Tarasoff
decision
the 1976 California Supreme Court decision in Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, which placed limits on a client’s right to confidentiality by ruling that mental health practitioners who know or reasonably believe that a client poses a threat to another person are obligated to protect the potential victim from danger. Depending on the circumstances, that protection may involve such actions as warning the potential victim, notifying the police of the potential threat posed by the client, or both. The decision was based on a case in which an individual confided to his therapist that he intended to kill a friend and later did so. See also duty to protect; duty to warn.