client/therapist privilege - when is it "in effect"?

[Shari]

I need to draft an email to wee difficult child's devped based on our visit with the psychiatrist last week.
I really wish I had some notes (eye contact, etc)
Is that privileged info at this age? (wee difficult child is 5)

 

[witzend]

Your best bet would be to ask the dev/pediatrician write a referral letter to the psychiatrist, and to follow up with a parent report of your own. The dev/pediatrician probably won't release the file to you, and will want to speak for themselves as far as observations, etc.

 

[SRL]

A letter from psychiatrist to dev pediatrician would be good, with a copy to you.

You should be able to request a copy of his file and that way you would have a copy. You would have to sign for it and sometimes there is a fee.

I always think it's good to send your own email/letter as well, just to make sure you're all on the same page.

 

[smallworld]

It's been my experience that psychiatrists are almost always reluctant to divulge their entire files to their patients (including the parents) because of sensitive material and interpretations contained therein. But I certainly think it's appropriate to ask the psychiatrist to write a letter to the dev pediatrician detailing the diagnostic impressions you discussed at last week's appointment. Our specialists write these sorts of letters all the time so the whole treatment team is on the same page.