Tarasoff establishes which professional duty?

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Multiple Choice

Tarasoff establishes which professional duty?

Explanation:
Tarasoff creates a duty that mental health professionals have when a patient poses a credible threat of serious harm to another person. If a patient communicates a real risk against an identifiable target, the clinician must take reasonable steps to warn that person and/or to take protective action, which may include notifying authorities. This is an exception to confidentiality designed to prevent harm to potential victims. It’s not about merely reporting to police as a routine duty, nor about keeping the information strictly confidential or simply documenting it. So the essential duty established is to warn (and protect), not the other options.

Tarasoff creates a duty that mental health professionals have when a patient poses a credible threat of serious harm to another person. If a patient communicates a real risk against an identifiable target, the clinician must take reasonable steps to warn that person and/or to take protective action, which may include notifying authorities. This is an exception to confidentiality designed to prevent harm to potential victims. It’s not about merely reporting to police as a routine duty, nor about keeping the information strictly confidential or simply documenting it. So the essential duty established is to warn (and protect), not the other options.

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