Mental Health Counselor Accused of Drinking, Using Marijuana with Minor Client

(Des Moines, IA) — State officials are suspending the license of a mental health counselor accused of smoking marijuana and drinking in Woodbury County with a girl who was a client. The Iowa Board of Behavioral Science has accused 48-year-old Michelle Banks of Spirit Lake of unethical conduct. The Iowa Capital Dispatch was first to report on the case. Banks was arrested in April and charged with smoking pot in a car with other passengers and Banks was a therapist for a minor in the vehicle. Police found an open bottle of rum in the car and Banks, who was a passenger, admitted she bought the rum for the group to drink. An administrative hearing related to her counseling license is scheduled in early December. Banks is also accused of sending an inappropriate text message to a client in January. State documents indicate Banks at some point stopped taking prescribed medication and that has had an impact on her behavior.