The ethical and legal implications of Jaffee v Redmond and the HIPAA medical privacy rule for psychotherapy and general psychiatry.

The 1996 Jaffee v Redmond US Supreme Court decision established a privilege for psychotherapeutic communications in the federal courts. The new privilege has both substantive and symbolic importance. In its strongly worded opinion in Jaffee v Redmond, the US Supreme Court made clear that confidentiality in psychotherapy takes precedence over certain other important societal goals.