Counseling duty of care re mental harm

This Act basically says people can't sue you for mental harm without good cause and they can't sue you just because something made them feel bad. It means that you have a duty of care not to put people into a position that would result in a psychiatric illness if you could foresee what would happen.

See also the section on professional practice

Civil Liability Act 2002 (WA)

"Mental harm" means impairment of a person’s mental condition. If it isn't caused by a personal injury of some kind, it's called pure mental harm.

You only have a duty of care not to cause mental harm if you should be able to foresee that a normal person would suffer a recognized psychiatric illness without reasonable care, considering the circumstances.

• It's not normally an injury if it's the result of a sudden shock or traumatic experience (e.g. witnessing a person being killed, injured or put in peril, considering also the kind of relationship with that person)
• and whether there had already been a relationship of some kind between the plaintiff and the defendant.

The court may consider what the defendant knew (or should have known) about the fortitude of the plaintiff.

A court can only award damages for mental harm if it is a recognized psychiatric illness.