At (or before!) your first appointment, your counselor should explain to you that everything you say will be kept confidential. This means that they won’t go sharing your business with other people without your permission. No, we can’t go home and tell our families what you tell us in session. We usually can’t even tell YOUR family what you tell us in session. There are a few professional exceptions though, and these are the only occasions when it is appropriate for a counselor to share what you’ve shared with somebody else.
A counselor is ethically and legally bound to keep your private information private unless:
Your counselor believes that you are a threat to yourself or others. As mental health professionals, we have a duty to protect and a duty to warn. This means that if we believe that you will hurt yourself or somebody else, that is information that needs to be shared with somebody outside of session.
You are under the age of 18. Your counselor IS allowed to share information with your parents or guardians if you are a minor. What your counselor shares is something that the two of you should discuss. Unless there is a safety concern, good counselors will balance your parents’ right to know with your desire for privacy.
A court order compels the release of information. Records can be subpoenaed as part of legal proceedings.
There is two other instances in which counselors may discuss your information outside of session: consultation with other professionals and supervision.
Consultation: In any profession, it’s not appropriate to practice in isolation. While it’s good to have your own take on how to help people, it can be immensely helpful to bounce ideas off other professionals in the interest of enhanced quality of care and ongoing professional development. This means that your counselor may discuss aspects of your experience with other qualified professionals in the context of figuring out how to better help you. We are obligated to conceal any identifying information in such conversations though, so we’ll say something like “What resources do you have for people who want to improve their relationships with their parents?”, not “Let me tell you what this state senator Laura told me about her crazy mom Janet who works at Budweiser…”
Supervision: Part of training as a counselor is discussing your cases with a more experienced clinician, somebody called a supervisor. This is mandated as part of the Master’s program, and it is mandated in order to be licensed by the state to practice. If your counselor is under supervision, you should be 1.) informed that your counselor is under supervision, and 2.) supplied with the supervisor’s contact information so that you can contact the supervisor with any questions or concerns.
So the short answer is yes, your counselor can talk about you, but only in very specific circumstances and in very particular ways. Sharing your information in any other context is an ethical violation that can be reported to the state licensing board.
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