Confidentiality

[Jenny]

Confidentiality for me is very important in the therapeutic relationship and i have just found this article on the BACP website which describes confidentiality very well from both a client and therapist perspectives.

BACP Confidentiality Information Sheet (http://www.bacp.co.uk/members/info_sheets/pdf/G2_web.pdf)

[robertwitton]

Confidentiality is the keystone of counselling. I practise out of Cornwall where everybody really does no everybody else and it is often important to reinforce the nature of confidentiality to my clients again and again. The potent mixture of being free to talk in a confidential environment and being listened to without judgement is enough to produce profound therapeutic results. Confidentiality in rural areas is more pressing and demanding than in cities. We often bump into our clients in our everyday lives and if we are well known ourselves communication itself can betray the fact that we are counseling somebody. Counselling in Cornwall (http://www.cornwallcounselling.co.uk) can test our professional boundaries early on and it is important the way client confidentiality can be tested is broached in detail in our training.

[Jenny]

Hi and welcome to the forum :)

Thanks for sharing your experiences and link.. I agree confidentiality is very important in counselling. I personally have never bumped in to a counsellor or anything although have always lived in a different town/area so the chances are diminished. I imagine it could be very strange though, i mean if a client did bump in to counsellor would you say 'hi'? Of course you wouldn't stop and chat but just an acknowledgement? Is this something you talk about in your first session with a client? Because i imagine it could cause problems either way, like if you did see a client but didn't acknowledge them by just a 'hi' it could leave them feeling you don't care.. but on the other hand if you only said 'hi' and didn't stop to "chat" maybe that could hurt them too! Or if you DID stop to chat that would be odd too! Woah, i am glad I've never bumped in to my counsellor :)

[Old Wolf]

I always try to make the point at the start along with other contractual stuff of telling the new client that should I see them out and about I will not acknowledge them unless they acknowledge me. I state the reasons for this stressing that it won't be me snubbing them. If, as does happen in this small town, I meet them on the street I may return a smile or a Hi in passing but no more. I still see an old client from years back occasionally but we still only exchange a smile on passing (even though I am dying to know how she is getting on!!)

[mel]

but you have to be careful to not confuse confidentiality with 'keeping secrets'

[carlos64]

I personally think it's important to be clear with the person about confidentiality from both sides, some counsellors will, to some degree, self disclose (mine did when I was in therapy for addiction and this helped) and if I were practicing I wouldn't want everyone to know what I told my client. I believe self disclosure can be useful in certain circumstances and it can add depth to the relationship but I am only sharing the information with that person at that time. :)