Welcome

This website is intended as a source for general information for mental health professionals in California. The information posted here is for clinicians throughout the state who are seeking some basic information about mental health practice. I will be posting original content, as well as links to other sites with relevant information. Feel free to leave a comment or email me directly at: alban@clinicallawyer.com.

Professional Wills

March 18, 2007
Most clinicians aspire to have a fairly good record-keeping system, as well as procedures for maintaining the confidentiality of those records. As a profession, therapists tend to be quite concerned about record-keeping. This concern is appropriate. Unlike some businesses, the information contained in clinicians’ practice…

Must Therapists Respond to Subpoenas?

March 14, 2007
In the course of legal proceedings, subpoenas are often issued as a means of gathering information. When they are received by clinicians, they are often accompanied by considerable anxiety about how to respond. Indeed, some clinicians wonder whether to respond at all. Many clinicians are…

Supervision vs. Consultation: what you need to know

July 3, 2007
The following article was authored by myself and A. Steven Frankel, Ph.D., J.D. It appeared in a slightly shorter format in the July/August 2007 issue of The California Psychologist, the newsletter of the California Psychological Association. In this article we will discuss an oft-overlooked topic: understanding…

Those Confidentiality Disclaimers At The End Of Your Email……..

July 31, 2007
Huge numbers of clinicians have disclaimers at the end of email messages that say something like this: “The information contained in this email is CONFIDENTIAL. If you have received this message in error or without the express direction of the original author, please notify the sender…

Juvenile Incompetency to Stand Trial: can it be based on developmental immaturity?

May 11, 2007
On May 10th, 2007, the California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District addressed the longstanding question of whether juvenile respondents may be found incompetent to stand trial based upon age-related developmental immaturity, or whether such a finding must be predicated on a “mental…

Have you received a letter from a licensing body?

February 25, 2009

If you receive a letter from a licensing body informing you that a complaint has been made against you, suppress the urge to panic. In California, after a complaint has been received the licensing board will typically send a letter of inquiry to the licensee (the clinician) informing them of the complaint...

Working with Multiple People in Therapy: A Refresher on Obligations

December 10, 2008

The following article was authored by myself and A. Steven Frankel, Ph.D., J.D. It appeared in a slightly altered format in the September/October 2008 issue of The California Psychologist, the newsletter of the California Psychological Association. Working with Multiple People in Therapy: A Refresher...

Reporting Suspected Abuse: those reports are highly confidential!

July 22, 2008

This is a reminder: reports that clinicians make of suspected abuse are highly confidential. Under California law, reports of suspected child abuse and information contained in those reports may only be disclosed to persons or agencies who coordinate the investigation of these reports. This makes sense....

Should HIPAA matter to clinicians who aren’t covered under HIPAA?

May 15, 2008

If you aren’t a “covered entity” (the term HIPAA uses to identify healthcare providers under its authority) do you need to care what HIPAA says? In these situations is HIPAA irrelevant? The answer is both “yes” and “no.” Strictly speaking, for clinicians who aren’t covered entities they...

So You’ve Been Asked to Write a Declaration……

March 26, 2008

The question of what to do when asked to author or sign a declaration on behalf of a patient is a stressful dilemma for most practitioners. This usually occurs when a patient is in the midst of litigation and the patient or the patient’s attorney believes that a statement from the practitioner would...