Confidentiality — How It Works

What you share with me in session is confidential. I don’t discuss the content of your sessions with anyone else, including family members, without your permission. The exceptions are if I believe you or someone else is at serious risk of harm, or if I’m required to by law, I may need to break confidentiality — and wherever possible, I’ll talk this through with you first.

Confidentiality for Children and Teenagers

This works a little differently, and depends on age and understanding rather than a fixed rule.

Under UK guidance, a young person under 16 can be assessed as “Gillick competent” — meaning they understand enough about what therapy involves to make their own decisions about it, including what is and isn’t shared with a parent. Where a young person is Gillick competent, I work with them in much the same confidential way as an adult, and won’t share details of what they tell me with a parent without their agreement — except where there is risk or a safeguarding concern. In that case, as a duty of care, I would need to share the information, but this would be discussed with you first.

For younger children, or where a young person isn’t yet at that stage of understanding, I’ll usually agree with both the young person and their parent(s) at the start of therapy what will and won’t be shared, so everyone knows where they stand before sessions begin.

In every case, the same safeguarding exception applies: if I believe a child or young person is at risk of serious harm, I have a professional responsibility to act on that, which may include informing a parent or the relevant authorities.