‘It’s disappointing’ mentioned peer of Lillian Ramey, director of Riversage Family Counseling

Lillian Ramey, a famend trauma therapist in Durango and skilled in EMDR, voluntarily relinquished her license July 10 after repeated complaints that she had a romantic relationship with a affected person. (Gaj Rudolf/Adobe Stock)

A Durango-based therapist has surrendered her license and proper to observe as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker after two complaints that she maintained a romantic relationship with a affected person.

Lillian Ramey, the manager director of Riversage Family Counseling and chief govt of Rivers Edge Institute, provided to relinquish her license July 10.

Peers, together with a number of former colleagues, are elevating issues about Ramey’s conduct, which they are saying is a proscribed abuse of energy. Other practitioners are additionally fearful by her continued management and ongoing session throughout Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing remedy coaching.

Riversage, beneath Ramey’s steering, is esteemed in Durango’s remedy neighborhood. Its clinicians usually supervise candidates working towards skilled counseling licenses, and Ramey is understood locally as a number one trauma therapist.

Ramey denies that she had a romantic or sexual relationship with the now-former affected person, however has admitted she had a platonic twin relationship with the person, violating state requirements.

The first criticism

Emily Campbell filed the primary criticism towards Ramey with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies Division of Professions and Occupations on Aug. 6, 2020.

Campbell, the previous program director at Riversage, reported that she had first been launched to the affected person by Ramey at a social occasion at her own residence throughout summer time 2020, when Ramey launched the person as “her partner.” Ramey denies utilizing this time period.

However, Campbell was unaware that the particular person recognized as Ramey’s companion was additionally a affected person.

At the time of Campbell’s introduction to the affected person, Ramey was within the course of of going via a divorce and dwelling at Campbell’s dwelling. The relationship between the 2 grew fraught and Campbell in the end resigned her place at Riversage, citing “a number of unethical situations (and a) lack of leadership.”

“Two weeks after ending my employment, I found out that the person Lillian had brought to my house as the person she was dating, was in fact also actively a client,” Campbell mentioned in an interview with The Durango Herald.

In a written response to Campbell’s criticism, Ramey admitted to sustaining a platonic relationship with a affected person however denied any romantic involvement.

“I recognize that Social Workers are to refrain from dual relationships,” Ramey wrote. “I also know that not all dual relationships are ‘inappropriate’ per se, but that professional judgment must be used in discerning whether it is appropriate for a dual relationship to occur.”

The criticism prompted an investigation by State Board of Social Work Examiners. In summer time 2021, an investigator interviewed Campbell, Ramey, the affected person and Ramey’s soon-to-be-ex husband.

The investigator discovered a quantity of inconsistencies within the narratives supplied, together with the timeline of Ramey’s relationship with the affected person.

The affected person additionally denied having a romantic relationship with Ramey, telling the investigator, “there was zero intimacy.” Text messages between the 2, which Ramey’s partner despatched to investigators, revealed they had been spending nights collectively and engaged romantically.

After finishing the investigation, Ramey signed an company order admitting that she had “engaged in a dual relationship by maintaining a friendship with a client while also engaging in a therapeutic relationship,” and that she “shared personal information that went beyond professional boundaries.”

As a stipulation of the settlement, Ramey accomplished a unbroken training program on ethics and bounds. The order was signed Dec. 27, 2021.

The second criticism

On July 22, 2022, a second criticism was filed towards Ramey. Although the complainant was recognized as “a former contractor” to Riversage, DORA redacted their identify as a result of the complainant was additionally a former affected person of Ramey’s.

This type of twin relationship was not unusual on the observe, in line with former staff.

The complainant mentioned they had been launched to the affected person by Ramey in May 2021, and that the three started to cycle collectively commonly. Later that summer time, the complainant noticed Ramey and the affected person kissing and was knowledgeable by the affected person that the 2 had been secretly a pair.

In an interview with the Herald, Ramey mentioned that she didn’t have something however a platonic relationship with this client.

“There are circumstances to that experience that can lend itself to a lot of different interpretations,” Ramey mentioned of the second criticism. “ … I am not denying that I spent a lot of time with the person.”

When pressed on whether or not the complainant had caught her in an intimate second with the affected person, Ramey declined to remark.

The complainant additionally famous that they had been instructed by the affected person that the romantic relationship started when the affected person was an lively client.

“I was told by (the patient) the prior DORA investigation was falsified and made to appear only a friendship occurred by both parties,” the criticism says.

In a response to the criticism submitted via her legal professional, Ramey “elected to plead the Fifth Amendment and will enter a no-admission stipulation in exchange for a voluntary relinquishment of her license.”

In June 2023, the board “found reasonable cause” that Ramey had violated Colorado legislation which says LCSWs might not have interaction in sexual contact with a client in the course of the interval of time through which a therapeutic relationship exists or for as much as two years after.

The board and Ramey agreed that she would relinquish her license however not admit to the allegations.

“I chose to voluntarily relinquish my license after practicing for 25 years rather than going through this grievance process with the licensure board and feeling very unsupported by my profession,” Ramey mentioned.

The order was signed July 10.

The implications

The National Association of Social Workers code of ethics has strict pointers saying social staff might not have sexual relationships with present or former purchasers, and that they need to not present medical providers to people with whom they’ve had a earlier sexual relationship.

Colorado legislation additionally says it’s a violation of the licensing statute for clinicians to take care of relationships with purchasers which are “likely to impair the person’s professional judgment or increase the risk of client exploitation, such as treating employees, supervisees, close colleagues, or relatives.”

But Ramey’s friends say they’re fearful that the incident signifies that Durango’s remedy neighborhood is slipping with regards to ethics.

“There just seems to be a culture in the mental health community of getting by with things that would never fly in a bigger city – maybe that’s just normal for Durango,” mentioned Lynn Rosenberg, a therapist who spent two of her eight years working as a therapist in Durango contracted with Riversage. “It’s been disappointing.”

Riversage is understood for coaching up-and-coming therapists, Rosenberg mentioned. She and Campbell share issues that clinicians in coaching may not be getting applicable supervision.

“There are (a lot) of interns and supervisees working under this person who is not checking her own ethics, and therefor not modeling correct ethics,” Campbell mentioned.

She acknowledged that Ramey has supplied helpful remedy to purchasers, and she or he expressed concern that Ramey’s friends or purchasers might really feel “betrayed, confused, manipulated.”

Although she will now not see sufferers, Ramey confirmed that she continued to supply EMDR coaching to members of the Axis disaster workforce after July 10.

“People provide consultation all the time for things that are not specific to certification or licensure,” she mentioned.

The EMDR International Association requires that anybody working towards EMDRIA credentials be educated by an authorized practitioner, nonetheless uncertified individuals might help in coaching. Ramey’s EMDRIA certification was revoked upon surrendering her license.

“Axis was made aware that Lillian Ramey was no longer licensed prior to providing EMDR training in July. As a result, a licensed provider was brought in to lead the training and Ms. Ramey moved into a support role for the training,” mentioned Axis Vice President of Administration Sarada Leavenworth in an e-mail. “Axis does not plan to engage Ms. Ramey for future trainings.”

Rosenberg additionally raised issues that Ramey had been lower than forthcoming together with her colleagues and the general public relating to her standing as a licensed skilled.

To adjust to state and EMDRIA laws, Ramey has modified her credentials on components of her web sites to indicate she has a masters in social work, reasonably than an LCSW.

However, these adjustments had been revamped a month after shedding her license, and as of writing, the signature on her Riversage biography web page nonetheless credentials her as an LCSW, as does the calendar of EMDR consultations on the Rivers Edge web site.

Ramey’s friends say they concern the affect the incident might have on the neighborhood of practitioners, in addition to present or future sufferers. And they hope that accountability might higher the neighborhood as an entire.

“It’s that lack of transparency that all of us are shaking our heads at,” Rosenberg mentioned.

She recommends that potential sufferers lookup a possible therapist’s license and test for any disciplinary actions by the state.

Ramey mentioned in an e-mail that some adjustments are afoot at Riversage.

“We have diversified our supervision structure as well as added additional supports for supervisors who can often feel alone in their position of authority,” she mentioned. “We are also in the process of transitioning into more of a Team Leadership structure that offers knowledge, inclusion, and growth at all levels.”

Ramey added that she shouldn’t be compromising on her dedication to do good locally.

“I have been challenged to stand strong when all those around me are doubting or confronting my truth,” she wrote. “I have also learned that my identity is not about my role as a therapist but instead about who I am as a person and the good that I can do for others in many ways.”

Affected clinicians and purchasers looking for assist from knowledgeable outdoors the realm ought to attain out to Rebecca Albright at ralbright@tlcforfamilies.com. Albright is conscious of the state of affairs and ready for these impacted to contact her.

Rschafir@durangoherald.com