Limits of Confidentiality in Counseling

Consent

• At times, it may be necessary for your therapist to consult with other health care providers who are simultaneously treating you. At the beginning of treatment, as part of the standard forms that patients fill out, therapists often include a "Release of Information" form. This form states what information can be released and how long therapist have the power to release the information. By signing the form, you are giving consent to the therapist to reveal confidential information, as necessary.
  
  

Subpoena

• Your therapist can be subpoenaed to testify at trial. The therapist will have an opportunity to object to the subpoena and to explain to the judge why her testimony is unnecessary or improper. However, ultimately, a judge can order a therapist to testify. Forced testimony by therapists in court is rare, but it can be used in proceedings where a person's fitness is at issue (e.g., in a child custody case).
  
  

Danger

• If you pose a danger to yourself or others, a therapist may divulge confidential information to prevent any injury or crime from taking place. For example, if you threaten to commit suicide or tell your therapist that you plan on physically attacking another person, the therapist has a legal obligation to taken steps to keep everyone safe. The information that can be disclosed, however, is limited only to what is necessary to prevent harm to a person and not all confidences shared with your therapist.
  
  

Debt

• A therapist may not reveal specific confidences shared during counseling in an action against you for overdue therapy expenses, but he may indicate the nature and amount of the debt owed to him to a collection agent. If the therapist is forced to file a lawsuit against you for services rendered, the court will typically focus on how the debt accrued and why the debt remains -- not your actual therapy sessions. Alternatively, if you pursue legal action against your therapist for professional malpractice or negligence, specific confidences may be revealed because how the therapist responded to them goes to the very heart of those claims.