In counseling,
a student discloses sensitive personal information to the
counselor. Professional ethics and laws protect the confidentiality
of information shared in counseling sessions.
Your identity
as a client will not be confirmed or denied to anyone who
is not a Counseling Services staff member without your permission.
The content
revealed during the course of a counseling session and records
will not be released to any outside agency or individual
(including parents/guardians if you are 18 or older) without
your permission, except as required by law.
If a person
within the college community refers you for counseling,
(s)he will not be informed of your attendance or non-attendance
unless you authorize us to do so in writing by signing a
release of information form.
There are four
exceptions to confidentiality that you should know of before
you begin counseling. *
1 - Imminent Harm to Self
2 - Imminent Harm to Others
3 - Abuse of Children
4 - Staff Consultations and Supervision - The Counseling
Services staff may consult for professional purposes only
in order to provide you with the best possible service.
Mandated counseling
is infrequent, and is used as a developmental opportunity
for those who have committed college policy violations. The
contents of anything revealed will be kept confidential. Based
upon your meeting with a counselor, the counselor may provide
recommendations for you to uphold in order for you to comply
with the sanction imposed by college judicial procedures.
The recommendations, and your compliance or non-compliance
with them within a specified period of time, will be shared
with the appropriate campus official.
Staff does
not correspond about confidential matters or provide counseling
via email since it is not considered a secure environment.
* If disclosure
of confidential information does become necessary, we will
release only the information necessary to protect you or another
person.
