About This Training
Creating a safer workplace is not about practicing from fear.
Recent national news — including the tragic killing of a therapist in their Florida office — has been a sobering reminder that outpatient mental health settings are not immune from violence. Many clinicians felt shaken by that story. Most of us quietly wondered: Would I know what to do if this were me?
Creating a safer workplace is not about practicing from fear. It is about building clarity before something happens.
This live, interactive training supports mental health clinicians, supervisors, and practice leaders in strengthening safety with steadiness and discernment. Grounded in systemic and relational principles, the training integrates real-world case examples with legally grounded guidance so participants leave knowing what to do under pressure — without abandoning therapeutic integrity.
Content applies to both in-person and telehealth settings and is relevant for group practices, community clinics, and solo private practitioners alike. While this training is aligned with Washington State law, the core content — escalation recognition, de-escalation, emergency response, documentation, and safety culture — reflects best practices applicable to outpatient mental health settings in any state.
This training is particularly relevant for sex therapists and clinicians working with clients navigating intimate partner violence, sexual trauma, coercive control, and high-conflict relational dynamics — clinical contexts that carry elevated safety considerations for both clients and clinicians.
register now!About the Trainers
MEET
Dr. Jennifer Sampson, PhD, LMFT, CST-S
Dr. Sampson is a licensed marriage and family therapist, AASECT certified sex therapist, and organizational leader whose work integrates systemic therapy, relational ethics, and clinician sustainability.
With over two decades of clinical and academic experience, she supports mental health professionals in navigating complexity with clarity and accountability.
MEET
Tim Repass, Strategy and Operations Director (Northwest Relationships)
Tim Repass serves as Safety Officer and Director of Strategy & Operations at Northwest Relationships. His work bridges operational systems, risk mitigation, and psychological insight.
He leads workplace safety planning and training grounded in relational awareness and practical preparedness.
What You Will Learn
Learning Objectives
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
Identify relational, behavioral, and environmental warning signs of potential escalation in outpatient mental health settings.
Apply trauma-informed, relational de-escalation strategies while maintaining therapist self-regulation and professional boundaries.
Differentiate between situations requiring continued clinical containment and those requiring evacuation, lockdown, consultation, or emergency services activation.
Implement ethical documentation, reporting, and post-incident debrief practices aligned with Washington State standards and broadly applicable to healthcare settings nationwide.
Apply telehealth-specific safety planning and response strategies that protect clients, clinicians, and organizations.
Identify safety considerations specific to clinical work with clients navigating intimate partner violence, sexual coercion, and high-conflict relational dynamics.
Example Agenda (2 Hours | Live Remote)
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
Interactive case examples and guided reflection are integrated throughout.
Who This Training Is For
Compliance & National Context
Workplace violence prevention requirements are spreading across the United States, and most of what is written about them is aimed at hospitals. Seventeen states now require health care employers to train staff on workplace violence prevention, and several more require written plans, reporting, or both. Nearly all of those laws attach to hospital or facility licensure rather than to outpatient practice.
California is the large exception. Labor Code 6401.9 applies to all employers, not only health care employers, and has since July 1, 2024. Covered employers need a written plan, a violent incident log, and training every year, delivered with an opportunity for interactive questions and answers. A recording does not satisfy that on its own.
Louisiana may reach private practices too. Its workplace violence act names offices of healthcare providers that are not otherwise licensed by the state, and whether a counseling practice is covered is genuinely unsettled.
Separately, California, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Montana, Hawaii and Nevada require employers generally, whatever the industry, to maintain a written safety program. Violence prevention belongs inside it.
This training:
Was built to meet the RCW 49.19 training content standard, covering early warning signs, de-escalation, documentation, and safe response practices in health care settings.
If you practice outside Washington, it addresses the same core competencies named in most state workplace violence laws and reflects OSHA's published guidance for healthcare and social service settings. Confirm your own state's requirements, since coverage often turns on facts specific to your practice. This is not legal advice.
What participants say
Building Cultures of Safety
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I've attended several Lovewell trainings, and each time I come away feeling like your CE team knew what I needed to learn even before I did. Bravo!
Jordan Klekamp, LMHC, WA
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Excellent training. You stayed on the topic throughout and brought in several issues our practice now needs to consider for improved safety and well-being of staff and clients.
Tina Mansfield, LMHC, WA
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You all did great, it was very approachable, a little scary but that's what this topic is and I never felt overwhelmed or over-activated through it all.
Kelly Lynn Hlifaziel, LMHC, WA
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I feel the training provided information I didn't have prior and left me feeling equipped to navigate both virtual and in-person situations.
Heather Reid, LICSW, WA
Registration & Pricing
STANDARD REGISTRATION
$85
Next live cohort date to be announced
WAGPON Partnership Cohort Rate
This special partnership rate is available to WAGPON-affiliated practices for this training. This special registration tier is only available to group owners registering their group’s clinicians.
Please contact us directly regarding registration for WAGPON-affiliated practice members.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my therapy practice have to do workplace violence prevention training?
It depends on your state. California employers, including private therapy practices, have been covered by Labor Code 6401.9 since July 1, 2024 and need annual training delivered with interactive question and answer. Seventeen states require health care employers to train staff, and nearly all of those laws are written for hospitals and licensed facilities rather than outpatient practices. Separately, California, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Montana, Hawaii and Nevada require employers generally to maintain a written safety program, and workplace violence belongs inside it.
Does this training count as continuing education?
Yes. The on-demand course awards 1.25 NBCC-approved CE hours. Live cohorts carry two NBCC-approved CE hours and two AASECT-approved CE hours. Lovewell Initiatives is an NBCC Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7776, and an AASECT Approved CE Provider, No. 25-0609-LI. Learners confirm acceptance with their own licensing board.
Is a recorded workplace violence course enough for California?
Probably not on its own. California Labor Code 6401.9 requires training that includes an opportunity for interactive question and answer with a person knowledgeable about the employer's plan, and a self-paced recording does not provide that. Louisiana's statute uses almost the same language.
How is this different from de-escalation or CPI training?
De-escalation training teaches you to manage an escalating person. This training covers that and adds what a practice owner is left holding: recognising warning signs earlier, deciding when a situation stops being clinical, documenting it defensibly, planning for intimate partner violence and high-conflict dynamics, and building protocols a team will follow. It is not a physical intervention program and does not teach restraint.
Is the training appropriate for solo and telehealth practitioners?
Yes. One of the course's learning objectives covers telehealth-specific safety planning, including location verification and jurisdictional preparation, and the risk profile of working alone is one of the reasons solo practitioners take it.
