A client comes to you emotionally distraught. She appears very distressed. She reports sleep loss, panic attacks, flashbacks, and loss of appetite. You suspect that her symptoms are a consequence of events central to her lawsuit. You want her to be helped, and you also want to assess if her problems are due to the actions of the opposing party. A psychologist can be helpful in both cases. It is not a good idea, however, to use the same psychologist for both services: the therapist and the forensic examiner.

The role of a therapist is so much different than the role of a forensic examiner that they cannot be reconciled. A therapist serves his/her client and is an advocate for his/her well-being. In this role he/she must maintain confidentiality and engage the client/patient in a concerned, caring relationship so as to form a therapeutic bond. He/she engages in therapeutic techniques as opposed to purely fact-finding techniques, and information is usually gathered only from the client’s persepctive. The therapist, thereby accepts the client’s perception as reality. On the other hand, the forensic examiner is a fact finder. He/she works for the lawyer who has referred an examinee for purposes of a lawsuit. He/she assesses the nature and extent of the client’s problem(s). There is no assumption of confidentiality. The stance of the forensic examiner toward the client is one of polite neutrality. The forensic examiner uses information from a variety of sources, not just the client’s perspective.

As a practical matter, if your client is already engaged in psychotherapy, you may feel the need to obtain pertinent information from the treating therapist. As a lawyer, you must be very careful in this decision.

You may complicate ongoing psychotherapy by affecting the therapeutic relationship. The client may feel that his/her confidentiality has been violated or that his/her therapist should not be involved with his/her lawyer. My advice is to have the client make that choice prior to the attorney’s contact with the therapist and for the attorney to put the client’s decision in writing.