Health department charges counselor Lisa K. Cyphers with negligence

April 23, 2009

The Washington Department of Health (DOH) has charged registered counselor Lisa K. Cyphers with unprofessional conduct consisting of “incompetence, negligence or malpractice which results in injury to a patient or which creates an unreasonable risk that a patient may be harmed.”  Specifically, the DOH received a complaint in October 2006 that alleged that Cyphers was in a personal relationship with a client.  “It was observed over a long period of time that [Cyphers’] behavior was manifesting conduct that was not maintaining a professional boundary and rapport with [the client].  Cyphers and the client were observed in a variety of social situations.  Ultimately, the party that filed the complaint observed Cyphers and the client in Cyphers’ home and in her bedroom.  A former client of Cyphers’ prior place of employment reported to the DOH that the client who was involved with Cyphers informed the former client that he and Cyphers were now living together.

(Statement of Charges, in the Matter of Lisa K. Cyphers, Credential Nos. RC00040713 and CP00005886, Nos. M2008-118169 and M2009-323, State of Washington Department of Health, April 23, 2009.)