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Can you tell your therapist about a crime?
Therapists take confidentiality seriously. They understand that clients need a safe place to disclose their most private thoughts and feelings. In almost all cases, your personal information is held in strict confidence. Only in extreme cases will your therapist need to break confidentiality to keep you or others safe. There are a few situations that may require a therapist to break confidentiality: If the client may be an immediate danger to themself or another. If the client is endangering another who cannot protect themself, as in the case of a child, a person with a disability, or elder abuse. Any time when the client poses an imminent danger to themselves or others where breaking therapist confidentiality would be necessary to resolve the danger. Any time when the therapist suspects child, elder, or dependent adult abuse. The following situations typically legally obligate therapists to break confidentiality and seek outside assistance: Detailed planning of future suicide attempts. Other concrete signs of suicidal intent. Planned violence towards others. So, in most cases, therapists who hear admissions of such abuse from patients not only can report their patients’ statements—they must. If, for example, a man confesses to his therapist that he recently beat his stepdaughter, the psychotherapist-patient privilege as to that confession may well fold. Prevention of serious harm to the client or to others ‘Murder, manslaughter, rape, treason, kidnapping, child abuse or other cases where individuals have suffered serious harm may all warrant breaching confidentiality.
Can you tell your therapist everything?
What can I tell my therapist? The short answer is that you can tell your therapist anything – and they hope that you do. It’s a good idea to share as much as possible, because that’s the only way they can help you. Can a therapist report a crime? Just as a therapist has the legal duty to reveal confidential information about self-harm or harming others to the police, therapists also must tell law enforcement about a potential future crime that a patient shares during a therapy session. Some people wonder if therapists have to report crimes, and the answer is a bit complex. They are legally required to tell the police or the potential victim if they believe a patient may hurt someone else. A psychologist is not required to report past crimes in most cases though. Will my therapist report me for my drug use? No, this is unlikely. If you’re simply discussing your personal drug use, that information should be protected under therapist confidentiality laws and also under HIPAA, the Health Information Portability and Information Act.
What is a therapist allowed to disclose?
Therapists are required by law to disclose information to protect a client or a specific individual identified by the client from “serious and foreseeable harm.” That can include specific threats, disclosure of child abuse where a child is still in danger, or concerns about elder abuse. Mandatory Exceptions To Confidentiality They include reporting child, elder and dependent adult abuse, and the so-called duty to protect. However, there are other, lesserknown exceptions also required by law. According to Zur (2010), one of the most cited examples of inappropriate self-disclosures are when practitioners discuss their own personal problems and hardships with their clients with no clinical rationale or purpose. Psychologists are ethically bound to protect your privacy regardless of what information you choose to share with others. For example, psychologists typically won’t connect with clients on social media sites, even if the client initiated the request.
What happens if you confess a crime to a therapist?
Anything and everything you say in therapy is protected by law, and a court order is required to allow the therapist to break that confidentiality. Even then, judges are very reluctant to issue such an order. That said, there are a few circumstances in which confidentiality can be broken. No matter what happens in the “real world” when you disclose certain information, it’s going to be different in a therapist’s office. Your therapist has likely heard it all, and the more honest you are about what you’re going through, the better they’ll be able to support you. Generally, the motion may state that the psychologist is ethically obligated not to produce the confidential records or test data or to testify, unless compelled by the court or with the consent of the client. Sharing personal experiences or views that violate a client’s value system may threaten the client’s trust in the counselor as an appropriate source of help, Too much counselor self-disclosure can blur the boundaries in the professional relationship. We walk a fine line of being on your side but making sure that you are grounded and can maintain proper boundaries. So yes, we as therapists do talk about our clients (clinically) and we do miss our clients because we have entered into this field because we remain hopeful for others. Can I ask My Therapist What He/She Thinks of Me? Yes, you can, and yes you should. This is a reasonable question to ask a therapist, and any good therapist will be happy to answer.