As a therapist or behavioral health counselor, you provide essential care and support to your clients who may be experiencing emotional or mental distress. For individuals navigating grief, anxiety, depression, addiction, or other mental health conditions, you provide a confidential space to discuss, honor, and evaluate their feelings, circumstances, and needs.
And you do so amidst a shortage of mental health professionals and within a fractured healthcare system. Whether you work in Montana's larger cities, such as Billings, Missoula, Great Halls, Bozeman, Butte-Silver Bow, or Helena, or smaller communities, you show up for your clients every day. Your clients know that the therapeutic care you provide supports their health, relationships, education, careers, and every other aspect of their lives.
Mental health care is essential to the health and wellness of Montana. Your education, training, and clinical experience may guide your therapeutic decisions, and the Montana Board of Behavioral Health (the Board) regulates your practice. Regardless of your professional credentials, nothing can prepare you for the experience of learning that a misconduct complaint has been filed against you.
If you are a therapist or mental health counselor targeted by a license disciplinary investigation in Montana, you are not alone. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team is ready to help. Regardless of the circumstances or allegations, our experienced attorneys can fight to protect you and your professional license. To partner with the Lento Law Firm, call our offices at 888-535-3686 or contact us online.
Behavioral Health Licensing and Discipline in Montana
The Montana Board of Behavioral Health oversees license applications and renewals, investigates complaints, and takes disciplinary action against mental health providers in Montana, including:
- Licensed Clinical Professional Counselors
- Licensed Clinical Social Workers
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists
- Licensed Addiction Counselors
- Certified Behavior Health Peer Support Specialists
The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team helps behavioral health professionals protect their careers and defend their licenses in Montana.
Common Allegations of Professional Misconduct
Therapists, counselors, and other behavioral health professionals devote years of their lives to studying and gaining the clinical experience necessary to care for clients and establish a professional reputation. For you and your colleagues, your work as a mental health counselor and therapist is both a calling and a profession.
Effective behavioral and mental health care rests on a foundation of trust. To protect vulnerable individuals experiencing mental health challenges, the therapeutic relationship between a therapist or counselor and their client should be free from manipulation, coercion, and dishonesty. Montana seeks to minimize the risk of exploitation by prohibiting unprofessional conduct, including:
Sexual Misconduct
- Providing services to a person with whom the licensee has had sexual contact at any time.
- Engaging in or soliciting a sexual relationship with a client or committing an act of sexual misconduct or a sexual offense that is substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of the licensee.
- Engaging in sexual contact with a former client within two years following the end of services. After two years, a licensee may be engaged in sexual contact with the former client after demonstrating there has been no exploitation.
- Soliciting or engaging in a sexual or intimate relationship with a client, a supervisee, a client's family member, or a client's household member.
- Soliciting or engaging in sexual relations with the client of another licensee employed in the same program providing services.
- Condoning or engaging in sexual harassment.
- Accepting gifts or gratuities of significant monetary value or borrowing money from a client or former client within two years of the end of therapeutic services, except when this is a culturally accepted practice.
- Interfering with or encouraging the end of a client's legitimate personal relationship or interfering with the therapeutic relationship of another professional.
Misconduct Related to Criminal Activity
- Violating federal or state law regulating controlled substances.
- Being convicted for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI) or criminal possession of dangerous drugs at any time after issuance of a license and within the two years before applying for licensure.
Misconduct Related to Fraud
- Dividing a fee or accepting or giving anything of value for receiving or making a referral.
- Falsifying, misrepresenting, or failing to maintain supervision records.
Misconduct Related to Professional Incompetency
- Intentionally, recklessly, or carelessly causing physical or emotional harm to a client.
- Performing or supervising psychological assessments if not qualified.
- Failing to properly supervise a licensure candidate.
- Performing or supervising parenting plan evaluations without specialized training, education, and experience in the areas of assessment of children and adults, child and family development, child and family psychopathology, and the impact of divorce on families.
Any misconduct complaint made against you should be treated as a threat to your license. To challenge the allegations, contact the experienced professional license defense attorneys with the Lento Law Firm.
The Professional License Disciplinary Process in Montana
The Lento Law Firm defends therapists and mental health counselors targeted by disciplinary investigations, hearings, and sanctions throughout Montana. We know that any threat to your license is a threat to your livelihood and future.
The Montana Department of Labor and Industry (the Department) and the Board are involved with license disciplinary investigations, hearings, and sanctions involving behavioral health professionals. In Montana, the professional license disciplinary process of therapists, counselors, and other mental health professionals includes:
- The Complaint: Anyone can file a complaint against a licensee. The Department reviews the complaint. If the allegations are outside the scope of the Board's authority or the allegations, if true, do not constitute misconduct, the complaint is not processed. If the complaint is within the scope of the Board's authority and the allegations, if true, constitute misconduct, the Department begins an investigation.
- The Investigation: The investigation may include a request for a written response from the licensee, interviews with witnesses, and evidence collection and review activities. An investigation may continue for several months or longer, depending on the caseload of the Board's investigators and the complexity of the case. Evidence and testimony collected during the investigation is submitted to a screening panel made up of Board members.
- The Screening Panel: The members of the screening panel review the case to determine if the licensee's conduct requires disciplinary action. The screening panel is not conducting a hearing, and no additional information may be submitted to the screening panel. If the panel determines there is no violation or that a formal disciplinary sanction is not warranted, the case is dismissed. If the screening panel determines there is reasonable cause to believe a violation occurred and the licensee's action requires disciplinary action, the disciplinary process continues, and the accused licensee requires a Written Notice of Proposed Board Action & Opportunity for Hearing (the notice). The notice outlines the alleged facts and violations, as well as the proposed sanctions. The accused licensee can respond to the notice by negotiating a stipulated agreement or by requesting a hearing.
- A Stipulated Agreement: These agreements often involve the licensee admitting certain facts and agreeing to a sanction. In return, the mental health provider avoids a hearing and the risk of receiving an unexpectedly severe sanction. Any counselor or therapist considering a stipulated agreement should fully understand all the terms before signing the document. A stipulated agreement may not be the best choice for every counselor or therapist involved in disciplinary proceedings. If they do not believe they have committed misconduct or if the proposed sanction is too harsh, the accused licensee may request a hearing to contest the proposed disciplinary action. The Lento Law Firm Professional License Defense Team can strategize with you about obtaining a stipulated order in your case. We negotiate an agreement on your behalf, fighting to ensure the terms protect you and your best interests.
- The Hearing: If the accused counselor or therapist requests a hearing, it is held before a hearing examiner from the Department. hearing examiner will hold a hearing on the complaint and the alleged misconduct. When the hearing is completed, the examiner provides a recommendation to the adjudication panel, made up of Board members. The adjudication panel does not consider additional evidence. Its decision is based on evidence and testimony already in the record. You don't want to navigate Montana's disciplinary process alone. Let the Lento Law Firm partner with you and develop a comprehensive license defense strategy for you. The hearing is your opportunity to challenge the legitimacy of the complaint and any evidence the Board possesses. Our experienced attorneys can provide guidance and assistance before, during, and after the hearing.
- The Sanction: The Board has the authority to impose a broad range of sanctions, from reprimands or fines to license restriction, suspension, or revocation.
- An Appeal: If the hearing ends with an unfavorable decision or sanction, the accused counselor or therapist may have limited means of appeal in district court. The experienced license defense attorneys at the Lento Law Firm can discuss your options, including the possible grounds for appeal, the judicial process, and the timeline.
If you are accused of professional misconduct, the life and license you need to protect is your own. When you need to save yourself, your license, and your career, you can partner with experienced attorneys from the Lento Law Firm.
Let the Lento Law Firm Help Defend Your License and Your Future
In Montana, the Board is not concerned with protecting you, your license, or your career. Disciplinary investigations and hearings are adversarial. If you are the target of a disciplinary complaint, your first step must be building a defense team to challenge the allegations against you. The Lento Law Firm is ready to collaborate with you to develop a defense strategy to refute any complaint made against you.
At the Lento Law Firm, our experienced license defense attorneys can defend you and your license through any investigation or hearing by:
- Ensuring that Montana meets its notice and due process requirements.
- Preparing you for an interview or interaction with the investigator and to give testimony during a deposition or hearing.
- Performing our own investigation to identify mitigating evidence and exonerating witnesses.
- Negotiating a stipulated order on your behalf and ensuring you fully understand the terms of any agreement before signing.
- Developing an appellate strategy for the district court, if necessary.
In Montana, the disciplinary investigation and hearing process can be long and arduous, with limited means of appeal. An accused mental health counselor or therapist must be prepared to spend months challenging the complaint against them and defending their license.
You don't have to do it alone.
When you are ready, the Lento Law Firm Team can partner with you. We are committed to you and your best interests.
The Impact of Disciplinary Sanctions
An adverse determination by the Board can undermine your life and career by making it difficult, if not impossible, to work in your chosen profession. Disciplinary sanctions, such as having your license suspended or revoked, may lead to the end of your current employment, limit future employment opportunities, and jeopardize your livelihood and financial security.
Many accused professionals find that there is a tremendous personal cost to disciplinary proceedings. Furthermore, the stigma of losing your license can be isolating.
At the Lento Law Firm, we protect therapists, counselors, and other behavioral health professionals, as well as their licenses. We know the importance of your work to you, your clients, and your community. The Professional License Defense Team at the Lento Law Firm can help you throughout any license disciplinary procedure.
Protecting Licensed Mental Health Counselors and Therapists in Montana
We understand that, as a counselor or therapist, your work is profoundly challenging and rewarding. You assist your clients in building safe and satisfying lives. When you need help protecting your reputation and your livelihood, let us help. If you are under investigation in Montana, the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can partner with you and fight on your behalf.
Across Montana, we've helped counselors, therapists, and other mental health professionals navigate license investigations, hearings, and sanctions. We can help you, too. Call the Lento Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or contact us online to discuss your case.
