What is the importance of the ?

Question

"duty to protect" law to the field of psychology and how does it help psychologists, etc?

Answer 1

blah blah blah  

Answer 2

It makes counseling psychologists better able to do their job without worrying about lawsuits and punishment from ethics boards.  The idea is that the psychologist must act upon the greater good - they have a responsibility to warn the possible victim and call law enforcement if a client is making threats or expressing a feasible desire to cause harm to another person.  Because of the duty to protect law, a psychologist cannot be sued by a client for divulging information and breeching confidentiality laws, and a potential victim can be warned about their impending danger before they are actually put in harm's way.

I'm looking forward to seeing this law enacted in more states - even though it is a bit unnecessary, since the ethics codes do make it clear that a clinician should always protect the innocent, and has a right to violate confidentiality if the client may be a harm to self or others.