Federal and state confidentiality laws, the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and our therapists’ professional ethics guidelines all prohibit the sharing of your information with anyone else, without your consent. In other words, what you talk about in therapy stays between you and your therapist. There are, however, a few exceptions in which we have to break confidentiality: 1) A confession of a plan to harm self or another; 2) Disclosure of child or elder abuse; 3) Coordination of care in the case of an emergency.
Additionally, there are times when it is beneficial to both the client and the therapist to consult with another provider. This most commonly occurs when a client is supplementing the work done in therapy with medication management of symptoms. In these cases, with the client’s permission, our therapists at BCA are happy to consult with a physician for coordination of care.