Confidentiality
What you tell your psychologist stays between you and your psychologist.
Under Section 23(1) of the Mental Healthcare Act 2017, you have a right to confidentiality in respect of your mental health, your care and your treatment. Section 23(2) places a corresponding duty on every health professional involved in your care to keep confidential everything obtained during it.
That is the rule. What follows are the only circumstances in which it gives way.
When we may share something, and with whom
The Mental Healthcare Act sets out the exceptions. They are narrow and we treat them narrowly.
- With your nominated representative, where you have appointed one and they need the information to carry out their role under the Act.
- With other mental health or health professionals involved in your care, so that they can provide it.
- To protect another person from harm or violence, where that is necessary.
- To prevent a threat to life.
- On the order of a Mental Health Review Board, the Central Mental Health Authority, a High Court, the Supreme Court, or another statutory authority competent to order it.
- In the interests of public safety and security.
In every one of these, the Act limits us to releasing only the information necessary for the specific purpose. We do not hand over a file. We share the narrowest thing that does the job.
One thing the law takes out of our hands
If we have reason to believe that a person under 18 has been the victim of a sexual offence, Section 19 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 requires us to report it. That duty falls on any person who has such knowledge, and it applies to us. It is not something we can weigh, and it is not something you can waive. Failure to report is itself an offence under Section 21 of that Act.
We would rather you knew this before you told us something than after.
Clinical supervision
No identifiable client details are shared with anyone, including in supervision.
How we handle it in practice
Where we can tell you before we disclose something, we will. Where we cannot, because telling you first would increase the risk to someone, we will tell you afterwards, and we will tell you what was shared and with whom.
Your records
How we store and erase your information, and the rights you have over it, are set out in our Privacy Policy.
Questions
Bring them to your psychologist, at any point, including in the first session. A question about confidentiality is a reasonable thing to spend session time on.