PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY
We will treat with great care all the information you share with your Resolution Counseling Services therapist. All information disclosed within sessions and the written records of those sessions are confidential and may not be revealed to anyone without your written permission, except where disclosure is required by law.
Likewise, you are expected to keep our communications confidential and you understand that all records of communication between the client and the RCS therapist remain the property of Resolution Counseling Services. Most of the provisions explaining when the law requires disclosure were described to you in the Notice of Privacy Practices that you received with this form. It is your legal right that our sessions and clinical records will be kept private. That is why we ask that you sign a "release of information" form before we can talk about you or send our records about you to anyone else.
When Law requires Disclosure - Some of the circumstances in which the law requires disclosure include (I) When there is a reasonable suspicion of child, dependent, or elder abuse or neglect and/or (2) When a client presents a danger to self to others, to property or is gravely disabled.
When Disclosure May be Required - Disclosure may be required under legal proceedings. If you are involved in a custody dispute or if you place your mental status at issue in litigation initiated by you, the defendant may have the right to obtain the psychotherapy records and/or testimony by me. In couples and family therapy, or when different family members are seen individually, confidentiality and privilege do not apply between the couple or among family members. RCS therapists will use their clinical judgment when revealing such information. In order to release medical records for family therapy or couples therapy, RCS must have a signed release from all members involved in the therapy before records are released, unless RCS is compelled to do so by law or a valid court order.
Harm to Self and Others - If there is an emergency during the course of your therapy work at RCS in which we become concerned for your safety, the possibility of you injuring someone else or about you receiving proper psychiatric care, we will do whatever we can within the limits of the law to prevent you from injuring yourself or others and to ensure you receive the proper medical care. For this purpose, we may contact law enforcement, a hospital, or an emergency contact whose name you have provided.
Your RCS therapist and RCS support staff will make every effort to keep all information confidential. Likewise, if you are receiving Online Counseling, it is important that you determine who has access to your computer and electronic information from your location. This would include family members, co-workers, supervisors, and friends. We encourage you to only communicate through a computer that you know is safe and confidentiality can be ensured.
Litigation Limitation - Due to the nature of the therapeutic process and the fact that it often involves making full disclosure concerning many matters that may be of a confidential nature, it is agreed that should there be legal proceedings (such as, but not limited to, divorce and custody disputes, injuries, lawsuits, etc.), neither you (client) nor your attorney, nor anyone else acting on your behalf will call your RCS therapist to testify in court or at any other proceeding, nor will disclosure of the psychotherapy records be requested. In other words, RCS therapists do not provide evaluations or expert testimony for court proceedings. You should hire a different mental health professional for any evaluations or testimony you require.
Consultation - RCS counselors will regularly consult with other professionals regarding their clients; however, clients' names or other identifying information is never disclosed. The clients’ identities remain completely anonymous and confidentiality is fully maintained.
*Considering all the listed exclusions, if it is still appropriate, upon your request, your RCS therapist will release information to any agency/person you specify unless he/she concludes that releasing such information might be harmful in any way.
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