One of the most significant components of therapy is confidentiality. People speak about incredibly personal and sensitive issues and expect their psychologist in Brisbane to appreciate this. If this doesn’t exist then the trust in the therapeutic relationship falls down very quickly.
One of the main reasons why people choose to seek professional help is that the person is personally removed. Professionally we call it an unbiased 3rd party professional opinion. The problem with talking with our friends about our personal issues is that they are likely to gossip about it with others. As a result we choose to keep our problems to ourselves and often choose to suffer in silence.
The reality is that people in today’s society feel that they have no-one to talk with about their personal issues. We have friends and family who we can talk about superficial and surface level issues with. But when it comes to talking about our problems there is no-one. This is why people are increasingly looking to psychologists to fill this need.
Mental health professionals reporting guidelines
Mental health professionals reporting guidelines are very simple. Everything that happens in the session is confidential unless they feel that you are in danger of harming yourself or someone else. We as a profession have a duty of care to our clients to ensure their safety. In the intake session, your psychologist will conduct a risk assessment to ensure that you are stable psychologically.
Oftentimes clients are sent through agencies for counselling and the agency expects the psychologist to report back to them about progress. For example, a person on parole, may have to attend sessions as part of their condition of release. In this instance they will sign a release of information document allowing the psychologist to discuss with their parole offer what has been spoken about in the session. They are usually informal phone calls, where the psychologist confirms that they have been attending sessions and discussing identified issues as important to their successful rehabilitation. The discussion is summary in nature and very rarely goes into the specifics.
Psychologists are often asked to release their therapy notes for the purposes of a court case or a work cover claim. Again this requires the client’s consent.
There is a perception form some sections of society and the media that they will be locked up in a psychiatric hospital if they tell their mental health professional everything that they are thinking and feeling. The people who get locked up are: (1) suicidal; (2) have a significant psychiatric condition (e.g., schizophrenia). The hospital system is over stretched as it is. Having relationship problems or mild-moderate depression or anxiety is not going to get you locked up. We don’t live in the 1920s and have a much greater awareness of mental health.
Actually talking about your problems, is soo important for people to do, especially men. If your problems are spoken out load, then it stops your mind form going over and over them. Often this is all that is required. Luckily the stigma about psychologists and mental health is changing and people are educated about what actually happens in the therapy room. This is the purpose of this article.
Mark Korduba is a psychologist in private practice. If you are looking for a confidential Psychologist on Brisbane Northside then contact Mark Korduba