How mental health professionals can help when facing litigation.
Key points
- Being sued or charged can raise both emotional and legal challenges.
- Mental health professionals can provide support as well as court preparation and forensic evaluations.
- When considering engaging in therapy after being sued, consult your attorney about legal considerations.
You’ve just been sued. Your mind is racing and your heart is pounding. You need to prepare for an upcoming lawsuit, but you are not sure what to do or who to call first. In such situations, many people instinctively call an attorney—which may be entirely appropriate. Attorneys can provide you with critical legal advice, offer guidance about how to respond to the legal claims, explore conflict resolution options such as mediation or negotiation (Barsky, 2017), and, if necessary, act as your representative in upcoming court hearings. Although attorneys can help with the legal aspects of your case, legal proceedings also involve emotional and interpersonal concerns that may be better addressed through the assistance of a psychologist, social worker, family counselor, or other licensed mental health professional (MHP). In this article, let’s consider various ways that MHPs can help people involved in legal processes, including civil lawsuits, criminal justice cases, and family law disputes.
Help With Anxiety, Stress, and Depression
Legal actions are rarely just about facts and law. They can be emotionally taxing and overwhelming. You may feel personally attacked. Your job, family, reputation, or home may be at risk depending on how you testify and the outcome of the case. You may already be experiencing high levels of anxiety, stress, or other challenging emotions from other aspects of your work, everyday life, and interpersonal relationships. Mental health professionals can offer various forms of counseling, therapy, and support to help you through these challenging times. Cognitive-behavior therapy, for instance, can help you manage anxious thoughts and think rationally about the risks or concerns that you are facing. Relaxation techniques such as guided breathing and mindfulness can reduce physical symptoms and help you cope with stress. Person-centered therapy offers a safe place to explore the sources of stress and build a stronger sense of self-efficacy and resilience.
When seeking counseling or therapy, make sure your practitioner is a licensed MHP. This will help ensure that the contents of your session are “privileged”—meaning that your MHP generally cannot be compelled to testify about what you shared with them unless you provide permission for them to testify (waiving privilege). This protection allows you to speak freely and honestly in a confidential setting.
Despite the general protections of privilege, it’s wise to consult an attorney about the legal implications of seeking therapy during an active legal case. An attorney might have advice specific to your situation. For instance, while individual therapy with a licensed MHP is ordinarily privileged, going to group therapy might not be privileged since you are sharing your personal information with other people. Further, while MHPs are generally obligated to respect the confidential nature of information shared with them during therapy, they may have a duty to share certain information with others if they have reasonable concerns that you pose serious, imminent risks of harm to yourself or others (MacIntyre et al., 2024). There may also be different rules about confidentiality and privilege depending on whether the case involves criminal charges, adult guardianship concerns, or child protection issues (Barsky, 2024).
In some cases, your attorney might ask you to waive privilege and allow your MHP to testify in court. The MHP’s testimony might support your case by affirming your emotional stability, honesty, or good intentions. Remember, however, if you provide permission for your MHP to testify, the MHP has a legal duty to answer all questions honestly and fully—including questions from opposing counsel and questions that you might find embarrassing. Accordingly, before deciding whether to call your MHP to testify, it is crucial to have a frank conversation with your attorney about the purpose of calling your MHP, the types of evidence that may help your case, and the possibility of certain aspects of the MHP’s evidence that might go against your case or otherwise embarrass you.
Help Prepare to Testify
Attorneys typically take responsibility for helping clients prepare to testify. In some situations, however, it may be helpful to work with an MHP to help you prepare. Whereas attorneys may help ensure the legal accuracy of your testimony—including how it fits with case strategy—MHPs can help you focus on emotional readiness for testifying: for instance, how can you calm your nerves and strengthen your emotional regulation before testifying in court; how can you adjust your body language and manner of speaking to ensure you sound honest and convincing; and how can you stay grounded and calm when an attorney asks a question that could trigger anxiety or trauma responses.
Attorneys can help you determine whether it would be helpful to work with a forensic MHP for such purposes, as well as helping you select an MHP who would be appropriate for working with you. Note that neither attorneys nor MHPs should guide you on what to say. Both should focus on helping you to testify accurately and honestly.
Providing Evaluations as Evidence
Depending on the nature of the case and the legal questions at issue, your attorney might recommend that you participate in a forensic evaluation—an assessment conducted by an MHP whose findings may be shared in court as evidence (Barsky, 2024). A psychologist, for instance, might provide psychological testing to indicate your state of mind at the time of an alleged criminal offense. A social worker might assess your parenting abilities in a divorce case to help the court determine what is in your children’s best interests in terms of their primary residence. An addictions counselor might assess your progress in a drug treatment program.
Forensic evaluations can be requested by your attorney or ordered directly by the court. The advantage of court-ordered evaluations is that the evaluator and the results of the evaluation may be seen as more objective since it was the court—not the party or their attorney—who selected the evaluator. Note that the evaluator’s ethical duty is to serve the court, not you. A forensic evaluator must report objectively. They are not your advocate or therapist. Note also that what you say to a forensic evaluator is not privileged. Any information that you share with an evaluator can be used in court, at the evaluator’s professional discretion.
Conclusion
Whenever you are involved in a legal case, carefully consider what types of professionals may be of help. In addition to hiring an attorney for legal services, you might consider hiring an MHP for emotional support, therapy, witness preparation, or forensic evaluations. Consult your attorney about which types of help may be helpful. Ask questions about the intended role of the MHP, what information can be protected from disclosure in court, and when it may be helpful to authorize an MHP to provide testimony based on your therapy or forensic evaluation with them.
It’s important to avoid dual roles: an MHP providing therapy should not also serve as your forensic evaluator, and vice versa (American Counseling Association, 2014; American Psychological Association, 2017; National Association of Social Workers, 2021). Maintaining clear professional boundaries preserves ethical integrity and the credibility of your legal case, and guards against role confusion and conflicts of interest.
Ultimately, integrating legal and psychosocial support can help you navigate not only the legal challenges, but also the human experience of being sued, charged, or otherwise drawn into court processes. By securing appropriate and coordinated support from attorneys and MHPs, you can be better prepared for the emotional and interpersonal challenges that may arise.
References
American Counseling Association [ACA]. (2014). Code of ethics. https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ethics/2014-aca-code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=55ab73d0_1
American Psychological Association [APA]. (2017). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. https://www.apa.org/ethics/code
Barsky, A. E. (2024). Clinicians in court: A guide to subpoenas, depositions, testifying, and everything else you need to know. Guilford Press.
