Counselor Lorraine C. Beaulieu placed on probation for failure to recognize and act on patient's suicide attempts

June 16, 2010

On April 5, 2010, the Virginia Board of Counseling placed licensed professional counselor Lorraine C. Beaulieu on indefinite probation with terms and conditions for a period of not less than one year.

Terms of the probation require Beaulieu to have her practice supervised by another Board-approved counselor or therapist who submit regular reviews of Beaulieu’s practice to the Board, as well as other terms and conditions. 

According to the Board’s Order, Beaulieu committed violations of regulations governing the practice of her profession, regarding a patient who engaged in suicidal behavior which Beaulieu neglected to treat as such. 

Specifically, in August 2006, Beaulieu learned that the patient had taken an overdose of the tranquilizer Ambien in response to her emotional pain but Beaulieu failed to treat it as a suicide attempt, failed to inform the client’s husband or another identified party of the attempt or continuing danger of a prescription overdose. 

At a later time, the client reported to Beaulieu that she had intentionally injected air into her bloodstream in sufficient quantity to have caused a fatal embolism.  Again, Beaulieu failed to recognize this act as a suicide attempt, failed to inform the client’s husband or another identified responsible party. 

In yet another incident, upon learning that the client had made a third suicide attempt by cutting her wrists only hours earlier, Beaulieu told the client, “This jeopardizes our future therapy relationship” or words to that effect.

Source: Order In Re: Lorraine C. Beaulieu, L.P.C., License No. 0701-001244, Case No. 122802, Before the Virginia Board of Counseling, April 5, 2010.