Warning of potential violence.

• Author: Widgery, Amber
• Position: TRENDS & TRANSITIONS

Mental health professionals must maintain patients' confidentiality. But many states also require or allow them to protect possible victims by disclosing information to potential victims or law enforcement about patients they believe may become violent. Most of these laws were passed following a 1976 California Supreme Court case that ruled psychotherapists have a legal duty to warn specific people at risk of violence from a patient. Some providers express concern that laws requiring, rather than permitting, a warning may discourage potentially violent people from seeking treatment or fully revealing their intentions, or that potential liability may dissuade therapists from treating such patients because their ability to predict violent behavior is limited.

A lawsuit alleging breach of this duty has been filed against the psychiatrist whose patient allegedly killed 12 people and injured dozens more in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. last July. New York lawmakers were the first to pass new legislation on this topic following the Newtown tragedy, modifying their law from allowing, to requiring, mental health professionals to report patients they believe may pose a danger to themselves or others. New York joins 28 other states, including Colorado, with mandatory requirements.

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia allow, but do not require, providers to take action. In Georgia, providers have a duty to protect potential victims...