How Confidential Are My Therapy Sessions?

Published July 18th, 2024

4 min read

 

Therapists strive to maintain your privacy, but will need to break confidentiality in extreme cases.

 

Written by Simon Spichak

 

Therapists strive to build a trusting, safe environment with the ultimate goal of making you feel comfortable sharing your inner thoughts and struggles. For the most part, what you share with the therapist is kept secret. However, in extreme cases where there is immediate danger to your life or someone else’s, a therapist is legally required to share some of the information with the police.

What do therapists report?

Therapists are legally obligated to report the information you shared during therapy in the following situations:

  • When there is an immediate risk of physical or psychological harm to you or someone else, the therapist may report this to the police, warn a potential victim, or tell a doctor who may be taking care of you.

  • When the therapist believes a child is being abused.

  • In very rare cases, a therapist can be ordered by a court or law enforcement officers to share information.

With your permission, therapists can share some of your health information with other parts of your medical team or other therapists you might be seeing.

Do therapists report suicidal thoughts?

Some people worry that therapists will report them to the police if they talk about suicidal thoughts or self-harm. Therapists understand how to navigate these questions and assess risk. In most situations with lower risk, therapists do not report these thoughts.

After all, it would be counterproductive to report every case, as this would make people less likely to talk with therapists about their struggles.

Already, 50 to 60 percent of people do not tell others that they’re thinking about suicide because they may be worried about their reaction. People are more likely to disclose these thoughts to family and friends than therapists.

How therapists navigate conversations about suicide

Suicidal thoughts are a typical response to extreme stress. Therapists are trained to help you process these thoughts in a healthy way.

To understand more about your situation and risk, they might ask about:

  • Passive ideation, which means having thoughts about wanting to die or thinking you’d be better off if you disappeared.

  • Whether you’re having thoughts about self-harm or suicide.

  • Whether you have a desire to die by suicide.

  • Whether you have a plan, means, or have taken steps to prepare.

The therapist will also ask you whether there are stressors in your life that might be causing you to feel this way. They may ask if you have reasons that you want to keep living — many people, for example, will mention not wanting to die by suicide because of their family members, friends, or pets.

Your therapist will work with you to come up with safety plans that empower you cope when suicidal thoughts arise. The plan can involve using a series of coping strategies that you can employ, phone numbers of friends or family members to get in touch with, or hobbies that can distract you from these thoughts.

How Resolvve can help

Resolvve provides confidential and affordable online therapy that can help you with your mental health needs. Our therapists have experience working with patients who have anxiety, depression, and OCD — conditions that may lead to suicidal ideation.

If you are seeking immediate help, contact a crisis support line:

Please note that this post is written for educational purposes; it is not therapy. If you need to talk to a professional, please book a consultation with a psychotherapist through Resolvve.

Mental HealthSimon Spichakno-image