FNP Jean Duley 08/08/08

When do threats supersede the rules of confidentiality?Originally published August 09, 2008


All mental health workers are bound by confidentiality rules. But when clients threaten to harm themselves or others, state law allows therapists to ask police to step in.
Therapist Jean Duley did just that last month, after Ivins reportedly said he planned to kill co-workers and others.

Duley told a Frederick County District Court judge last month that she called police for a welfare check on Ivins July 10, the day after the reported threats. FBI documents released this week confirm that Duley made the call, but Frederick police said they cannot release details of the emergency evaluation petition or reveal who called them regarding Ivins.

Frederick police officers escorted Ivins from his office at Fort Detrick to Frederick Memorial Hospital for an emergency psychiatric evaluation that day. He was kept at FMH for two days before being transferred to Sheppard Pratt psychiatric hospital in Baltimore.

Lt. Clark Pennington, public information officer for the Frederick Police Department, said anyone can call police to request an emergency evaluation for someone, but that requests made by law enforcement officials, doctors, and licensed clinicians are regarded as the most reliable.

Aileen Taylor, executive director of the state Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists, said only licensed clinical professional counselors can request emergency evaluations. Duley holds only a certified supervised counselor license and must practice under another clinician. FBI documents refer to Duley as a licensed clinical social worker; however, a search of licensees at the state Board of Social Work Examiners website returns no results for Duley.

While Taylor said that clinicians who do request emergency evaluations for clients are to reveal as little confidential information as possible, she said she is unsure how the law applies to mental health workers who seek personal protection or peace orders against clients.

"There are incidents unfortunately where the therapist is the intended victim, and we support their taking appropriate steps to protect themselves," said Sherri Morgan, associate counsel to the National Association of Social Workers' Legal Defense Fund, and part of the organization's Office of Ethics and Professional Review. Duley testified that FBI agents told her to obtain the peace order against Ivins.

In her peace order petition, filed July 24, Duley wrote that Ivins had "a history dating to his graduate days of homicidal threats, actions, plans, threats and actions towards theripist (sic)" and that another psychiatrist had called Ivins "homicidal, sociopathic with clear intentions." During her hearing, she described threatening calls Ivins had made to her home July 11 and 12 and told the judge that Ivins had been planning to poison people since 2000. She also said she was "scared to death" of Ivins.

Morgan said that while confidentiality regulations are in place to protect both clients and therapists, the latter must use his or her clinical skills to assess the potential for danger and decide how much information to reveal.

"These are difficult decisions to make," Morgan said. "It's important that therapists are highly trained and skilled to do the best clinical assessment that they can. You can't always predict the future."
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August 09, 2008 @ 09:39 AM: steven09Wow....She didn't have a license?

August 09, 2008 @ 10:32 AM: Barkia http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0801081anthrax1.html "Spelling" is definitely not her forte'......."theripist", "Dietrich", "tetisfy", "homicidale" and she couldn't manage to add the "ed" to "subpoena", making it past tense. Notice she did not check a box under Sexual Assault. How is it that she knows about his "graduate days"? Why was her BOYFRIEND making statements to the press? What makes him think she is a "hero"? Either he's confused about the definition of that word or someone has planted a preconceived notion. Nothing about this woman holds much stock; her "testimony" would have been laughed out of a courtroom.

August 09, 2008 @ 10:49 AM: mjaz62Washington post: "The counselor he saw for group therapy and biweekly individual sessions, who would eventually tell a judge that he was a "sociopathic, homicidal killer," had a troubled past. Jean C. Duley, who worked until recent days for Comprehensive Counseling Associates in Frederick, is licensed as an entry-level drug counselor and was, according to one of her mentors, allowed to work with clients only under supervision of a more-seasoned professional. Shortly before she sought a "peace order" against Ivins, Duley had completed 90 days of home detention after a drunken-driving arrest in December, and she has acknowledged drug use in her past. In a 1999 interview with The Washington Post, Duley described her background as a motorcycle gang member and a drug user. "Heroin. Cocaine. PCP," said Duley, who then used the name Jean Wittman. "You name it, I did it." ((SEE NEXT POST))

August 09, 2008 @ 10:56 AM: mjaz62This is very important, so I gave it a separate post. It is from the same Wash. Post article: in MARCH 2008 "... Ivins angrily told a former colleague that he suspected his therapist was cooperating with the FBI..." Think about that. In March, Ivins says he doesn't trust his therapist. In JULY she claims that he told her specific details of how he was going to kill a bunch of people. DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE? He didn't trust her in March. Why would he tell her such damaging stuff in July? She claims that there are witnesses. Where are the witnesses? Even if she can't give their names, certainly some of them would voluntarily come forward and confirm it, right? If he scared HER badly enough to break confidence, he must have scared others, too. Where are they?


August 09, 2008 @ 11:09 AM: mjaz62Here is another thing that makes NO SENSE: Duley was not qualified to work alone, without the direct supervision of a "seasoned professional". What gave her the legal authority to have a man COMMITTED? There is a reason that professionals (in any field) are required to undergo years of schooling and licensure. Why in the world would any legal authority take HER word for it? If I was a phlebotomist (a blood-taker) in a doctors office I would be considered "a medical professional", with roughly the same required education as Duley. So could I have someone committed on my say-so? I don't think so. Or, I should say - I HOPE not.

August 09, 2008 @ 11:31 AM: mjaz62OK this will be my last post for a bit - but this is an interesting coincidence! One of the job ads on the right side of this article is for a Substance Abuse Clinician in Loudan County. The job description is mainly for paperword and case handling. And they want someone with a MASTER'S in Social Work! So how exactly did Duley get such an important job? I have one more question about Jean C. Duley. Did she have any OTHER patients that she saw privately? And did she lead any other group therapy sessions that did not include Dr. Ivins? (Ok that was 2 questions). Follow my thinking here... we have an unqualified person "treating" Dr. Ivins. This person is not just unqualified, she has a very unsavory past history. The person whom she is "counseling" is suspicious that she is an FBI plant. She then inserts herself directly into the FBI's case. The FBI/DOJ is asking us to believe their "pattern of coincidences" to prove Ivins was guilty. Maybe we should look at the "pattern of coincidences" of how they "caught" the guy.