Taking a Shot at Vaccinations
Curt and Katie chat about Covid vaccinations and how that will impact your work as a therapist. We look at who can be required to get a vaccine, what accommodations can be made for people who do not want to (or cannot) get vaccinated, and the clinical implications of the vaccine conversation coming into the therapy room.
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:
Laws and ethics related to requiring vaccinations for clients and employees
Vaccine exemptions and who/how they need to be honored
The best practices of encouraging
Accommodations for people who are not vaccinated
The complexities of following the health advice
Different considerations for employees and employers
What the implications are for requiring clients to get vaccines
The challenges of talking with clients about vaccines
Other options related to telehealth, masks, timelines for vaccines
When you may need to refer out
Strategies for working with insurance in the transition
What to do when you’re working at an agency
Implications for mental health access
Protecting yourself and managing your own risk
Clinical Implications of the vaccine and how to talk with your clients
Respecting the different reasons why people may be hesitant or refuse to get vaccinated
The cultural differences relevant to interaction with the medical system
The power differential and clinical ramifications
Helping clients making decisions around vaccination
Scope of practice and medical decision-making
The challenge to physical health being out of our scope of practice
The importance of having adequate knowledge of the science of the vaccines and the health decisions that clients often make
Where ethics come in – forcing our clients to follow “science” is unethical
Navigating the power differential
Additional considerations that we were not able to talk about
