Many therapist abuse survivors have asked me over the years: “If I tell my current therapist or psychiatrist/physician that my last therapist abused me is he or she mandated to report it?” I finally have an answer to that question. However, whether or not the licensed counselor has to report therapist abuse depends on their specific license type/education. In other words, many states mandate psychiatrists to report therapist abuse, but only a handful require master’s level therapists to report.
In fact, only five states in the U.S. currently have laws requiring therapists to either (1) report therapist abuse when a client brings it to their attention or (2) discuss reporting options with the client. On the other hand, 24 states in the country have legislation regarding mandated reporting of therapist abuse when it is disclosed by a patient to a psychiatrist or other medical doctor. In 19 of those states, psychiatrists/physicians are mandated to report regardless of the patient’s opinion.
Some clients do not wish for their current therapist to report therapist abuse. Some do. And some may not be sure where they stand on the issue. But just know if you are a client in one of the below five states and you inform your therapist about a past abusive therapist, they are mandated to discuss reporting options with you and in Texas they are required to report therapist abuse with or without your approval. If you tell your psychiatrist about an abusive therapist, they are mandated to report it in 19 states (see the second table below).
States that Require Therapists to Report Therapist Abuse When It’s Disclosed in Therapy
| STATE | DUTY TO PATIENT | PUNISHMENT FOR NON-COMPLIANCE |
| California | Must provide and discuss with the patient a brochure published by the state that delineates the rights and remedies for patients who have been involved sexually with their psychotherapists. | Failure to comply with this section constitutes unprofessional conduct. |
| Texas | Clinician has a duty to report. Clinician must inform the patient of this duty and determine whether the patient wants to be anonymous in the report. | Subject to disciplinary action by that person’s appropriate licensing board and also commits an offense. An offense under this subsection is a Class C misdemeanor. |
| Rhode Island | Practitioner must ask if patients wants to make a report and must make a report if the patient says yes. | Any person required to make a written report under this section who fails to do so shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500) and shall be subject to discipline by the appropriate licensing board of registration or equivalent oversight authority. |
| Virgina | The clinician must advise the patient of the patient’s right to report such misconduct to the Department of Health Professions. The clinician must provide the department’s toll-free complaint hotline number for consumer complaints and explain how to file a report. | Civil penalty not to exceed $100. |
| Wisconsin | The therapist must explain to the patient the violation that occurred and ask if the patient would like the clinician to file a report. If the patient would like to make a report, the therapist must file a report to the respective licensing department of the sexually exploitive therapist and the district attorney within 30 days. | Guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. |
States that Require Psychiatrists to Report Therapist Abuse
| STATE | Are Psychiatrists Mandated to Report Sexually Exploitive Psychotherapists? | Standard for Reporting |
| Alaska | Mandated to report, 12 AAC 40.967 (2019) | Facts known to the licensee regarding incompetent conduct as defined by Alaska Stat. § 08.64.326 (2019) |
| Arizona | Mandated to report, A.R.S. § 32-3251 (2019) | Any information that appears to show that a doctor of medicine is or may be medically incompetent, is or may be guilty of unprofessional conduct or is or may be mentally or physically unable safely to engage in the practice of medicine |
| California | No official mandated reporting, per medical board | See Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 729. (2019) |
| Colorado | Mandated to report, C.R.S. 12-36-118 (2018) | Duty to report to the board any licensee known, or upon information and belief, to have violated any of the provisions of C.R.S. 12-36-117(1) |
| Connecticut | Mandated to report, Conn. Gen. Stat. §20-13d (2019) | Has any information which appears to show that a physician is or may be unable to practice medicine with reasonable skill or safety for any of the reasons listed in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-13c |
| Idaho | Mandated to report, Idaho Code § 54-1818 (2019) | Possessing knowledge of a violation of Idaho Code § 54-1814 (2019) by any other physician and surgeon licensed to practice medicine |
| Indiana | Mandated to report, 844 IAC 5-2-8 (2019) | Personal knowledge based upon a reasonable belief that another practitioner holding the same license has engaged in illegal, unlawful, incompetent or fraudulent conduct in the practice of medicine |
| Iowa | Mandated to report, IAC § 653-22.2 (2019) | Knowledge means any information or evidence of reportable conduct acquired by personal observation, from a reliable or authoritative source, or under circumstances causing the licensee to believe that wrongful acts may have occurred |
| Maine | Mandated to report, 24 M.R.S. § 2505 (2019) | Reasonable knowledge of acts of the physician … amounting to gross or repeated medical malpractice … that endangers the health or safety of patients, professional incompetence, unprofessional conduct, or sexual misconduct identified by board rule |
| Massachusetts | Mandated to report, ALM GL ch. 112, § 5F (2019) | … shall report to the board any person who there is reasonable basis to believe is in violation of section five, or any of the regulations of the board |
| Michigan | Mandated to report, MCLS § 333.16222 (2019) | Knowledge that another licensee or registrant has committed a violation under § 16221, article 7, or article 8 |
| Minnesota | Mandated to report, Minn. Stat. Ann. § 147.111 (2019) | Personal knowledge of any conduct which the person reasonably believes constitutes grounds for disciplinary action under § 147.01 to 147.22 |
| Montana | Mandated to report, MCA 37-3-401 (2019) | … shall … report to the board any information that appears to show that … a physician is guilty of unprofessional conduct |
| New Jersey | Mandated to report, N.J.S.A. 45 1-37 (2019) | If that health care professional is in possession of information which reasonably indicates that another health care professional has demonstrated an impairment, gross incompetence, or unprofessional conduct |
| New York | Mandated to report NY CLS Pub Health § 230 (2019) | Any information … which reasonably appears to show that a licensee is guilty of professional misconduct |
| North Carolina | No clear mandated reporting, per medical board | Per North Carolina medical board, reporting would “depend on each individual case” |
| Oklahoma | Mandated to report Oklahoma § 435 10-7-4 (2019) | Unprofessional conduct includes failure to report to the Board unprofessional conduct committed by another physician |
| Oregon | Mandated to report, ORS § 676.150 (2018) | Reasonable cause to believe that another licensee has engaged in prohibited or unprofessional conduct |
| Rhode Island | Mandated reporting at the request of the patient | See Table 2 and RI Gen. Laws Ann. § 5-63.1-2 (2019) |
| Texas | Mandated to report Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 81.006 (2017) | If the patient reports any sexual contact with a previous provider, clinician must report |
| Utah | Mandated to report, as per Utah medical board citing Utah Code 26-23a-2 (2018) and Utah Rule R156–67 (2019) | Any health care provider who treats or cares for any person who has any … injury inflicted by … violation of any criminal statute of this state (referable to Utah Criminal Code 76-5-406 (2019) |
| Virginia | No official mandated reporting | See Code of Virginia § 54.1-2400.4 (2019) |
| West Virginia | Mandated to report W. Va. Code § 30-3-14 (2019) | Report to the board any act of gross misconduct committed by another licensee of the board |
| Wisconsin | Mandated reporting at the request of the patient; see Wis. Stat. § 940.22 (2019) | See Table 2 and Wis. Stat. § 940.22 (2019) |
Taken from The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law in the article entitled, “Legal and Ethics Considerations in Reporting Sexual Exploitation by Previous Providers” by Michael R. MacIntyre and Jacob M. Appel
(Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online February 2020, JAAPL.003911-20; DOI: https://doi.org/10.29158/JAAPL.003911-20)
