You want to remember what was said, or you want proof of what was said. Either way, the phone in your pocket makes it easy, and California's Penal Code makes it a crime to do without asking.
The short answer: only with your therapist's consent — and your therapist may record only with yours. Penal Code §632 makes it an offence for a person who, "intentionally and without the consent of all parties to a confidential communication," uses an electronic recording device "to eavesdrop upon or record the confidential communication," whether the parties are "in the presence of one another or by means of a telegraph, telephone, or other device."¹ A therapy session is a confidential communication as the section defines one: "carried on in circumstances as may reasonably indicate that any party to the communication desires it to be confined to the parties thereto" — which excludes a session everyone knows is being recorded.¹ The penalty is a fine of up to $2,500 per violation, imprisonment for up to a year in county jail or in state prison, or both — and up to $10,000 for a repeat offender.¹ And a recording made in violation of the section is not admissible "in any judicial, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding" — which defeats the usual reason for making one.¹ The same section binds the clinician: a therapist who records you without your consent commits the same offence.
What "all parties" means
You and the therapist, and anyone else in the room or on the call — a partner in couples work, a parent in a family session, a supervisor observing. Consent from one is not consent from all. A session over video is inside the section too: the statute reaches communications "by means of a telegraph, telephone, or other device."¹
Consent means agreement before the recording starts, and it can be conditional — for this session, for these minutes, for your own use only. A therapist who agrees is likely to want the arrangement in the record, and to ask that the recording not be shared, because a recording of a session contains their clinical work and your history in equal measure.
Why a therapist may say no
A recording changes what people say. Clinicians often decline because a session in which both parties know a file exists is a different session, and because the recording, once it leaves the room, is a file on a phone — not part of the medical record, and as easy to lose, leak or hand over as any other file. A "no" is not evidence of anything except a judgment about the work. Is therapy confidential? →
The reasons people want one, and the better routes
- To remember. Ask the therapist for a written summary of the session's plan, or for a few minutes at the end to write down what you are taking away. Many clinicians will do both.
- To prove misconduct. A secret recording is inadmissible in the proceedings where it would matter — a licensing complaint, a lawsuit — and making it is itself an offence.¹ The Board acts on complaints, on records, and on testimony; the route is the complaint. How do I report a therapist? →
- To share with a family member or another clinician. Ask instead for the records, which you are entitled to, and which travel with your authorisation. How to get my therapy records →
- Because the therapist is recording. Then ask why, where the file is kept, who can hear it, and when it is deleted — and remember that the statute lets you refuse. Recordings for supervision or training are common in clinics that train associates; they require your consent, and you can withdraw it.
Telehealth platforms
Some platforms record or transcribe by default, or offer "AI notes." That is a recording, and the all-party rule does not exempt a platform; the consent is usually buried in terms you clicked. Ask the therapist whether the platform records, and where the consent is. What happens to my data on therapy apps? →
Q&A
Q: It's my session. Isn't it my recording to make? A: It is a conversation with another party, and the statute requires "the consent of all parties."¹ Your therapist's part of it is theirs.
Q: I recorded without asking. What happens to the recording? A: It is inadmissible in any proceeding, except a prosecution for the recording itself, and making it was an offence.¹ Delete it, and if you need what it contains, ask for the records.
Q: Can my therapist record me for supervision? A: Only with your consent, given in advance; you can say no.¹ A clinic that trains associates will usually raise it at intake; if it does not, ask.
Q: Does this apply to a phone session? A: Yes. The section covers communications by telephone or "other device."¹
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Sources
- Cal. Penal Code §632 — the offence of eavesdropping upon or recording a confidential communication "intentionally and without the consent of all parties," in person or "by means of a telegraph, telephone, or other device"; the definition of "confidential communication"; the fine of up to $2,500, imprisonment in county jail or state prison for up to one year, and the higher fine for repeat offences; and the inadmissibility of evidence obtained in violation of the section in "any judicial, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding" — california.public.law.
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