Ethics and Boundaries – Avoiding Pitfalls and Preserving the Alliance
Five minutes before the end of the session, a client tells you they do not feel safe. There is someone waiting outside. It has happened with this client before, and it happens at this point in the hour most times. You know exactly what your obligation is. You also know that something in the pattern is not quite what it looks like, and there is almost nowhere to say that out loud.
Jodi Ann Geis-Crowder names the situation directly and says it is one of the two hardest things she has dealt with in twenty-five years. Her position is that the pattern usually comes from a client who has very few ways to feel any power at all, that the system’s response can sometimes reinforce it, and that the line between genuine risk and something else is fine enough that you do not want to be drawing it under time pressure with a waiting room outside. What gets you through is having decided in advance.
Three hours across mandatory disclosure, boundaries and dual relationships, transference and countertransference, safety planning, documentation and the business side of practice. She is practical throughout, and generous with it. The checklists, templates and assessment lists she uses are handed over to be used, rebranded and edited as you see fit.
You’ll walk away with
- A way to handle the late-session safety disclosure that keeps the client safe without quietly reinforcing the pattern
- Protocols decided before you need them, including your own thresholds for a welfare check, for contacting police, and for referring to a higher level of care
- Mandatory disclosure written so it does real work later, because it is what you refer back to at the moment you have to act
- Assessment tools in the public domain, and the argument for why documented screening protects the client and your registration at the same time
- Safety planning as a template rather than an improvisation, including obtaining releases and checking that the people a client names have agreed to be named
- A short telehealth check at the start of every session covering where the client physically is and who is with them, and the case that made her insist on it
- A clear read on transference and countertransference, and permission to refer on when you are not the right clinician for someone
- Boundary decisions for small communities, where avoiding a dual relationship is not always actually possible
- Language for the hard conversation that does not shame the client or leave them feeling threatened
- Documentation habits that hold up if a complaint is ever made about your judgement
Watch the course trailer
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: 3 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 3 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English