Psychologist License Defense in Massachusetts

Complaints against psychologists often come from people in the middle of the hardest moments of their lives: a parent who lost a custody fight, a client who ended treatment angry, a former patient alleging a boundary violation. The complaint may say more about the conflict than about your work. But the Board takes every complaint it finds has merit seriously, and the way you respond matters from the first letter. Call (978) 273-8337 before you send anything.

A license-defense lawyer who also practices family law and has worked in health care.

I’ve been a registered respiratory therapist since 2005 and a registered nurse since 2010. As a respiratory therapist I spent many years at the bedside providing hands-on respiratory care. As a nurse I’ve worked in critical care and the intensive care unit of an acute care hospital, and I’ve held management roles in that setting. My practice also includes family law, so I understand how custody litigation produces Board complaints against evaluators and treating psychologists, and how to put those complaints in context.

— Richard Alan Gaudet, JD, RN, RRT

Who regulates psychologists in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Board of Registration of Psychologists licenses psychologists under G.L. c. 112, §§ 118 through 129A. Its ethical standards and disciplinary procedures are in a single regulation, 251 CMR 1.00.

The Board has adopted the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct as its standard of conduct, except where it conflicts with Massachusetts law (251 CMR 1.10(1)). In practice, that means a Board complaint is often argued in the language of the APA Ethics Code, alongside the Massachusetts statute and the Board’s own rules on records, boundaries and confidentiality.

Complaints are first reviewed by a complaint committee of two or more Board members (1.02). The committee decides whether a complaint has merit, whether to ask for your response, and what to recommend to the full Board.

What leads to complaints against psychologists

Anyone, including a Board member, can file a complaint, and the Board may investigate anonymous ones (251 CMR 1.01). The issues I see most often:

Custody and forensic evaluations: a parent disputes your methods, your neutrality, or your conclusions. These complaints often arrive while the family case is still going on.
Boundaries and dual relationships: for boundary purposes, the Board presumes the professional relationship continues at least two years after your last professional service (1.10(5)). Sexual misconduct with a patient is a ground for discipline, and the patient’s consent is not a defense (1.10(6)(f)).
Confidentiality: unauthorized disclosures, and failing to tell a client the limits of confidentiality. Clients must be told those limits by the end of the first session, and before a court-ordered evaluation or testing begins (1.11(2)).
Records: keeping inadequate records, keeping them for less than five years (for a minor, at least one year past age 18 and never less than five years), or refusing copies. You can’t make access depend on prior payment of your treatment bills (1.10(4)).
Competence: practicing outside your training and experience. This one is especially serious, because the Board treats a lack of adequate training for the conduct in question as prima facie evidence that the conduct was willful or grossly negligent and warrants revocation (1.10(7)).
Referral fees, misuse of your license status, advertising and fee problems (1.10(3) and (6)).
Discipline in another state for substantially similar reasons (1.10(6)(g)).

Responding to the Board

If the committee decides a complaint has merit, it may ask you to respond (251 CMR 1.04). Unlike some boards, the Psychologists Board doesn’t set a fixed number of days. Your response must be “timely,” on the schedule in the Board’s request, and it must address the substantive allegations. You can respond yourself or through an attorney.

Don’t ignore the request. If you fail to respond, the Board can move straight to an Order to Show Cause (1.07), and failing without cause to cooperate with the Board is a separate ground for discipline (1.10(6)(e)).

Your response will be read by psychologists on the committee. It should be clinically precise, cite your records, and explain your reasoning against the APA Ethics Code. It must also protect your other clients’ confidentiality and stay within what the law allows you to disclose.

The investigative conference

Before any formal hearing, the Board or committee can ask you to attend an investigative conference to discuss the complaint and your response (1.05). It’s informal, but committee members ask pointed questions, and the conference often decides whether the matter is dismissed, settled or sent to a hearing. Prepare for it, and bring your lawyer.

Dismissal

At any point, the Board can dismiss or close a complaint if there isn’t and won’t be enough evidence, or if the complaint doesn’t allege misconduct the Board can sanction (1.06). Complaints the Board finds lacking in merit from the start go into a general file without an investigation (1.03).

Suspension before a hearing

If public health, safety or welfare requires it, the Board can suspend your license, or refuse to renew it, before a hearing (251 CMR 1.08). It must give you a hearing on whether that was necessary within seven days, and if it doesn’t, your license is deemed reinstated. If you receive a suspension order, call a lawyer the same day.

Consent agreements and informal resolution

If the Board finds reason to believe the alleged conduct happened and violates the rules, it can issue an Order to Show Cause, offer a consent agreement, or resolve the matter informally (251 CMR 1.07). Many cases end at this stage. The terms of an agreement, and how it describes what happened, are negotiable before you sign.

Probation and supervised practice

Probation is a common negotiated outcome, and the Board’s rules spell out what it can include (1.09(2)):

Examinations of your physical or mental condition or professional qualifications
Therapy, or courses of training or education
Supervision of your practice
Restrictions limiting your practice to your areas of competence

Supervision has detailed requirements (1.09(3)):

Requirement	What the rule says
Written plan	Submitted to the Board, focused on the practice areas at issue and the APA Ethics Code
Supervisor	A Massachusetts licensee in good standing, approved by the Board, with no family, personal, professional or other past or present relationship with you
Start date	Supervision before the Board approves the supervisor doesn’t count
Reports	Quarterly if supervision lasts six months or more; every two months if shorter
Completion	You and the supervisor may have to appear before the Board at the start and end

Choosing the right supervisor and writing a focused plan can shorten probation and make the Board’s final review routine.

Resignation

You can offer to resign your license while a complaint, investigation or disciplinary action is pending (1.09(4)). It’s a drastic step: resignation cannot be reconsidered or appealed, and in most cases you must also confirm you aren’t licensed elsewhere, won’t seek licensure elsewhere, or will resign your other licenses at the same time. The exception is a complaint based solely on discipline in another state. Never resign without advice.

The Order to Show Cause and the hearing

If the matter isn’t resolved, the Board issues an Order to Show Cause and holds a formal hearing under G.L. c. 30A (1.07, 1.09(1)). Both sides present evidence and witnesses, often including expert testimony on the standard of practice. In sexual misconduct cases, special rules apply: consent is not a defense, the patient’s other sexual history is not admissible, and the hearing can be closed while the patient testifies (1.10(6)(f)).

Possible sanctions

After a hearing, the Board can revoke, suspend or cancel your license, or reprimand, censure or otherwise discipline you, and it can place you on probation with the conditions above (1.09(1) and (2)). Remember the competence rule: if the conduct was outside your training and experience, the Board starts from the position that revocation is warranted (1.10(7)), so evidence of your training matters.

Appealing a Board decision

If the Board suspends, revokes or cancels your license after a hearing, you can generally petition the Supreme Judicial Court for review under G.L. c. 112, § 64. The court reviews the hearing record and doesn’t retry the case, so the record built at the hearing is what any appeal depends on.

What I do at each stage

The response: review the complaint and your records, and draft a response that answers the allegations in terms of the APA Ethics Code and Board rules, while protecting client confidentiality.
Custody-related complaints: put the complaint in the context of the family litigation, and coordinate so the Board matter doesn’t become a weapon in the custody case.
The investigative conference: prepare you for the committee’s questions and attend with you.
Negotiation: negotiate consent agreement terms, including the supervisor, the supervision plan and its length.
Suspension and hearings: demand the seven-day hearing, present evidence and experts, and build the record for any appeal.
Probation: help you meet the reporting schedule and prepare for the Board’s final review.

What to do when the Board contacts you

Write down the date you received the letter and the deadline it gives.
Don’t contact the complainant, and don’t discuss the complaint with the client or family involved.
Don’t change, add to or “complete” any record or report.
Gather the record: intake and consent forms, notes, test data, reports, and correspondence.
Before you send any client information to the Board, check what the law allows you to disclose.
Tell your lawyer about any related court case, lawsuit, insurance claim, or matter in another state.

Facing a Board of Psychologists complaint?

Call or text (978) 273-8337, or send a message. I represent psychologists across Massachusetts, in person at my Middleton office or by video.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to respond to the Board of Psychologists? The Board’s request sets the deadline; the rules require a timely response that addresses the substantive allegations (251 CMR 1.04). You can respond personally or through an attorney. If you don’t respond, the Board can proceed to an Order to Show Cause.

A parent filed a complaint during a custody case. What now? The Board can investigate a complaint even while the family case is pending. Respond carefully and on time, stay within what you may disclose, and keep in mind that what you write may be seen by both sides of the custody dispute.

How long after treatment ends do boundary rules apply? For boundaries and dual or sexual relationships, the Board presumes the professional relationship lasts at least two years from your last professional service (251 CMR 1.10(5)).

Can I resign my license instead of fighting the complaint? You can offer to, but resignation cannot be reconsidered or appealed, and in most cases you must also give up or forgo licensure in other states (251 CMR 1.09(4)). Get advice first.

What happens if I’m suspended before a hearing? The Board must give you a hearing on whether the suspension was necessary within seven days. If it doesn’t, your license is deemed reinstated (251 CMR 1.08).