The short answer: your records are yours. In California you can inspect them within 5 business days of a written request and get copies within 15 days, for no more than 25 cents a page. There is one mental-health-specific exception — a provider who believes access would cause you serious harm can offer a summary or release to another professional instead — but the default is: you ask, you receive.
Common reasons people do this: switching therapists, applying for SDI or disability, a legal matter, insurance appeals, or simply wanting to know what's written. You never have to give a reason.
Decide what you actually need
Full chart, or just parts? For most purposes — a new therapist, an appeal, SDI — you need the treatment summary or recent notes, not every page. Asking narrowly is faster and cheaper. Write what you need → ______________________ and the date range → ____________. (Psychotherapy process notes a therapist keeps separately have different rules than the official record; ask for "my medical record" and let the provider sort the rest.)
Put the request in writing
Email or a printed letter both work — California requires the request be written and signed (email with a typed signature is accepted in most practices; ask). The whole letter:
"I am requesting access to my medical records under Health & Safety Code §123110. Please make them available for inspection within 5 business days, and provide copies within 15 business days of this request. I understand copying may be charged at up to $0.25 per page. Date: [date]. Signature: [name]."
Date sent → ____________. Keep a copy of the letter.
Know the clocks you just started
Inspection: 5 business days. Copies: 15 business days. A provider may instead prepare a summary — they have 10 working days to do that (longer for complex records, with notice). If your therapist has died or closed the practice, contact the licensing board (BBS for LMFTs/LCSWs/LPCCs, Board of Psychology for psychologists) for the custodian of records.
If the provider declines or stalls
For mental health records specifically, a provider can decline direct access only by documenting that access poses a substantial risk of significant adverse consequences to you — and they must then offer the records to another professional of your choice, and note your request in the chart. If that happens, or if the deadlines simply pass:
"The statutory deadline under §123110 has passed. If the records aren't provided by [date one week out], I'll file a complaint with your licensing board."
Then actually file: BBS at breeze.ca.gov, Board of Psychology, or the Medical Board for MDs. Boards treat records-access violations as enforcement matters, not paperwork.
What happens next
Most requests are filled uneventfully inside the deadlines — practices handle them constantly. Read your records with some generosity: clinical shorthand ("patient presents disheveled") reads colder than the room felt. If something is factually wrong, you have the right to submit a brief written addendum to your file. Taking your records to a new therapist? Hand them over at the first session and say what you'd like carried forward.
Q&A
Q: Can I get copies of my own therapy records in California? A: Yes. Under Health & Safety Code §123110 you can inspect your records within 5 business days of a written request and receive copies within 15 business days, at up to $0.25 per page. A mental health provider can decline only by documenting substantial risk of harm — and must then offer release to a professional you choose. Source: TherapyCalifornia worksheets, August 2026.
Switching therapists? The next one should show prices and real availability up front → Find one
Sources
- Health & Safety Code §123110 — patient access, deadlines, copy fees — leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- Health & Safety Code §123115(b) — mental health exception — leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- Health & Safety Code §123130 — summary option and its deadlines.
- Medical Board of California, "Patient Access to Medical Records" — mbc.ca.gov
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