CA Psych Juris cheat sheet
CA Psych Juris · Keep the key ideas within reach.
Consent, confidentiality, and privacy
Identify who is the client and who is requesting information.
Separate consent to services from authorization to disclose information.
Verify representative authority rather than infer it from family status or payment.
Apply the actual scope of a release, revocation, order, or exception.
Use accessible explanations and check meaningful understanding.
Plan privacy for staff communications, devices, vendors, and remote sessions.
Do not promise absolute secrecy or control over other group members.
Remove unnecessary identifiers from consultation and teaching material.
Safety and mandatory reporting
Assess actual statements, behavior, history, context, and immediate needs.
Do not substitute diagnosis or housing status for individualized risk assessment.
Reasonable suspicion is not the same as proof beyond reasonable doubt.
Identify the designated report recipient; internal notice may not be sufficient.
A parent or supervisor cannot simply veto a statutory reporting duty.
Consult promptly without allowing consultation to delay urgent protection.
Tie protective disclosure to the lawful purpose and relevant information.
Record actual assessment, rationale, consultations, and actions without outcome guarantees.
Licensure, competence, and professional practice
Legal authorization and competence in a particular service are different questions.
Represent license, registration, training, and credentials accurately.
Supervision requires substantive oversight and truthful verification.
An introductory course is not automatic mastery of a specialty.
Check current requirements for license status and professional development.
Correct billing to reflect the services actually provided.
Address financial conflicts and do not promise guaranteed cures.
Insurance, employment, and private contracts do not expand legal authority.
Professional relationships and ethical judgment
Professional power remains relevant even when a client initiates a proposal.
Current-client sexual involvement is not made acceptable by a consent form.
Termination or elapsed time does not automatically erase exploitation risks.
Evaluate gifts, barter, incidental encounters, and additional roles in context.
Keep personal disclosure focused on the client's therapeutic interests.
Clarify family, treatment, forensic, and supervisory roles before conflicts develop.
Plan appropriate endings and coverage while attending to safety.
A complaint or public review is not automatic permission to expose confidential information.
Assessment, records, and legal process
Define the referral question and use methods suited to the purpose.
Consider norms, culture, language, administration changes, and response sources.
Distinguish data, protected testing materials, and clinical records.
Attribute collateral reports and qualify conclusions when evidence is limited.
Confidentiality and evidentiary privilege overlap but are not identical.
A subpoena, judicial order, warrant, and authorization require different analysis.
Verify access, retention, minor-record, and preservation requirements.
Correct material errors transparently; never fabricate, backdate, or destroy evidence to evade process.