Your Privacy and Confidentiality
Rest assured, protecting your privacy and confidentiality is extremely important to me and an integral part of establishing a working relationship and mutual trust. My privacy policy is designed to be individualized and especially strict, particularly to accommodate clients who consider themselves high profile, individuals with security clearances, or other issues for which anonymity is essential. Regardless of your situation, I take your privacy very seriously.
My Therapy Policy for Individuals:
For the most part, I cannot speak to anyone about your treatment without written authorization from you in a release of information form which I provide. It is your choice if you would like me to have permission to speak with anyone. It is also up to you to decide the limits of information which I can discuss with an outside party. In some cases I may recommend a release to include an emergency contact and/or a physician, but ultimately, the decision is yours. (Also, see below, limits to confidentiality.)
My Therapy Policy for Couples and Families:
My policy for couples and families is identical to my policy for individual clients regarding disclosing information outside of sessions, but we will also need to discuss how privacy is handled within the couple or family in the first session. For instance, I usually recommend that one member of a couple/family not see me individually without the other, unless agreed upon previously; this discussion prevents confusion about privacy. (Also, see below, limits to confidentiality.)
My Under 18 Therapy Policy:
If you are under the age of 18, your parents have to give legal consent for you to receive services and may have legal rights to obtain your records. However, we can meet together with your family and agree upon a privacy policy before therapy starts. For the most part, I encourage families to agree to keep what is said in individual sessions between you (a minor) and me private, unless I am concerned for your health or safety. (Also, see below, limits to confidentiality.)
Limits to Confidentiality:
- There are a few rare instances when I am legally and ethically obligated to break our confidentiality:
- If you are a danger to yourself or others.
- If you tell me about current abuse by you or someone else against a child, elderly, dependent, or disabled person.
- If I am subpoenaed and ordered by a judge to divulge records/session content; this may include cases of worker’s compensation claims (if related to your treatment with me).
In the rare event that any of these situations arise, I will make every effort to discuss them with you during our session before taking any action. In most cases you and I will make a plan together in order to deal with breaking our confidentiality.