Counseling

Jessica · Post by **Jessica** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:14 am

I'm thinking about seeing a counselor at my college (not just about si but about some issues in general) and there's a part of their confidentiality statement about exceptions, and one of them is immenent harm to self or others: if a staff member has reason to believe that you are in danger of physically harming yourself or others. If I told my counselor about my si, would they be obligated to tell someone else, if so, who do they tell, and what would happen to me?

fallensun_rising · Post by **fallensun_rising** » Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:53 pm

hey

i think you're really brave for thinking about seeking the support you deserve.

my thoughts would be, it depends on where you are. in scotland, people under 16 but have a good understanding can consent to their own treatment or non-treatment and have their confidential things kept confidential (unless obviously you murder someone). the exception would be under the mental health act (which also applies in england). it says that if you are a big danger, they can get you into hospital. from what iv gathered from people in here, thats really really unlikely. you'd need to be pretty far gone for that.

in england, under 16 year olds don't have the capacity to consent, even if they know what they're talking about. parents can overrule decisions etc. maybe someone can explain it better, my knowledge of english law isnt too hot. you might find some guidelines on the GMC website (should come up in google).

who are you scared they'll tell? i imagine they'd ask your permission first. i imagine they wouldnt tell anyone that wouldnt be trying to support you too.

good luck n let us know how you get on.

Jessica · Post by **Jessica** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 12:22 am

I'm 18, so I'm not too worried about them talking to my parents. I just would rather not get professional help for si, I just want to talk, you know? It's fine if they referred me to someone else, but I probably wouldn't go. I just don't want them to flip out and send me to a hospital or something. That's not what I want to see a counselor for. I just want to talk and have someone listen and maybe give me some real advice. I guess we'll see how that works out.

kermit · Post by **kermit** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 9:00 am

Could you talk to your counsellor about what sort of things they would have to tell people? I've always interpretated it as they would have to tell someone if you were SU or SI was exceptionally bad and potentially life threatening.

collide · Post by **collide** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:53 am

well since u are seeking counseling for other things i would go for it...the si thing, it's up to u to tell or not...and i also believe as someone else mentioned that if your SI was really bad or you are SU...then they would call someone...

viewtopic.php?t=89417 (my POETRY)
viewtopic.php?t=88288&start=420 (my PLACE)

collide

rin · Post by **rin** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 7:59 am

As far as I know, I'd agree with what everyone else says- especially since you're 18. I just finished taking a counseling course and I believe confidentiality extends to everything except if you were to tell your counsellor that you were going to kill yourself or someone else... so like everyone else said- major, life threatening harm which doesn't usually include SI.

I hope that helps, and good luck...

rin

disastercake · Post by **disastercake** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:35 pm

I know in Michigan, in those cases the therapist, counselor, pdoc, etc. is required to tell the patient's parents.

Jessica · Post by **Jessica** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:16 pm

Even if the patient is legally an adult, 18 years of age?

disastercake · Post by **disastercake** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:45 am

Oh, sorry, I forgot to add that only if the patient is under 18. Because at 18, a person is legally responsible for him/herself.

black_23 · Post by **black_23** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:59 pm

I saw a councellor when I was at uni, in my 2nd year and she knew what I was doing and about su thougths, but never told anyone as far as i know. although the doctors were aware of it as was on anti-depr.
They seemed to keep it all confident though

HSUgirl · Post by **HSUgirl** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:27 pm

Well I am going to a counsel at my college and I told them about my SIing and it has stayed confidential. I think what they are talking about is if you threaten to kill yourself or tell them you are. Are if there is a possibility you might kill yourself. I was at first affraid to share because I thought the same thing.

Copasetic · Post by **Copasetic** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:51 pm

I went for counselling on my university campus, and that was also part of the confidentiality agreement. However, because I was so scared/worried about it, I just didn't mention SI at all (I was already terrified of being there - took me 3 weeks to even make the appointment, let alone go!). So maybe if you've got other stuff to talk about, you could start with it... and then slowly get into the SI if you have to. I don't know.

I only ended up going to a couple counselling sessions because the woman made me uncomfortable anyway, so I'm not much help.

HSUgirl · Post by **HSUgirl** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 1:09 am

Yeah me too. It took me a while to even have the guts to call the counseling center and when I finally did I was very nervous. At first we only talked about me being depressed finally after like going 6 weeks or so I got the nerve to even mention dealing with the issue of SIing. But my counselor was very nice which was good.

amerylis · Post by **amerylis** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 10:47 am

one way of finding out is to clarify at the start what is confidential this is what i did as i was under 18 when istarted counselling. i think i said something so hypothetically speaking if i was doing x would that stay confidential. maybe you could try that?

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