California LCSW Law and Ethics Examination flashcards
California LCSW Law and Ethics Examination · Build recall with a focused review session.
20 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Informed consent
- A process supporting an authorized person's understanding and voluntary decision about a proposed service, including material terms, alternatives, and relevant limitations.
- Disclosure authorization
- Permission meeting the applicable requirements for a defined release of information, distinct from permission to receive treatment or an assumption based on payment.
- Confidentiality
- The professional and legal protection of client information, with disclosure evaluated according to the applicable authority and scope rather than convenience.
- Privilege
- An evidentiary protection for qualifying communications in legal proceedings, requiring analysis distinct from ordinary information-handling obligations and a recipient's request.
- Reasonable suspicion
- A reporting threshold considered under the applicable statute and actual facts, which does not require the clinician to complete a criminal investigation first.
- Duty to protect
- A legal protective responsibility evaluated under the applicable California framework and facts, rather than treating every angry statement as satisfying identical statutory conditions.
- Risk formulation
- An integrated account of current risk-related findings, context, protective factors, uncertainty, and the rationale for an appropriate clinical response and follow-up.
- Protective disclosure
- A communication grounded in the relevant legal authority and safety purpose, with scope and recipients tied to what the response actually requires.
- Associate status
- A registered supervised-practice role that must be represented accurately and does not become independent licensure merely because experience hours have been completed.
- Scope and competence
- Related but distinct limits: the profession's lawful functions and the individual practitioner's actual training and ability to provide a particular service safely.
- Clinical supervision
- Accountable oversight of clinical work and its quality, including relevant monitoring and feedback, rather than simply a peer conversation or an experience-form signature.
- Oversight agreement
- A required formal coordination arrangement in applicable external-supervision settings, supporting lawful access, setting review, and responsibilities rather than detached informal consultation.
- Conflict of interest
- A competing personal, professional, or financial interest that may impair judgment or harm client interests, requiring substantive assessment rather than disclosure alone.
- Self-determination
- Respect for clients' informed choices and goals within applicable clinical and legal boundaries, without treating disagreement as automatic incapacity or misconduct.
- Therapeutic boundary
- A professional limit protecting the purpose and safety of the helping relationship, evaluated through power, context, client interests, and applicable prohibitions.
- Continuity planning
- Arrangements that address foreseeable interruption, referral, absence, or termination so clients understand realistic options and urgent care needs are not simply abandoned.
- Progress note
- An ordinary clinical record of relevant service information, not automatically the special HIPAA psychotherapy-notes category simply because the service involves psychotherapy.
- Record amendment
- A defined process for addressing disputed or inaccurate record information, preserving appropriate traceability rather than treating every request as automatic erasure.
- Business associate
- An entity performing qualifying functions involving protected information for a covered entity, subject to the applicable contractual and safeguarding framework.
- Audit trail
- A record of relevant information-system access or changes that supports accountability and investigation, while not replacing appropriate permissions, training, or incident response.