Many health professionals hold back seeking support or treatment for their mental health for fear of mandatory reporting. In this episode I explain why this is an unwarranted fear in most cases. If you are in crisis, contact your GP, your local ED, or one of the following services: Emergency support If your life is in danger call emergency services: Emergency Australia – 000 Emergency New Zealand – 111 Counselling 24/7: If you need support call one of the following numbers Lifeline Australia | 13 11 14 Lifeline New Zealand | 0800 543 354 Kids Helpline | 1800 55 1800 MensLine Australia | 1300 78 99 78 Suicide Call Back Service | 1300 659 467 Beyond Blue | 1300 22 4636 Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling | 1800 011 046 Qlife – anonymous and free LGBTI peer support | 1800 184 527 – (3PM-Midnight every day) The National Indigenous Postvention Service – After Suicide Support 24/7 | 1800 805 801 Brother to brother 24-hour crisis line | 1800 435 799 Find me on Instagram @thesafepracticepodcast. All content is my own and not affiliated with any organisation. All opinions are my own.

I provide a simple mnemonic (with a dramatic visual prompt) for remembering how to structure clinical documentation. Find me on Instagram @thesafepracticepodcast. All content is my own and not affiliated with any organisation. All opinions are my own.

Using a hypothetical case study, we discuss multiple important concepts regarding decision-making capacity:   1.     Can the Mental Health Act be used to enforce treatment for physical ailments? Link to the NSW Mental Health Act: https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2007-008   2.     What is decision-making capacity? ·       When do we need to formally assess decision-making capacity? ·       What about patients with mental illness? Useful links: o   NSW Health Consent to Medical and Healthcare Treatment Manual: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/policies/manuals/Publications/consent-manual.pdf o   NSW Government Capacity Toolkit: https://www.tag.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-10/CapacityToolkit2020_1.pdf   3.     Are health professionals obliged to prevent patients from making unwise health decisions? ·       What if those unwise decisions are likely to result in the patient's harm or death?        Useful links: o   NSW Health Consent to Medical and Healthcare Treatment Manual: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/policies/manuals/Publications/consent-manual.pdf o   NSW Government Capacity Toolkit: https://www.tag.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-10/CapacityToolkit2020_1.pdf Find me on Instagram @thesafepracticepodcast. All content is my own and not affiliated with any organisation. All opinions are my own.

In this episode I discuss the concept of giving your patient the "permission to cease" an examination or procedure, the reasons why you would do this, and the benefits for the therapeutic relationship. Along the way we touch on the freeze response (a lesser-known cousin of the flight or flight response) and some key concepts of health ethics. I round it off by giving you my personal experience having deployed this technique for many years. Find me on Instagram @thesafepracticepodcast. All content is my own and not affiliated with any organisation. All opinions are my own.

Ever wondered which of the 200 obscure risks and side effects of a treatment you should warn your patient about? This episode gives you a conceptual framework - in the form of the "Common SMS" mnemonic - with which to consider this aspect of the informed consent. Find me on Instagram @thesafepracticepodcast. All content is my own and not affiliated with any organisation. All opinions are my own.