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 The laws on confidentiality and privacy are complicated and this website section is not intended to be a comprehensive representation of that information.

In general, the law protects the relationship between a client and a psychotherapist, and information cannot be disclosed without written permission.

Therapists are not legal experts. Please retain legal counsel for specific details as may be important to you.

General exceptions noted by therapists include:

• Suspected child abuse or dependent adult or elder abuse, for which therapists are required by law to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately.
• If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person/s, therapists must notify the police and inform the intended victim.
• If a client intends to harm himself or herself, therapists make every effort to enlist their cooperation in ensuring their safety. If they do not cooperate, therapists must take further measures without their permission that are provided to me by law in order to ensure their safety.
• Privacy rights and disclosure rules for minors' records are also established by law. Check with state statutes for what applies in your area.
• There are other circumstances mandated by law which may limit the privacy and confidentiality of your therapy records. Therapists are legally and ethically obligated to comply with a legal mandate to release your records.
• Providers cannot guarantee privacy of your records once you authorize release to any third party such as insurance companies, employers, lawyers, schools, and others.
• THERE IS NO PRIVACY OR CONFIDENTIALITY RELATING TO QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS FOR Dr. Patt's  Blog on this site or her newsletter. WiseAce360.

Participation in the WiseAce360 newsletters or broadcasts provides no expectation of privacy or confidentiality with regard to identity, questions asked, information communicated, or other contributions of any participant.  All questions asked/answered, information provided, and other contributions from participants become the property of Dr. Patt Pickett and are not subject to any compensation. Names may be used if provided by the participant which shall be construed as consent. 

Both the WiseAce360 newsletter and broadcast are protected by copyright and no part of either shall be re-broadcast/re-published (except in a share format) nor reprinted nor shall comments, quotes, and others verbal statements made be used without prior written permission of Dr. Patt Pickett, PhD.