You can call when you feel a child is being harmed. Hence the dolls. Sometimes a child will say things they think the psychologist wants to hear so some times we will use puppets for the child to talk to (puppets operated by the psychologist). It's important to refrain from asking questions and basically narrating a child's story, it's important to let them talk without leading them on. If a child says "so and so hurts me" or doesn't listen to me, you need to ask them HOW and the manner of "hurt". They do not have an expanded vocabulary so "hurt" and "don't listen" can mean anything from "they make me eat veggies and go to bed early" or "my older sister/brother is mean to me" to "mommy burns me with her cigarettes while her boyfriend tells me to show him my no-no parts and asks me not to tell because I'll get into a lot of trouble and mommy will be mad at me". That's part of your training especially with young children, you spend lots of extra time in clinical psychology specifically dealing with kids. There is a whole other sub section called Abnormal Child Psychology/Child psychology that many seek out and choose to become educated in. It's not a bad idea either. Most of the time it is required if you want to deal specifically with children and adolescents. You have to be super confident and very, VERY careful. But like I said, it comes from the training and your "hunch" vs. the hunch of a psychologist are two totally different things. Many have no problem pulling a child from a home to protect their safety and to keep them out of harms ways.

Also, it is stated/posted in all offices that if it is suspected in anyway that you will put yourself or SOMEONE ELSE in harms way that patient-doctor confidentiality will be broken and the proper authorities/parties will be contacted and involved. In many states, you or a legal guardian has to sign a paper awknowledging that as part of your new-patient packet.