Dangerous Shortcuts – Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Bots in Therapy
Your client has been talking to something else between sessions. It answers at three in the morning, it never runs late, it costs them nothing, and it is not bound by a code of ethics, a licensing board, a duty to warn or a mandatory reporting obligation. You may not know they are doing it, because nobody has asked.
Jodi Ann Geis-Crowder’s argument is that this is now a question of professional obligation rather than curiosity. If a client is using an unregulated service alongside the one you provide, that sits inside your mandatory disclosure, your record keeping and your duty of care, and none of the codes most of us trained under anticipated it. She works the whole thing through the five moral principles rather than the technology, which is what makes the reasoning usable rather than a snapshot of a moving target.
Two hours. A grounding in what AI actually is and how it is being used in mental health, a short refresher on the eight areas of professional ethics and the five moral principles, then each of them applied in turn to a client using an AI service. She covers confidentiality and what happens to what a client types, informed consent, competence and access, and the documentation and disclosure that protects both the client and you. She is candid that she is a clinician rather than a technologist, and she says where the limits of her expertise sit.
You’ll walk away with
- The questions to add to your intake so you know whether a client is already using an AI service alongside seeing you
- A mandatory disclosure checklist covering the conversation to have with a client who is
- An analysis of where the ethical gaps actually sit, including the absence of a duty to warn, mandatory reporting and any licensing body behind an unregulated service
- A way to think about confidentiality when a client is typing their history into a system whose data handling neither of you can see
- The five moral principles applied to this specific situation, which gives you reasoning that survives the technology changing
- A framework for assessing risk in services that operate outside professional regulation
- Documentation that shows what informed your clinical judgement, if the question is ever asked
- A clear case for consulting a clinical supervisor and, separately, someone who understands the technology, rather than deciding this on your own
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CPD Information For Mental Health Professionals
Enjoy complete flexibility with 100% self-paced learning you can access anytime, anywhere, and on any device. This course is included with your Tatra Training membership, along with every other course in the library.
Course Duration: 2 learning hours
Certificate and CPD hours: On completion you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to support your CPD records. Your certificates are yours to keep.
Assessment: Complete a short quiz at the end (80% pass mark), which you can resit as many times as needed.
Revisit Anytime: Come back to the course as often as you like while your membership is active, whenever you want a refresher for practice.
CPD Eligibility: This program may be suitable for CPD for professionals such as:
- Psychologists
- Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- Community Workers
- Mental Health Nurses
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Occupational Therapists
CPD requirements vary between professional bodies, so please check with your association or credentialing body to confirm you can claim CPD hours/OPD points for this program and what evidence they require.
Course Content
Meet Your Instructor
Rural and underserved communities struggling with limited access to quality behavioral health care - and clinicians working in isolation without adequate supervision or training - can need more than standard therapy approaches to create meaningful change. Jodi Ann Geis-Crowder has dedicated 27 years of her career to ensuring vulnerable populations receive innovative, culturally meaningful mental health services while mentoring the next generation of practitioners to work effectively in challenging settings.
As a Wyoming native and dual-licensed professional counselor in both Wyoming and Colorado, Geis-Crowder brings deep understanding of rural behavioral health challenges combined with innovative solutions that bridge traditional therapy with community resources. Her pioneering work developing animal-assisted therapy programs at Centennial Mental Health Center in Colorado and therapeutic horticulture programs at Peak Wellness Center in Wyoming demonstrates her commitment to culturally responsive, nature-based interventions that resonate with rural populations.
Geis-Crowder's expertise spans Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), clinical supervision, ethics, telehealth service delivery, trauma-informed care, substance use disorders, Polyvagal Theory, and the human-animal bond. Her approach recognises that effective rural mental health care must integrate community strengths, natural resources, and innovative service delivery models to overcome geographic and cultural barriers. She specialises in training clinicians to work effectively with limited resources, providing ethical supervision via telehealth, and developing programs that leverage the healing power of animals and nature.
What sets her training apart is authentic rural wisdom combined with innovative program development. Geis-Crowder doesn't just teach from textbooks - she shows practitioners how to create effective treatment programs in resource-limited settings while maintaining ethical standards. Her passion for mentoring reflects her understanding that sustainable rural mental health depends on developing local expertise and maintaining professional support networks across vast geographic areas.
For your practice, expect to gain specific SFBT techniques for resource-limited settings, tools for providing ethical telehealth supervision, and frameworks for developing innovative therapy programs using community resources. Her approach particularly benefits rural practitioners, clinical supervisors, or clinicians interested in animal-assisted or nature-based interventions.
Quick Win: Geis-Crowder's "solution-focused scaling" technique helps clients in crisis identify their existing strengths and coping resources - which can create hope and momentum for change even in the most challenging rural circumstances where traditional resources may be unavailable.
Qualifications
- MS, Counselor Education with emphasis in Leadership, University of Wyoming, 1994–1997
- Bachelor's Degree, Diversified Major in Psychology, Economics, Anthropology and Political Science, University of Wyoming, 1992–1994
- Associate of Science, Education, Northwest College, Wyoming
- Licensed Professional Counselor (Colorado and Wyoming)
- Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS) through Center for Credentialing and Education
- SFBT Certified
- Professional Coach, Co-Creative Leadership: Human Capital Coach Training Alliance
Leadership & Training
- Clinical Supervisor & Professional Trainer, Volunteers of America Northern Rockies, current
- Owner & Operator, JGC Enterprises, LLC (webinars, professional training, consultation, coaching, speaking), current
- Professional Speaker & Trainer
Professional Experience
- Clinical Supervisor/Education and Training Coordinator, Peak Wellness Center, Cheyenne, WY, October 2016–July 2021
- Northeast Regional Clinical Director, Centennial Mental Health Center, Inc., Colorado, December 1998–November 2017 (19 years)
- Adjunct Faculty, Colorado Christian University, August 2010–September 2011
- Program Manager, Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program
- Regional Clinical Director, various organisations
Training & Speaking Expertise
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
- Clinical supervision training, including telehealth supervision
- Ethics training specialist with focus on rural practice challenges
- Trauma-informed care
- Substance use disorder ethics and treatment approaches
- Telehealth service delivery best practices
- Human-animal bond therapeutic applications
- Professional coaching and consultation services
Philosophy & Mission
"I am grateful and humbled by the opportunities I have to mentor and nurture professionals on their journey. I am passionate about behavioral health care and ensuring service delivery for some of the most vulnerable in our society. My goal is to focus on solutions, hope, gratitude, identifying and instilling resilience, and finding glimmers in daily lives to facilitate positive change, individually and organizationally."
Ready to serve rural and underserved populations with innovative, culturally responsive approaches? Discover how Jodi Geis-Crowder's solution-focused methods can help you create effective treatment programs while building the professional support networks essential for sustainable rural mental health care.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 3
- Topics 0
- Duration 2 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English