Counseling Services

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a cornerstone of counseling services.   We believe counseling is most effective when a student can be direct and honest with a counselor without concern that the personal information will be divulged.   Confidentiality is also an ethical and legal requirement.  We keep separate records from other administrative documents kept on campus and notations about counseling are not made on a student's official College record.  In most situations, we therefore do not release any information about a student without that student's written permission.

There are, however, legal and ethical limits to confidentiality about which you should know. First, when, in the judgment of the counselor, any individual in their care presents an imminent danger to themselves or others, confidentiality may be broken.

Other limits to the maintenance of confidentiality include:

1. In Texas, any person, including counselors, who knows or suspects that a child, elderly person or disabled person has been or will be neglected or physically, emotionally or sexually abused, is required by law to make a report to the appropriate protective services agency. Counselors are also required to report suspected sexual exploitation of clients by previous counselors.
2. In Texas, the confidentiality of counseling information is not protected in criminal court proceedings. In other proceedings, a court may order a counselor to release information, for example, in any suit which affects the parent-child relationship or relies on a claim of a psychological condition or a claim of malpractice.
3. Some employers and credentialing organizations (e.g., some federal government agencies and the Texas Bar Association) request or even require applicants to sign consent forms to release information about their counseling histories.