The California Supreme Court's decision in Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California imposed a duty on the mental health profession to warn and protect readily identifiable victims from specific threats. Subsequent judicial decisions in California and other States have expanded this duty to include the protection of unknown persons from unspecified threats. Most recently, this duty was extended to protecting the victim's property. In response to the expansion of the Tarasoff doctrine, five States have recently enacted statutes that limit the psychotherapist's duty to warn. The Kentucky statute states that the duty to warn may be satisfied making reasonable efforts to communicate the threat to the victim and to notify the police department closest to the patient's and the victim's residence. In addition, the duty to take reasonable precautions to protect others from a patient's violent behavior is discharged if the psychotherapist makes reasonable efforts to have the patient civilly committed. Furthermore, in cases in which the victim is not identified, notifying the police constitutes an appropriate warning. The Kentucky law also provides that no cause of action and no monetary liability shall arise against a qualified mental health professional for disclosing confidential information in these situations. Other State legislatures should enact similar legislation to balance the complex interests of the mental health profession, patients, and society, 116 references.