“Can my psychologist talk to anyone else about me?”

Therapy is always absolutely confidential information. There are a few limits to the confidentiality agreement with respect to the exception for a clients' well-being, and if one is a danger to oneself or others. You should definitely talk with your therapist to review these official policies. The heart of therapy is built on trust, and a well developed therapeutic alliance so you want to be fully comfortable and assured so you can share whatever is helpful to you. Important that you clarify these feelings and much success to you in your therapy.

Your information shared with a behavioral health professional is always confidential. This means that it is held in confidence and is shared with a third person(s) only with your permission unless legal requirements apply. There are other considerations for minors.

Not unless you give permission for them to talk to anyone. If they are bound by law to be professional and if they do speak to anyone, you may take legal action. If you are threatening to harm yourself or others, then they are obligated to contact the authorities.

The answer is basically no without your consent unless there is imminent danger of harming another person or danger to self.

There are 3 limits to confidentiality: threat of harm to self or others; abuse or neglect; and legal proceedings with a subpoena or services involving a court order. Otherwise, confidentiality is assured and an adult must give written permission for their therapist to share information about you with anyone else.

the psychologist is not permitted to share any information without your information or consent.

Ethically another psychologist or psychiatrist. But you never know! Normally they never do, but we are all human.

I am surprised that the psychologist did not review with you the boundaries of confidentiality prior to you sharing information with him or her. This should always be done for patients. However, I would recommend that you contact the psychologist you met with and ask that individual to review the boundaries of confidentiality with you prior to sharing any additional information. Psychologists go to extreme lengths to protect the privacy and confidentiality of their patients. We believe that this is extremely important because we cannot help people if they do not trust us. However, there are situations in which we have no choice but to disclose confidential information. Those situations typically include the following scenarios: 1. If you are suicidal, the psychologist will need to contact the police or trusted family members to assist with having you admitted to a hospital for your safety, 2. If you are homicidal, the psychologist has a duty to warn the individual you are intending to kill or harm, 3. In cases of child or elder abuse, the psychologist has a duty to contact the Department of Child and Family Services to ensure the protection of the child or elderly individual, 4. If there is a legal matter pending, it is possible that your records can be subpoenaed and a psychologist may have no choice but to turn them over to a judge.

Psychologists are bound by confidentiality laws. For the most part, what is said in counseling, stays in counseling. Client confidentiality is a requirement that therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and most other mental health professionals protect their client's privacy by not revealing the contents of therapy. However, there are a few exceptions. "Duty to warn" is a legal term that requires a counselor to inform third parties or authorities if they have reason to believe that a client poses a threat to him or herself or another identifiable individual. Duty to warn is designed to keep people safe and a counselor is bound by law to violate confidentiality if they believe someone's safety is in jeopardy. So unless you expressed intentions to harm yourself, someone else, OR you named names of others you know who may harm someone, then there should not be a reason for your information to be discussed with anyone without your express permission (typically written permission).

Please keep in mind this reply is for information purposes only and does not constitute treatment.

Times when your psychologist can share information about you without your prior consent are generally very limited. The specific limits for this are set by a combination of federal and state law, so where you are seeing your psychologist will set these limits. The psychologist you are currently seeing may have discussed what are often called the "limits of confidentiality" with you at the start of your treatment with them.

Again, generally, most mental health providers cannot share your information with other outside parties without your prior consent, which is usually gotten in writing. If you are worried about your information being shared, you can always address this concern to your psychologist at the next session, or ask to review the confidentiality policies they use.

NO! It's against the law. A clinician can use the narrative with others if it would be helpful to the other patient, but no identifying information can ever be disclosed.

There's a lot to this question. Primarily you are guaranteed confidentiality, and if you find out that this doctor has shared your confidential information without consideration of your privacy, you may have a lawsuit. You can report him or her to their board, as well. However, we are trained in keeping information to ourselves. There are a few exceptions to consider. If you reveal you want to kill someone or harm them, we are mandated to report to that party to take cover. If you report child abuse, we are mandated to get protection for the child. The same applies to elder abuse and disabled and dependent persons.

I have my own caveat. If a patient worries about confidentiality I begin to wonder why. That doesn't mean I'm going to talk about you, but it does present a red flag to me. Are you living your life underground keeping secrets that are harming you. We all deserve an authentic life, in which we can live openly. Some of us have nothing to hide, but think that their normal process and failures stigmatizes them and they should appear perfect to the world. Some of us don't know how to make mistakes and be proud of what we learned or how we handled them. Living life secretly can be a way of avoiding natural consequences for our choices. It can be a way of living a dishonest life. Some of us want to keep secret the bad things that happened to us, for which we were innocent. These things should not stigmatize us. There is a high price for living secretively, and usually there is something wrong beneath. Good therapy will help you strategize your life so you are free to be an open person, unless that is not practical.

Lastly, believe it or not, unless this therapist knows people you know, no one cares. I like to remind myself that I am just not that interesting. Maybe your case is interesting, but we don't have a need to talk about you to others, and if we did, we would make up a name and even identifying characteristics, just to have the freedom to consult or to teach. We don't need to gossip. If we gossip, we should lose our license or have to go to therapy ourselves until we become safe.