision-making process that demonstrates professionalism. Explore how therapists are held to a higher standard than the general public. Discuss how privilege (or lack thereof) impacts perceptions professionalism. How to maintain professional standards when your safety is at risk. Developing plans for possible icky terminations. We look at how many therapists are actually reported to ethics boards and how this information is unhelpful. Managing racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. comments in session and taking care of yourself. Explore how the structure of ethics committees create barriers to therapists being their authentic self, while also needing these committees to protect the field. Balancing therapist safety and self-care with therapist responsibilities. Our Generous Sponsors: Buying Time Buying Time is a full team of Virtual Assistants, with a wide variety of skill sets to support your business. From basic admin support, customer service, and email management to marketing and bookkeeping. They’ve got you covered. Don’t know where to start? Check out the systems inventory checklist which helps business owners figure out what they don’t want to do anymore and get those delegated asap. You can find that checklist at buyingtimellc.com/systems-checklist Buying Time's VA's support businesses by managing email communications, CRM or automation systems, website admin and hosting, email marketing, social media, bookkeeping and much more. Their sole purpose is to create the opportunity for you to focus on supporting those you serve while ensuring that your back office runs smoothly. With a full team of VA's it gives the opportunity to hire for one role and get multiple areas of support. There's no reason to be overwhelmed with running your business with this solution available. Book a consultation to see where and how you can get started getting the support you need - https://buyingtimellc.com/book-consultation/   Resources mentioned: We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below might be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance! CPH Article: Duty to the Patient – Termination of Treatment and Understanding Your Patient Relevant Episodes: Therapist Safety Managing Vicarious Trauma Bad Business Practices Ending Therapy Noteworthy Documentation Irrational Ethics That’s Unethical   Connect with us! Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapists Group Get Notified About Therapy Reimagined 2021  Our consultation services: The Fifty-Minute Hour Who we are: Curt Widhalm is in private practice in the Los Angeles ar