HIPAA laws very much apply, and unless your wife signed a written authorization for the therapist to release that information to you, the therapist can be in serious trouble for telling you that. Do you know if your wife did so?
HIPAA laws very much apply, and unless your wife signed a written authorization for the therapist to release that information to you, the therapist can be in serious trouble for telling you that. Do you know if your wife did so?
Let's address the other elephant in the room.
Having a mental illness isn't going to even matter in many cases. The BIG question as of right now, is what's the current schedule? This isn't the first custody-based question OP has asked here...but the details matter.
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Psych records are not the same as other medical records, necessarily. I suspect OP is not going to have a good day today....just a hunch.
How in the world would "patient confidentiality" apply? It was only considered my wife's therapist because she had the better insurance to get the most affordable couples therapy, but we BOTH were at therapy together when the therapist told her what she was doing wrong, then when my wife discounted everything the therapist said and refused to return, it was me who called the therapist (who considered us a joint case for couples counseling) who emphathized with all that I have had to put up with from my wife, and told me her assessment of my wife. End result is we weren't ready for couples therapy since my wife needed to work on her extreme issues first.
Did you know that very few therapists are willing to tell their patient directly what their mental illness is? Because that risks turning their patients away from them, especially in the case of depression/bipolar/borderline personality disorder (yes we've had several therapists who told me that but not her to her face). In relationships where these mental disorders exist, the partner without the disorder is very much part of the "case" and affected worse than the partner who was diagnosed. Google on "coping with a depressed partner" to see what I mean. It's horrible on everybody especially the child.
Wouldn't HIPPA go out the window when I am included in the sessions where I am told the problems with my wife right in front of my wife?
If you're going to try to invoke laws that you do not fully understand, you should at least try to abbreviate them correctly. It's not HIPPA; it's HIPAA.
The therapist's disclosure to you in the context of joint counseling is different from the therapist's disclosure to a court in the context of custody proceedings. I'm skeptical that a treating therapist is going to want to get involved in a custody dispute. You cannot make a therapist testify as an expert (i.e., give opinion evidence), your wife has privacy rights that a court will respect, and if you cap that off with the therapist not wanting to be involved in the litigation you're going to be complicating your case by trying to force that approach.
What is more common in the context of a custody case is to ask the court to order a neutral psychological examination of the parties, in relation to parenting. The neutral expert can perform or review appropriate tests, interview the parties, potentially interview new partners who are involved with the parties, potentially interview the children, potentially prepare a report for the court, or testify at a hearing. It costs money, of course.
Ok so when we demand a psychological examination of my wife... does that automatically include one of me too? (I can understand if so, but my mental health has never been questioned, while she acknowledges extreme depression)
Who pays for her examination? Does the responsible party depend on if the evaluation revealed bad mental health on her part?
A court-ordered evaluation would include you. The manner in which the evaluator would be paid will depend upon the circumstances. When the parties are relatively evenly situated, financially, the cost is typically split.
@Dogmatic, the current schedule is we both live together, but I spend far more time watching our daughter while she hides away and sleeps and deals with her depression (when she has the frequent episodes). Of course I fear she may try to change that pattern when this goes to court. I also fear she may try to fake her way through the test in order to pass the test if custody depended on it. Which is why past therapists and mutual friends (who are familiar with her issues) may be more accurate than an evaluation she might be able to fake her way through.
You believe that she's sophisticated enough to fool an impartial evaluator ... but she can't fool her friends? You do see how that looks, yes?
Regardless, here's the deal.
EVEN IF she has a diagnosis, this doesn't equate to you being the more suitable candidate for primary.
Do you work? Does she work? Where is the child during work?