Social Workers and Privileged Communication in the Federal Legal System

All 50 states and the District of Columbia recognize privileged communication between psychotherapists and clients. Many states recognize clinical or licensed social workers in the definition of psychotherapists. However, in the federal legal system, only professionals and clients who were recognized in common law had the right to privileged communication according to the Federal Rules of Evidence. Federal circuit courts of appeals have ruled differently about the extent to which psychotherapists have privileged communication, resulting in different rules in different parts of the country. In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Jaffe v. Redmond that clinical social workers and their clients have the right to privileged communication. This article discusses the implications of this ruling for several aspects of social work practice.