Confidentiality & Counseling

You enter into a counseling relationship to begin a journey of personal growth and overcome obstacles preventing you from achieving your goals. This journey entails the disclosure of very personal information and you want to make sure you can trust the therapist to uphold your confidentiality.

You need to know the parameters of confidentiality BEFORE you start therapy. Most therapists will inform you of these parameters at the first session. In most circumstances, your confidentiality will be upheld. As I say to my clients, "What is said in this room, stays in this room." However, there are exceptions that most therapists must adhere to. Some of these may vary by state, so make sure you check with your therapist:

Legal Exceptions to Confidentiality Include:

•Child abuse or neglect
•Elder abuse or neglect
•Dependent adult abuse or neglect
•Serious threats to harm others
•A court order compelling a therapist to testify or release therapeutic information to the court.

Other/Ethical Exceptions to Confidentiality Include:
•Serious threats to harm yourself
•Case consultation with other mental health professionals for the benefit of your therapy
•Implementing a "no-secrets" policy, which is utilized in couples and family therapy to prevent members of the family from forcing the therapist to withhold secrets from other family members, which can be harmful to the therapy.

The best action you can take is to speak with your therapist at the onset of therapy about their limits of confidentiality policies, so you are aware of the parameters that protect your rights as a client.