The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing administers the state’s Board of Behavioral Health Professions as well as other licensing boards. (Main photo by Getty Images; logo courtesy State of Iowa)
A mental health counselor has agreed to surrender his Iowa license after being accused of directing sexually or romantically inappropriate comments or advances toward a client.
The Iowa Board of Behavioral Health Professions recently charged counselor James Wagner of South Sioux City, Nebraska, with directing lewd, suggestive, lascivious or improper remarks or advances toward a client.
The board alleges that in May 2023, a patient contacted Seasons Center for Behavioral Health in Spencer and reported that she had been contacted by Wagner, via text messaging, on multiple occasions. The patient allegedly provided Seasons with the text messages, which were romantic or sexual in nature.
To settle the matter, Wagner agreed to voluntarily surrender his license and forfeit the ability to reapply for licensure for one year. The board imposed no additional conditions, such as ethics training or a professional evaluation, as a condition for reapplication.
Other licensees recently sanctioned by the Board of Behavioral Health Professions include:
— Joseph D. Fox of West Des Moines, who has been an Iowa-licensed mental health counselor since July 2021. and has served as a psychology lecturer and adjunct professor at Des Moines’ Grand View University. Fox recently agreed to an indefinite suspension of his license after being charged with unethical conduct by making an improper sexual advance toward a client, and unethical conduct by betraying a professional confidence.
The board alleged that at some unspecified point in the past, Fox counseled a female patient on her marriage and then, in September 2022, he ran into the woman and her spouse “in a public location.” According to the board, Fox made sexual advances toward the woman and then discussed the content of their counseling sessions with the woman’s spouse.
Fox will be eligible to apply for reinstatement after completing a mental health and professional-boundaries evaluation and completing additional training on professional boundaries. If his license is reinstated, it will be placed on probationary status for a period of three years.
— Alexia Slauson of Mount Vernon, who has had an Iowa marital and family therapist license since September 2022. The board has alleged Slauson “engaged in communications of a personal nature outside of a therapeutic relationship with a current patient.” To settle the matter, Slauson has agreed to voluntarily surrender her license and forfeit the ability to reapply for licensure for one year. The board has imposed no additional conditions, such as ethics training or a professional evaluation, as a condition for reapplication.
— Mackenzie Trotter of Ankeny, who has had an Iowa mental health counselor’s license since June 2021. In February 2023, the board charged Trotter with unspecified ethics violations. The board now alleges Trotter’s former employer, not publicly identified by the board, filed a complaint at some point in the past “alleging violations of rules governing the profession.”
The board says it investigated the allegations and engaged a peer reviewer to evaluate Trotter’s conduct. The peer reviewer allegedly concluded Trotter’s conduct violated ethical rules established by the American Counseling Association in that she had failed to discuss changes in diagnoses with her clinical supervisor and failed to retain copies of relevant documents, text messages, and emails in client records. The board agreed to settle the matter by issuing Trotter a warning and requiring her to work with a practice monitor and complete 10 hours of educational training.