This episode resumes this Clinicians’ Series conversation with Dr. Graham Taylor and his guest Emily Varon, BCBA. In our last episode, we discussed the assessment process, finding symptoms, and beginning steps to create a new sleep routine. This involves an inventory on how the child falls asleep and paying attention to the changes in their sleep environment. We also see how Emily addresses and understands the goals of therapy and how to reach an endpoint. We'll resume our talk today by discussing the challenges of the therapy process and normalizing some of the bumps along the way.

Today’s episode is part of our clinicians’ series, where we take you behind the therapist’s door to give you an insight into what happens within the therapeutic relationship. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Emily Varon, BCBA. Emily is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst with a dedicated focus on sleep-related behaviors. She has over 22 years of experience and devoted her practice to improving the sleep habits of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder since 2010. Emily’s company Ready Set Sleep, provides education, CEUs, sleep program development, and individual consultation to families seeking support with their child’s sleep. Together Graham and Emily discuss the assessment process and the beginning steps to creating a new sleep routine, taking inventory of how the child falls asleep, paying attention to the changes in their environment, and understanding the goals of therapy and how to reach an end-point.

We, as mental health professionals, come into our field with the best intentions and the best ethics and standards for practice. But no matter how professional our practice may be, an accident or misunderstanding can happen. And whether we’re at fault or not, we can find ourselves in the center of a malpractice claim and responsible for large legal and settlement fees. The best practice against harmful allegations, financially damaging lawsuits, and high legal fees is to have the appropriate form of malpractice insurance coverage. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Rachel Warners. Rachel is the Director of Operations at CPH Insurance, where, with over 10 years of experience, they provide competitively priced professional liability insurance for mental health professionals. Together Graham and Rachel discuss the kinds of insurance coverage, protection from malpractice situations, the benefits of individual coverage, and the various types of coverage available from student, to intern, to licensed practitioner. A malpractice claim is not something anybody wants to think about, but it can happen even to the most ethical practitioner. We must protect ourselves from unnecessary risks that are in an inherent part of our work as practitioners. Having the proper policy in place allows us to perform our job, to do what we've been trained to do, without the unnecessary worry of our financial assets being lost in the event of a lawsuit.