State revokes license of counselor Susan Rassas Hannah over treatment of suicidal patient, criminal conviction

February 13, 2012

On February 3, 2012, licensed professional counselor Susan Rassas Hannah surrendered her license to the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners.

The surrender was deemed a revocation. According to the Board’s report, in 2004, Hannah started counseling a client following the client’s attempted suicide. She counseled him for one-and-a-half years but in February 2006, she decide to terminate the client with no prior discussion about it with the client. It was found that Hannah’s clinical record for the client did not include a documented behavioral health assessment; ongoing risk assessment or crisis plan; adequate consent for treatment; adequate treatment planning documentation; documentation of the client’s diagnosis and failure to document consultations with the client’s psychiatrist.

Further, Hannah failed to disclose a 1983 criminal conviction on her 2003 license renewal application. In May 2010, Hannah began treating another client, with whom she began a personal relationship. She ultimately married the client in October 2011.

Source: Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Adverse Action Tracking Form, 2012.