can what you tell a therapist get someone arrested?

[ncccc2]

if i told my therapist about child abuse during my childhood, would they involve the police?

@thesootherfairy mine also a clinical psychologist, I have appointments weekly x

@Namechange1991x thank you that's great to know.
@jendifer. That's not great 😬 yikes.
She's the one providing me with therapy though (it's for an ED).

Looks like I need to put my big girl pants on, hoik them up and ask her directly.

I must admit I'm now absolutely crapping myself.
Thanks so much everyone ❤️

Ex post @Star8181 😁
That makes me feel better!
Phew.
I might still have to ask or live in terror.
It had never even occurred to me that she might have to tell someone.

I'll have to learn to think before I speak.

Although it might be referred to as therapy, it isn’t. It’ll be therapeutic skills so the aim is different and how they work with you is governed by set procedures rather than the relationship between you both.

@jendifer
Oh. That's really interesting. I had no idea there was a difference. I'll have to go and google now. I'm a bit confused. I'm sure the letter I have says they are providing therapy. Nothing about skills.

Who knew it was all so complicated.

Therapist isn’t a protected title so anyone can do anything and call it therapy. It doesn’t mean they have trained as a therapist or have training is in working therapeutically.

@thesootherfairy I thought I recognised your username - you are on the ED thread! I’m also being treated for an ED, but I haven’t posted much about it on the post, I find it hard to know what to say sometimes
My psychologist really feels like therapy, it has been so helpful. I am able to talk about anything in my sessions. It’s slow progress but I’m getting there.

@Star8181 yes it is! I recognised you.

I'm glad it's going well for you.

I hope mine will too. I've only just started. It's quite nerve wracking tbh.

@jendifer I see. That's very interesting. I had a quick google and think I see what you mean about the relationship side of it.

@jendifer clinical psychologists in the UK absolutely do have supervision, do provide therapy and work on a relationship basis.

Your therapist should have set out the parameters of their confidentiality before starting to work with you. I do this with all new clients (not a therapist but a very similar role) and periodically at the start of new sessions if I think a reminder is needed. With children and young people they are made aware that if anything they tell me makes me worried about their safety or even sometimes their wellbeing I have to talk to other professional adults about it. But with all of my clients, I would never listen to disclosure and then sneak off and call the police. It would very much involve a conversation with the client about my concerns, what I was going to do next, what they could expect or if it was an adult or older teenager we might talk about how they might take control of the situation themselves.

And the reason they would disclose would not be because their work is not relationship-based, but because there is a statutory duty to do so under specific criteria. I’m surprised this doesn’t apply to you- it certainly does to all the psychotherapists I’ve ever worked with in the nhs.

Clinical Psychologists are regulated by the HCPC and it is one of the most protected titles working therapeutically in the NHS - they provide evidence based psychological therapy, have mandatory supervision and may or may not have their own personal therapy.

It's worrying and misleading that @jendifer is suggesting anything other than this.

@Daydrambeliever thank you that's a relief! I've been so worried after reading this thread. It's good to know she's likely to talk to me first.

@Underthenutellaellaella
if she has a statutory duty, does that still mean she would talk to me first.

No we've not discussed confidentiality.
Not sure why not if that is normally done.

@thesootherfairy sorry if my comment caused you further worry, I was replying in a hurry while doing bedtime as was worried about the misinformation shared further up thread. The statutory duty applies in particular circumstances and it may be that your situation wouldn’t meet the requirement/ability for her to do so anyway, but on the whole it would be very unusual for it not to be discussed with you first. Most people working in these fields are more than happy to talk about confidentiality and how it works- both generally and specifically, and it is really important that you feel safe in what you discuss in your therapy so please do follow it up and hopefully that will put your mind at ease.

[quote thesootherfairy]**@grandpacificpineapple* and @Star8181*
Thank you both.

The worry for me is that it is someone in medical profession and I wouldn't need to give a name because I gave dates (year) and it would be in my medical records. And as I said someone with access to the vulnerable in position of authority and still working.

Do you think she would report without taking to me first?

I'm not keen on bringing it up again in case she decides to get me involved in reporting it. [/quote]
She would be derelict in her duty if she referred without talking to you first and putting a support plan in place for you

All confidentiality should be explained in sessions and depending on your profession and crucially, the setting of the sessions will influence what you do.

For example - in a school as a school counsellor/psychotherapist I worked with young people under 18 under a set of safe guarding rules - I am obliged to report, this is a safeguarding rule with no leeway. This would still be explained to the client.

In private practice with adults there is possible obligation - one scenario that comes up a lot is client is being abused by partner and the children are witnessing that or being physically abused themselves. These are children directly at risk that the client is responsible for - I would with the client make a report to social services/GP. I have stopped a client before and made them
aware of this if they haven't grasped this in the contracting confidentiality part at the beginning. This happens at least 6 times a year for me in private practice.

An adult talking about historic abuse they suffered - probably no obligation to report unless they say perpetrator absolutely still works with children. This would be explored in session.

The criteria under law you HAVE to report with adults in a private setting (applies to everyone in every setting) is terrorism. Under the terrorism act all professionals in mental health have to report if a client says they're going to commit terrorist acts.

The most common scenario where children are at risk is the children of the client.

See section 4 - www.bacp.co.uk/media/6305/bacp-managing-confidentiality-legal-resource-gpia014-july2019.pdf

Whenever there’s a thread on therapy on Mumsnet they almost always seemed to full of incorrect information. Best bet, ask your therapist what they would do if you disclosed, without making the disclosure.

Hi OP my DH is a counsellor (accredited) and I e seen a counsellor for years and one for EMDR therapy.
I was sexually assaulted by a hospital consultant inn2019. I’ve given them the name and details etc because it’s because of him that I have PTSD. He works with vulnerable women and children. I think he’s very likely to do it again (I had my daughter at the appointment).
Ive told the police, the FMC, the hospital Trust, my MP, Social Services, the Care Quality Commission, Healthwatch and the local press. Guess what... nothing really happened (he was Investigated, whoop de do!)
But neither therapist raised it as a safeguarding issue with any authorities.
The only time a therapist considered raising a safeguarding concern was when I was concerned about a friend’s children. She didn’t actually make it though (we discussed it).
Please be assured the therapist or counsellor won’t do it without your knowledge.
Plus please also consider discussing it with your therapist- whoever has abused you shouldn’t have this hold over you where you live in fear. Therapy can help you manage the difficulties that the abuser has caused.

Sorry for the typos - I meant GMC

@DelilahDingleberry problem is that I already made the disclosures and then over the weekend read this thread that @ncccc2 posted and freaked out a bit.

Thanks everyone. I emailed her to test the waters so to speak and she replied stating she wouldn't do anything without my consent.

So relieved.

It massively depends.. there are people who suffer horrible intrusive thoughts and I would have thought a therapist would be able to decipher the truth and what was someone suffering from mental illness. It’s not always black and white.

I'm so surprised how many people responding on here are unfamiliar with statutory responsibilities under the children act. Therapists are not exempt. If an alleged perpetrator has access to children now professionally or personally, sharing information with social care is not an optional. However, the therapist should have been clear on the limits of confidentiality at the first session and revisited that periodically. The therapist should work collaboratively with the client who discloses and try to manage referrals in a supportive and positive way. BUT and it's a big but, consent is not needed to share information where a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering significant harm. Many professionals talk about gaining consent but what they are really doing is advising and updating the individual. That's not consent because if the above criteria has been met, consent is not required legally.

@grandpacificpineapple what about if you never say the name? I confided something about someone who was in an authoritative position and still is in a different area. With no name, they can't do anything?