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Ryder v. Mitchell9/16/2002
JUDGMENT REVERSED AND CASE REMANDED EN BANC
JUSTICE MARTINEZ and JUSTICE BENDER do not participate.
In this case, we must determine whether a child therapist owes a duty of care to her patients' mother in a circumstance in which she allegedly misdiagnosed symptoms of parental alienation and reported her findings to the father and to the children's new therapist. The court of appeals found that such a duty exists. Mitchell v. Ryder, 20 P.3d 1229, 1233 (Colo. App. 2000). We disagree and now conclude that the duty the therapist owes the children themselves is primary and may, under certain circumstances, require disclosure to the parents or other involved parties. Creating a duty to the parents could conflict with or disserve the primary duty. Furthermore, the possibility of liability to the children in the event of breach or malpractice serves as an adequate safeguard against negligent treatment by the therapist. Accordingly, in balancing the factors necessary, we reverse the court of appeals and decline to impose a duty upon Gloria Ryder in favor of Denise Mitchell.
I. Facts
The plaintiff, Denise Mitchell, was divorced from her husband, David Mitchell, in 1995. In the divorce proceeding, the trial court awarded custody of the couple's two minor children to the plaintiff. That court denied the plaintiff's request that Mitchell receive only supervised parenting time with the children. Based upon a counselor's testimony, the court found that Mitchell was a fit parent who was entitled to substantial contact with the children. The court provided for a period without overnight parenting time followed by phased-in overnight visitation.
According to the plaintiff, in the summer of 1996, when the children, ages five and three, began overnight visits with their father, the plaintiff began noticing disturbing behavioral and psychological changes in both children. The plaintiff became convinced that Mitchell was abusing the children during his parenting time. In June 1996, she contacted attorney Nancy Simmons, a specialist in high-conflict family law matters, to represent her in pursuit of modification of Mitchell's parenting time rights and child support obligations.
Simmons suggested the prompt involvement of a competent health care professional and recommended the names of at least two potential therapists to examine and treat the five-year-old boy. The plaintiff selected psychologist Dr. Gloria Ryder, the defendant.
At the initial session, the plaintiff signed an express authorization permitting the five-year-old "to receive psychotherapy with Gloria J. Ryder, Ph.D." On the boy's information form, the plaintiff indicated that the reason for the therapy was "D.V. [Domestic Violence] - Out of control behavior." Shortly thereafter the plaintiff signed a similar authorization for the three-year-old girl. The plaintiff expressed her concerns to Ryder that Mitchell was abusing the children. Based on her therapy with the children, parental interviews, and investigation of available records, including consultations with third parties, the defendant formed the opinion that Mitchell did not pose a danger to his children. Rather, the defendant determined that the five-year-old's behavior problems stemmed from the boy's feelings that his father had abandoned him. Simmons and Ryder both testified in this case that, when Ryder indicated during the course of a conference call that there was nothing to support an accusation of sexual abuse, the plaintiff became enraged and indicated that she would sue Ryder for not making the necessary findings to "terminat Mr. Mitchell's parenting time with the children."
Subsequently, the pla
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