Kansas Administrative Regulations › Agency 102 - BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES REGULATORY BOARD › Article 4 - MASTER'S LEVEL PSYCHOLOGISTS › Section 102-4-12 - Unprofessional conduct

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 28, July 11, 2024
(a) Any license
					may be suspended, limited, conditioned, qualified, restricted, revoked, not
					issued, or not renewed upon a finding of that unprofessional conduct has
					occurred.
(b) Any of the following
					acts by a licensed master's level psychologist, a licensed clinical
					psychotherapist, or an applicant for licensure at the master's level of
					psychology shall constitute unprofessional conduct:
(1) Obtaining or attempting to obtain a
					license or registration for oneself or another by means of fraud, bribery,
					deceit, misrepresentation, or concealment of a material fact;
(2) except when such information has been
					obtained in the context of confidentiality, failing to notify the board, within
					a reasonable period of time, that any person regulated by the board or applying
					for a license or registration, including oneself, has met any of the following
					conditions:
(A) Had a professional license,
					certificate, permit, registration, certification, or professional membership
					granted by any jurisdiction, professional association, or professional
					organization that has been limited, conditioned, qualified, restricted,
					suspended, revoked, refused, voluntarily surrendered, or allowed to expire in
					lieu of or during investigatory or disciplinary proceedings;
(B) has been subject to any other
					disciplinary action by any credentialing board, professional association, or
					professional organization;
(C) has
					been demoted, terminated, suspended, reassigned, or asked to resign from
					employment, or has resigned from employment, for some form of misfeasance,
					malfeasance, or nonfeasance;
(D)
					has been convicted of a crime; or
(E) has practiced the licensee's or
					registrant's profession in violation of the laws or regulations regulating the
					profession;
(3)
					knowingly allowing another person to use one's license or registration;
(4) impersonating another person
					holding a license or registration issued by this or any other board;
(5) having been convicted of a crime
					resulting from or relating to the licensee's practice of master's level
					psychology;
(6) furthering the
					licensure or registration application of another person who is known or
					reasonably believed to be unqualified with respect to character, education, or
					other relevant eligibility requirements;
(7) knowingly aiding or abetting anyone who
					is not credentialed by the board to represent that individual as a person who
					is credentialed by the board;
(8)
					failing to recognize, seek intervention, and otherwise appropriately respond
					when one's own personal problems, psychosocial distress, or mental health
					difficulties interfere with or negatively impact professional judgment,
					professional performance and functioning, or the ability to act in the client's
					best interests;
(9) failing or
					refusing to cooperate in a timely manner with any request from the board for a
					response, information, or assistance with respect to the board's investigation
					of any report of an alleged violation filed against oneself or any other
					applicant or professional who is required to be licensed or registered by the
					board. Any person taking longer than 30 days to provide the requested response,
					information, or assistance shall have the burden of demonstrating that the
					person has acted in a timely manner;
(10) offering to perform or performing
					services clearly inconsistent or incommensurate with one's training, education,
					or experience or with accepted professional standards;
(11) treating any client, student, or
					supervisee in a cruel manner;
(12)
					discriminating against any client, student, or supervisee on the basis of
					color, race, gender, religion, national origin, or disability;
(13) failing to advise and explain to each
					client the respective rights, responsibilities, and duties involved in the
					professional relationship;
(14)
					failing to provide each client with a description of what the client can expect
					in the way of services, consultation, reports, fees, billing, therapeutic
					regimen, or schedule, or failing to reasonably comply with the description;
(15) failing to provide each
					client with a description of the possible effects of the proposed treatment
					when the treatment is experimental or when there are clear and known risks to
					the client;
(16) failing to inform
					each client, supervisee, or student of any financial interests that might
					accrue to the master's level psychologist or clinical psychotherapist from
					referral to any other service or from the use of any tests, books, or
					apparatus;
(17) failing to inform
					each client that the client is entitled to the same services from a public
					agency if one is employed by that public agency and also offers services
					privately;
(18) failing to provide
					each client or the client's legal representative with access to the client's
					records following the receipt of a formal written request, unless the release
					of this information is restricted or exempted by law, or when the disclosure of
					this information is precluded for a sufficiently compelling reason;
(19) failing to inform each client,
					supervisee, or student of the limits of client confidentiality, the purposes
					for which the information is obtained, and the manner in which the information
					may be used;
(20) revealing
					information, a confidence, or secret of any client, or failing to protect the
					confidences, secrets, or information contained in a client's records, except
					when at least one of these conditions is met:
(A) Disclosure is required or permitted by
					law;
(B) failure to disclose the
					information presents a clear and present danger to the health or safety of an
					individual or the public; or
(C)
					the master's level psychologist or clinical psychotherapist is a party to a
					civil, criminal, or disciplinary investigation or action arising from the
					practice of psychology, in which case disclosure is limited to that action;
(21) failing to obtain
					written, informed consent from each client, or the client's legal
					representative or representatives, before performing any of the following
					actions:
(A) Electronically recording
					sessions with that client;
(B)
					permitting a third-party observation of their activities; or
(C) releasing information concerning a client
					to a third person, except as required or permitted by law;
(22) failing to protect the
					confidences of, secrets of, or information concerning other persons when
					providing a client with access to that client's records;
(23) failing to exercise due diligence in
					protecting the information regarding and the confidences and secrets of the
					client from disclosure by other persons in one's work or practice setting;
(24) engaging in professional
					activities, including billing practices and advertising, involving dishonesty,
					fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation;
(25) using alcohol or illegally using any
					controlled substance while performing the duties or services of a master's
					level psychologist or clinical psychotherapist;
(26) making sexual advances toward or
					engaging in physical intimacies or sexual activities with one's client,
					supervisee, or student;
(27)
					making sexual advances toward, engaging in physical intimacies or sexual
					activities with, or exercising undue influence over any person who, within the
					past 24 months, has been one's client;
(28) exercising undue influence over any
					client, supervisee, or student, including promoting sales of services or goods,
					in a manner that will exploit the client, student, or supervisee for the
					financial gain, personal gratification, or advantage of oneself or a third
					party;
(29) directly or indirectly
					offering or giving to a third party or soliciting, receiving, or agreeing to
					receive from a third party any fee or other consideration for the referral of
					the client or in connection with the performance of psychological or other
					professional services;
(30)
					directly receiving or agreeing to receive a fee or any other consideration from
					a client or from any third party for or in connection with the performance of
					psychological services, other than from an authorized employer in an employment
					situation as specified in this act;
(31) soliciting or assuming professional
					responsibility for clients of another agency or colleague without attempting to
					coordinate continuity of client services with that agency or colleague;
(32) making claims of professional
					superiority that one cannot substantiate;
(33) guaranteeing that satisfaction or a cure
					will result from the performance of psychological services;
(34) claiming or using any secret or special
					method of treatment or techniques that one refuses to disclose to the board;
(35) continuing or ordering tests,
					procedures, or treatments or using treatment facilities or services not
					warranted by the condition, best interests, or preferences of the client;
(36) failing to maintain a record
					for each client that conforms to the following minimal requirements:
(A) Contains adequate identification of the
					client;
(B) indicates the client's
					initial reason for seeking the master's level psychologist's or clinical
					psychotherapist's services;
(C)
					contains pertinent and significant information concerning the client's
					condition;
(D) summarizes the
					intervention, treatment, tests, procedures, and services that were obtained,
					performed, ordered, or recommended and the findings and results of each;
(E) documents the client's
					progress during the course of intervention or treatment provided by the
					master's level psychologist or clinical psychotherapist;
(F) is legible;
(G) contains only those terms and
					abbreviations that are comprehensible to similar professional practitioners;
(H) indicates the date and nature
					of any professional service that was provided; and
(I) describes the manner and process by which
					the professional relationship terminated;
(37) taking credit for work not personally
					performed, whether by giving inaccurate or misleading information or by failing
					to disclose accurate or material information;
(38) if engaged in research, failing to
					fulfill these requirements:
(A) Consider
					carefully the possible consequences for human beings participating in the
					research;
(B) protect each
					participant from unwarranted physical and mental harm;
(C) ascertain that the consent of each
					participant is voluntary and informed; and
(D) preserve the privacy and protect the
					anonymity of each subject of the research within the terms of informed consent;
(39) making or filing a
					report that one knows to be false, distorted, erroneous, incomplete, or
					misleading;
(40) failing to notify
					the client promptly when termination or interruption of service to the client
					is anticipated;
(41) failing to
					seek continuation of service, or abandoning or neglecting a client under or in
					need of professional care, without making reasonable arrangements for that
					care;
(42) abandoning employment
					under circumstances that seriously impair the delivery of professional care to
					clients and without providing reasonable notice to the employer;
(43) failing to terminate the master's level
					psychology or clinical psychotherapy services when it is apparent that the
					relationship no longer serves the client's needs or best interests;
(44) if the master's level psychologist or
					clinical psychotherapist is the owner or custodian of client records, failing
					to retain those records for at least two years after the date of termination of
					the professional relationship, unless otherwise provided by law;
(45) supervising in a negligent manner anyone
					for whom one has supervisory responsibility;
(46) failing to inform a client if master's
					level psychology or clinical psychotherapy services are provided or delivered
					under supervision;
(47) engaging
					in a dual relationship with a client, student, or supervisee;
(48) failing to inform the proper authorities
					as required by
					K.S.A.
					38-2223, and amendments thereto, that one
					knows or has reason to believe that a client has been involved in harming or
					has harmed a child, whether by physical, mental, or emotional abuse or neglect
					or by sexual abuse;
(49) failing
					to inform the proper authorities as required by
					K.S.A.
					39-1402, and amendments thereto, that one
					knows or has reason to believe that any of the following circumstances apply to
					a resident, as defined by
					K.S.A.
					39-1401(a) and amendments
					thereto:
(A) Has been or is being abused,
					neglected, or exploited;
(B) is in
					a condition that is the result of abuse, neglect, or exploitation; or
(C) is in need of protective
					services;
(50) failing
					to inform the proper authorities as required by
					K.S.A.
					39-1431, and amendments thereto, that one
					knows or has reason to believe that any of the following circumstances apply to
					an adult, as defined in
					K.S.A.
					39-1430 and amendments thereto:
(A) Is being or has been abused, neglected,
					or exploited;
(B) is in a
					condition that is the result of abuse, neglect, or exploitation; or
(C) is in need of protective services;
(51) intentionally or
					negligently failing to file a report or record required by state or federal
					law, willfully impeding or obstructing the filing of a report or record
					required by state or federal law, or inducing another person to take any of
					those actions;
(52) offering to
					perform or performing any service, procedure, or therapy that, by the accepted
					standards of professional practice in the community, would constitute
					experimentation on human subjects without first obtaining the full, informed,
					and voluntary written consent of the client or the client's legal
					representative or representatives;
(53) practicing master's level psychology or
					clinical psychotherapy in an incompetent manner;
(54) practicing as a master's level
					psychologist or clinical psychotherapist after one's license expires;
(55) using without a license, or
					continuing to use after the expiration of a license, any title or abbreviation
					prescribed by law for use solely by persons currently holding that type or
					class of license;
(56) offering to
					provide or providing services in an employment situation other than that which
					is permitted by
					K.S.A.
					74-5362, and amendments thereto, as an
					independent, contract, or private provider of psychological services;
(57) practicing without adequate
					direction from a person authorized in
					K.S.A.
					74-5362 and amendments thereto; and
(58) violating any provision of
					this act or any regulation adopted under the act.