Inpatient Psychiatric Unit Specialist Training Program

Description

Every day in an inpatient psychiatric unit brings high-stakes moments—where your ability to recognize warning signs, de-escalate crises, and maintain therapeutic boundaries can mean the difference between chaos and healing.

This certificate program equips you with both the foundations and the practical skills to step into this demanding role with clarity, competence, and confidence—whether you are new to inpatient care or ready to sharpen your expertise.

Dr. Rosalind Polk-Hall, EdD, LPC, MA, CMFT, CPCS, brings over 27 years of diverse clinical and supervisory experience to this program. Having worked in inpatient hospitals, community mental health centers, correctional facilities, and private practice, she offers both the academic grounding and real-world insights that will help you thrive in psychiatric unit settings.

Dr. Roz’s approach blends evidence-based teaching with applied learning. Through detailed instruction, case examples, and skill-focused demonstrations, you’ll not only learn the theory but also see how to put it into practice—ensuring that what you gain here translates into competence on the unit floor.

Across two integrated courses—Foundations for Success and Practical Applications—you’ll explore psychiatric diagnoses, trauma-informed care, ethics, legal standards, cultural competence, crisis prevention, de-escalation techniques, team-based interventions, professional boundaries, communication strategies, and the essential role of staff self-care. This certificate program provides the complete roadmap for anyone serving on an inpatient psychiatric team.

Key Takeaways:

• Practical competence: Apply trauma-informed care, crisis prevention strategies, and team-based interventions to ensure patient safety and staff effectiveness.

• Ethical and cultural fluency: Navigate HIPAA, confidentiality, boundaries, and cultural competence with confidence in high-pressure environments.

• Professional resilience: Strengthen your ability to manage stress, maintain emotional safety, and practice effective self-care while supporting others.

Why this certificate program?

• Comprehensive design: By combining both foundational knowledge and applied skills, this program ensures you leave with confidence in both theory and practice.

• Expert-led training: Learn directly from Dr. Roz, whose decades of inpatient, community, and supervisory experience bring depth and practicality unmatched by most trainings.

• Mission-driven excellence: Offered by the Telehealth Certification Institute, this certificate reflects our commitment to equipping behavioral health professionals with the tools they need to deliver exceptional care.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of the "Foundations for Success: Training for the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit Specialist" course, participants will be able to:

• Consider foundational concepts in mental health care.

• Assess legal and Ethical Considerations.

• Interpret key factors of HIPAA and confidentiality.

• Recognize the value of cultural competence.

• Differentiate between professional vs. nonprofessional boundaries.

• Integrate Trauma-Informed Care into daily work functions.

• Identify the use of de-escalation techniques and crisis prevention.

Upon completion of the "Practical Applications: Training for the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit Specialist" course, participants will be able to:

• Analyze trauma-informed care and its relevance in psychiatric settings.

• Examine mental health diagnosis through the demonstrations provided.

• Identify signs of trauma and patient distress and describe strategies to support emotional safety.

• Recognize early indicators of escalating behavior and apply de-escalation techniques to prevent crises.

• Integrate effectively in team-based crisis intervention, while ensuring patient dignity and staff safety.

• Demonstrate understanding of HIPAA, confidentiality, and the importance of maintaining professional boundaries.

By the end of this certificate program, you will be equipped with the confidence and clarity to serve effectively on an inpatient psychiatric unit—supporting patient recovery, strengthening team collaboration, and protecting your own professional well-being along the way. Consider this your next step toward becoming the kind of specialist your colleagues trust and your patients need.

Enroll now in the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit Specialist Certificate and take the next step toward confident, competent practice in inpatient care.

Format and Access

This is a non-interactive, self-study course with a total of 8 hours of video instruction. Each course requires a post-test.

Course Details

How to Attend:

Course access and completion instructions.

Who Should Attend: 

This course is intended for behavioral health professionals who are new to inpatient psychiatric care or who want to strengthen their foundations with expert-led strategies.

Teaching Methods: 

These are non-interactive self-study courses.

How to earn the IPUS: 

The  Inpatient Psychiatric Unit Specialist Training (IPUS) program requires completion of two courses:

• Foundations for Success: Training for the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit Specialist
• Practical Applications: Training for the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit Specialist

Successful completion of each course will earn participants the  Inpatient Psychiatric Unit Specialist Certificate (IPUS)

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

About Dr. Rosalind Polk-Hall, EdD, LPC, MA, CMFT, CPCS

Dr. Roz is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor practicing in the state of Georgia. She currently works as a Clinical Director in a community mental health counseling setting, provides clinical supervision to clinicians in various settings, and is a mental health counselor/clinical supervisor in private practice. She earned her doctoral degree from Argosy University (Nashville) in Counselor Education and Supervision. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Psychology with a specialty in Counseling at the Georgia School of Professional Psychology (Argosy University).
With over 27 years of clinical experience, Dr. Roz is a licensed professional counselor dedicated to transforming lives and shaping the next generation of therapists. Throughout her career, Dr. Roz has worked across a broad range of settings, including community mental health centers, private practice, jails, in-patient psychiatric hospitals, and educational institutions—bringing compassionate, evidence-based care to individuals from all walks of life. Her clinical expertise spans mood and thought disorders, addictions, trauma-informed care, and life transitions, always with a focus on empowering clients to reclaim their well-being and purpose. Passionate about professional development, Dr. Roz now devotes much of her time to mentoring emerging therapists, helping them build confidence, integrity, and clinical excellence in their practice. Whether guiding clients through healing or supporting new clinicians on their professional path, Dr. Roz remains deeply committed to making a meaningful impact—one life, and one therapist, at a time.

Disclosure Statement:  

The instructor(s) for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Credits

Credit Hours:

This program consists of a total of 8 continuing education hours of credit. (Individual courses offer separate certificates with CEs)

Counselors:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Mental Health Counselors. #MHC-0048.

Marriage and Family Therapists:

Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0135, effective May 8, 2025.

Social Workers:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 8 clinical continuing education credits.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers #SW-0435.

Addiction Professionals:

This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits, effective 10/15/2025. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

Psychologists:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.

Art Therapists:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.

Other Professionals:

This course qualifies for 480 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

This course is an-interactive, live online webinar.

Participants may request a printed version of their certificate of completion to be delivered by mail. A shipping/handling fee of $6.95 will be charged per request. Shipping internationally may require an additional charge.

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement