It is common for clients to be worried about disclosing information, wondering if it is safe to do so. You may be coming to therapy for many reasons and I aim to make it as easy as possible to talk about the things you wish to talk about. Confidentiality is of utmost importance within the therapeutic relationship, however, there are specific circumstances where the usual confidentiality cannot or might not apply which I am to make very clear below. If you have any questions about any of these points please do not hesitate to ask.

Requirements for Disclosure

The law forbids our normal confidentiality if:

• I become aware of information which I either know or believe might help prevent another person carrying out an act of terrorism, or might help in bringing a terrorist to justice in the UK, or about specified activities related to money and property used to assist terrorist activities.
• If I observe physical signs that an act of female genital mutilation may have been carried out on a girl under the age of 18 or I am informed by a girl under the age of 18 that she has undergone an act of female genital mutilation.
• The police request information about the driver of a vehicle at the time of an offence it must be disclosed by me as failure to do so would constitute a criminal offence on my part.
• I become aware of drug trafficking or money laundering that may be required to be reported under the Drug Trafficking Act 1994, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 or the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, if this happens, I may seek legal advice as to any statutory duty.
• I must disclose information that I am ordered to by a court or by a statutory request for access to personal data made under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

I may break our normal confidentiality if I become aware (or have good reason to suspect) that you have knowledge of:

• A past, present or future incident/situation that may be dangerous or harmful to you, another adult or a child and that is not known to the relevant authorities.
• Future or past criminal activity that has not been resolved in law. This means any criminal activity, of which the relevant authorities are either unaware or a case they know about which they consider not to be closed (provided you do not present information in therapy which would reasonably re-open the case). This does not include parking or traffic offences unless there is intent, by you or anyone else, to cause danger to yourself or others, or that it is deemed to be a serious offence. In such circumstances, I will work with you to see if we can work together to make appropriate disclosures.
• For our purposes a serious offence is: ‘Murder, manslaughter, rape, treason, kidnapping, child abuse or other cases where individuals have suffered serious harm or there is serious harm to the security of the state or to public order and crimes that involve substantial financial gain and loss.’

Other than as required by law:

• I may discuss your case with my clinical supervisor this is to ensure that I am working within your best interests and that I can provide the best therapy I can to you.
• Should I suddenly become unavailable, due to illness, injury or death which would prevent me from being able to contact you, I have an arrangement with a BACP accredited psychotherapist who will be able to access your contact details and notes so that they will be able to contact you and inform you of the situation and also be responsible for providing or facilitating referral of any ongoing care.
• In certain circumstances it may be necessary for me to contact your GP, however I will not give any personal details beyond what is necessary for me to disclose and this will, wherever possible, be done in collaboration with you.