Treating Culturally Deaf and Hard of Hearing Clients: Competence and Ethics

Workshop Description

This training will enhance understanding of the Deaf Community as a cultural and linguistic minority, with a focus on clients who use American Sign Language as their primary mode of communication.

By exploring historical and current values, including family and school dynamics, participants will learn how to minimize misunderstandings and misdiagnoses. The training will also address ethical considerations related to competence, multiple relationships, and confidentiality, particularly in collaboration with certified interpreters.

Learning Objectives

After completing this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Identify ethical considerations when working with Deaf clients.
• Discuss the perspective of identity versus disability.
• Describe audism and how it may present itself in therapeutic work.
• List communication options and preferences.
• Explain the roles and expectations of the therapist and interpreter.

Continuing Education Credits:

This workshop is approved for 3.0 continuing education credit hours for licensed social workers, licensed mental health counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, and licensed psychologists.

Continuing Education Provider Information

NASW-NYS is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for:

• Licensed Social Workers (Provider ID #0014)
• Licensed Mental Health Counselors (Provider ID #MHC-0053)
• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (Provider ID #MFT-0037)
• Licensed Psychologists (Provider ID #PSY-0088)

Presenter: Dr. Jaimee Arnoff

Dr. Jaimee Arnoff is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in working with teens and young adults, including those in the Deaf Community.

Dr. Arnoff has extensive experience across hospital settings, residential treatment centers, and community mental health clinics, with a training focus on mood and anxiety disorders. In addition to providing therapy at her private practice in Beacon, NY, she also conducts forensic evaluations for Family Court in Dutchess County.

She consults with providers supporting individuals experiencing suicidal ideation and self-injurious behaviors and has been featured as an expert on multiple podcasts. As the psychologist at James’s Warriors, a local nonprofit, she develops and presents programs on Teen Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in high schools, colleges, libraries, and community centers throughout New York.

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