Confidentiality is crucial to creating a non-threatening environment in the therapy room. It may even be the reason why you have sought out counselling - you want to share something with an impartial person while having the confidence this person will not go blabbing or divulging your personal and identifiable information. What you share stays between you and your counsellor. There is an awful lot about your personal life you can trust your counsellor to keep private.
However, confidentiality is not the same as secrecy. There are exceptions and limitations to confidentiality that vary between countries. In the UK counsellors are bound not only by their profession, but also by law to inform a third party of certain activities that either you do or you know someone who does. As well as this, there are certain people who are authorised to demand your counsellor discloses what was shared in the counselling room.
The counsellor must break confidentiality when the law is broken...
Your therapist can break confidentially if a crime has been committed or if they have good reason to believe a crime to going to be. The types of crimes a therapist must disclose are crimes in which serious harm to clients or others may occur such as kidnapping, murder, terrorism or rape. Crimes that also include significant financial loss or gains, like identify theft or money laundering, must also be disclosed too.
What is important to note here is that sharing your thoughts about doing something criminal is not the same as doing something criminal, and counsellors know this. This means if you, say, express your anger in your therapy session and voice a desire to hurt another person, your counsellor understands your need to voice inner thoughts and feelings without a desire to actually act upon such thoughts. Sharing thoughts and feelings does not warrant a good reason for your therapist to break confidentiality. With this, should your therapist be concerned for whatever reason, they ought to speak to you about this before they inform others.
Having said all this, each counsellor and agency can have their own policies regarding what they are personally willing to hold onto, so you may want to clarify this with them. For instance, in the UK a counsellor is not required to inform third parties, like family or a doctor, about self-harm or suicidal thoughts. However, a counsellor may try and prevent their clients from putting themselves in danger, which may involve informing others. But be aware that they should make their policies clear to you before you start working with them and, again, they should speak to you first and foremost about their concerns.
Who can demand to know?
This part is more straightforward. Very few people have the right to be informed about what happens in the counselling room. Be rest assured, your family cannot come knocking and demand to be in the know. Nor can a member of the police.
The only people who can require the release of client information are:
yourself - you have the right to know everything your therapist keeps about you, as strange as this may sound. Your therapist will keep some of your personal information and client notes, and you are able to request these.
a judge. A court may enforce that a therapist attend court and disclose your notes (in the unlikely event). We therapists cannot refuse doing this. We may also be asked to produce a report about the work done in therapy though your consent should be obtained beforehand if possible.
a coroner, who is similar to a doctor and who is also a member of the judiciary. A coroner becomes involved should a client end their life or die in suspicious circumstances. Even if a client dies, confidentially still stands after their death. However, a coroner, as a member of the legal system, has the authority to bring a therapist to court to disclose information.
What about supervision?
There is always the question surrounding a therapist's mandatory supervision and confidentiality. In supervision a counsellor talks about their clients - but - they are not stating personal and identifiable information, which means a client is still being respected and held in confidence. Instead, importantly, counsellors share with their supervisor their experience of being in therapy with you, not you. Supervision is for and about the counsellor!
In sum...
In the UK, your counsellor is legally obligated to break confidentiality in instances where serious criminal activity occurs. They can be forced by a court to disclose the content of your therapy sessions in which the therapist will have kept brief notes. Activity occurring is not the same as sharing your thoughts and feelings, so be assured that you can open up to your therapist and they will not easily become frightened of what you think or feel and go and tell others.
Written by Lily Llewellyn
November 6th 2023
