Confidentiality and Informed Consenst

Confidentiality is one of the key ingredients to the therapy relationship and process. Confidentiality helps facilitate the high level of trust necessary to talk about the most sensitive topics in one’s life and to make the progress desired. The law protects the relationship between a client and a psychotherapist, and most information cannot be disclosed without written permission (ie: in the case you want me to share your information with your physician, lawyer, etc). In general, you should expect all information you discuss in your appointment will remain private and not be shared. There are a few exceptions to this high level of privacy and they include:

• Suspected child abuse or dependent adult or elder abuse, for which I am required by law to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately.
• If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person/s, I must notify the police and inform the intended victim.
• If a client intends to harm himself or herself, I will make every effort to enlist their cooperation in ensuring their safety. If they do not cooperate, I will take further measures without their permission that are provided to me by law in order to ensure their safety.

The above information is reviewed at the start of your first appointment to ensure you understand and to give you an opportunity to ask any questions that you may have around privacy concerns.