Steven J. Kokensparger's blog

Therapists, teachers, attorneys, police officers, and doctors all have at least one thing in common ... we are all officially required to report suspicions of child abuse or neglect to the local children's services agency.

For mental health professionals, the duty to report can create quite a quandary. Does the therapist violate a patient's trust, and possibly unravel the progress made in therapy, by reporting an unconfirmed suspicion of abuse or neglect? Where is the line drawn between reportable suspicions and mandatory reporting?

A recent study by Lincoln Financial provides some interesting data that reflects a general understanding by American consumers of the value of long term care insurance, and long-term care planning, but less than half of the people surveyed took any positive action to prepare for what are often unanticipated costs.