As used in the Victim Counselor Confidentiality Act:
A. "confidential communication" means any information exchanged between a victim and a victim counselor in private or in the presence of a third party who is necessary to facilitate communication or further the counseling process and which is disclosed in the course of the counselor's treatment of the victim for any emotional or psychological condition resulting from a sexual assault or family violence;
B. "victim" means a person who consults a victim counselor for assistance in overcoming adverse emotional or psychological effects of a sexual assault or family violence;
C. "victim counseling" means assessment, diagnosis and treatment to alleviate the adverse emotional or psychological impact of a sexual assault or family violence on the victim. Victim counseling includes crisis intervention;
D. "victim counseling center" means a private organization or unit of a government agency which has as one of its primary purposes the treatment of victims for any emotional or psychological condition resulting from a sexual assault or family violence; and
E. "victim counselor" means any employee or supervised volunteer of a victim counseling center or other agency, business or organization that provides counseling to victims who is not affiliated with a law enforcement agency or the office of a district attorney, has successfully completed forty hours of academic or other formal victim counseling training or has had a minimum of one year of experience in providing victim counseling and whose duties include victim counseling.
History: Laws 1987, ch. 349, ยง 2.
Exclusion of victim advocates from definition of "victim counselor" in the Victim Counselor Confidentiality Act indicates the possibility that their work might be viewed as counseling. State v. Blackmer, 2005-NMSC-008, 137 N.M. 258, 110 P.3d 66.