Confidentiality of Mental Health Providers
Before we talk about how seeking mental health can impact your case, we need to understand the confidentiality of a psychotherapist during criminal and civil investigative proceedings.
Mental health providers come in all sort of different types —a counselor, a social worker, a psychotherapist, or a psychiatrist. Generally, statements to a mental health provider are considered confidential, although that privilege is generally considered less confidential than conversations with a lawyer or priest.
Generally, there are exceptions to the confidentiality that you have with mental health providers. Exceptions include potentially mandatory reporting related to abuse of child; state directed mental health evaluations; or when third parties are present.
If counseling or seeing a therapist or a social worker is going to help you through this process, it’s certainly an option that you should seek out. A mental health provider can be a resource that’s there for you to work through a difficult time, and the law is designed to keep what you tell a counselor confidential under most circumstances. Talk to your therapist about the extent of confidentiality. Most importantly, though, talk to your attorney.
Take Care of Yourself
There are cases in which talking to a mental health professional could have negative consequences, but in our experience, mental health records typically become relevant after an accused claims an insanity defense or otherwise makes their mental health a part of their defense.
Mental health records may be far less protected in civil proceedings. Civil proceedings generally allow for a greater invasion of mental and medical records, to include depositions of therapists. It takes a trusted and experience lawyer to fully advise about the risks and benefits of talking to a mental health professional while under sex offense allegations.
We often talk to clients that are hoping to receive treatment during the difficulty of going through sexual assault allegations. We advise clients regularly to talk to their mental health provider but to stop short of talking about the details of the actual event. Saying something to your doctor like “I’m not comfortable talking about the details of the allegation, but I would appreciate if we can talk about my feelings while I’m managing the stress of the upcoming trial.”
