Also known as:psychotherapist-client privilege · social worker-client privilege · therapist-client privilege · psychotherapist/social worker client privilege · therapist privilege · mental health privilege
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A privilege that protects confidential communications between a patient and a psychotherapist or licensed social worker made in the course of diagnosis or treatment from disclosure in litigation. The privilege encourages patients to seek mental health care by assuring them that their disclosures will remain private. It operates in most respects like the attorney-client privilege.
Sources & Authorities· 1 primary source
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Cases
Course Outlines
How it applies
Common Examples
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Police Officer Counseling After Shooting
Piper Patel, a police officer, fatally shot a suspect during a traffic stop. The department required her to attend six weekly sessions with Peter Park, a licensed social worker, as part of its critical incident response program. Before the sessions began, the program coordinator assured Piper that all communications would remain confidential and would be used solely for treatment. During the sessions Piper described her recollection of the shooting while Peter provided counseling to help her process the trauma. When a civil rights plaintiff later subpoenaed Peter's notes, the court quashed the subpoena because the communications occurred in the course of diagnosis and treatment under assurances of confidentiality.
Nurse Seeking Trauma Counseling
Patricia Powell, a hospital emergency-room nurse, faced a wrongful death suit after a patient died under her care. She began confidential counseling sessions with Pierce Patterson, the hospital's licensed clinical social worker, to cope with guilt over the incident. Patricia described her actions during the sessions, and Pierce used those descriptions to explore her emotional responses and develop coping strategies. When the patient's estate subpoenaed the counseling notes, the court denied the motion to compel because the communications were made in confidence for purposes of diagnosis and treatment.
Common questions
Frequently Asked
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Does the psychotherapist-client privilege extend to communications with a licensed social worker?+
Yes. Federal common law recognizes the privilege for confidential communications between a patient and a licensed social worker made in the course of diagnosis or treatment. The privilege applies when the social worker provides mental health counseling in a therapeutic relationship, just as it does for psychiatrists and psychologists.
Supporting sources
Does the privilege protect factual statements made during therapy sessions?+
Yes. The privilege protects the entire communication, including factual details, when the statements are made in the course of diagnosis or treatment. Courts do not carve out exceptions for factual content that happens to be relevant to litigation, because the policy of encouraging candid therapeutic disclosures would be undermined by such parsing.
Supporting sources
Who holds the psychotherapist-client privilege?+
The patient holds the privilege. The patient may assert it to prevent disclosure, and an opposing party such as a plaintiff's estate has no power to waive or control the privilege.
Supporting sources
Does a mandatory employer-sponsored counseling program destroy the privilege?+
No. Explicit assurances of confidentiality given before the sessions begin, together with the therapeutic purpose of the counseling, establish that the communications were made in the course of diagnosis and treatment. The mandatory or institutional context does not remove the protection when those core elements are present.
Supporting sources
EvidencePrivileges and other policy exclusions · Physician/psychotherapist-patientUBEFoundational