Confidentiality Policy

The law protects the relationship between a client and a psychologist, and information cannot be disclosed without written permission.

Exceptions include:

• Suspected child abuse or dependent adult or elder abuse, for which I am required by law to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately.
• If a client intends to harm himself or herself, I will make every effort to enlist their cooperation in ensuring their safety. If they do not cooperate, I will take further measures without their permission that are provided to me by law in order to ensure their safety.
• If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person/s, I must notify the police and inform the intended victim, this is also known as a Duty to Warn, or "Tarasoff"

Duty to Warn

It is the duty of every therapist, psychologist, counselor, and mental health (MH) professional to warn intended victims. Regardless of the fact that the threat was made in a confidential interview... if the professional has reason to believe that a patient has the intention to inflict harm on an identifiable person, or people, MH professionals not only have the right to break confidentiality with the patient, but MUST make every effort to alert the intended victim(s) and law enforcement officers. Read more here: Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California.