What are therapists legally able to disclose if you are underage?

When I was seeing a therapist, I asked him this, and he said that the only thing he will disclose is physically harming a person, including yourself. I also asked my therapist about abuse and he is required to tell authorities if his patient feels he/she is being abused.

Good for you for going to therapy. I hope it is helpful to you.

I am not a legal expert.

I am not sure about the self-harm question, but I am almost certain that licensed therapy providers are required by a law in almost any state to report abuse of a minor to legal authorities.

They are only allowed to say anything if they think you pose a serious risk to yourself or others.

They are legally required to report child abuse if they know it is going on. I doubt if they are allowed to tell your parents what you say, unless they believe there is a danger to you or someone else.

That is just my opinion, I am not an expert on legal matters. I suggest you be very clear to your therapist that you do not want your parents to know about your self-harm or other issues.

I suggest that you write out all of the questions you might have, not as they regard you and your case, but just “in general”, and discuss those questions with the therapist at your first one-on-one meeting with her. Be both general and specific, in order to be sure that you understand the parameters of the relationship.

You might consider asking, also, “What does the state require of you in <whatever example you want to give as a hypothetical>?” and then follow that up with “What will you do if I tell you that <same hypothetical example> applies to me, but I don’t want that to be revealed yet?” In addition, be sure to ask, “Will you have to report to others about my progress, lack of progress or any of the details that I disclose about myself outside of the legal state requirements?” or something like that. In other words, be sure that you understand what the therapist is legally obligated to disclose – you can’t change that – and what the therapist is ethically permitted to disclose, since those are the margins that you can sometimes negotiate boundaries of your own. That is, boundaries that the two of you can agree upon.

I believe that a competent and experienced therapist would strongly welcome such questions, especially as they are indicative of a person who wants to participate fully in the process and has enough sense of self, self-esteem and self-preservation (no matter what else may be going on in your life) that your reputation and your standing with your family and others around you is important to you.

I would strongly recommend that until you are satisfied with the therapist’s responses, or at least understand the boundaries of the doctor-patient relationship thoroughly, that you not mention any of your case except in terms of a hypothetical “What if I told you… ?” nature.

Who is paying for your therapy sessions.

If it is your parents, you should make them part of your therapy. If you refuse, I would suggest they decline to pay.

If it is somebody else, then do what you want. But if that is the case, while you are at it, kiss your parents goodbye as supporters of your development. People can talk all they want, but when they are rejected, they tend to create distance.

@josie many teens are uncomfortable with their parents being part of their therapy for very legitimate reasons but aren’t going to just “kiss their parents goodbye”. Many teens think they’re a dissapointment to their patents in this situation and don’t want them to know everything. And if there is abuse involved the person would be afraid to talk about it if their parents are around. And if a parent really cares about their child’s well being and development they would go with what the child is comfortable with and not cut payment for therapy because of that.

As for the question, I’m not sure about any of this but I think if there is abuse they have to contact the authorities and since you’re a minor they’re supposed to tell your parents about self harm.

Most therapists will only disclose information about you if they feel you ar endangering yourself. I do believe they are required to report abuse; probably not if the abuse is in the past. As others have said, you should discuss this with your therapist.

I think it is great you are getting some help, it shows a lot of courage and strength. I agree with the other jellies above that the therapist will be required to report abuse. I don’t know what kind of abuse is happening to you; what you perceive as abuse might not be technically abuse and then the therapist might not report what is happening. I am not questioning whether you are abused or not, I don’t want you to take that the wrong way and think I don’t believe you.

If you are nervous about what the therapist might reveal to your parents or the authorities, you can still work on your unhappiness. When I was a teenager my therapist really helped me clarify what I should do next, helped me think longer term. I was really stuck in feeling life was very unfair, and she helped me sort through that too.

If the therapy doesn’t seem to be helping, or you don’t feel comfortable with the first therapist, ask to try another one.

Also, I completely disagree with @josie. My dad couldn’t understand why I couldn’t just talk to him about what was wrong and why I was so unhappy, and thank God my mom let me go to a therapist. My dad would not have been helpful to me back then, he would not have been understanding. I do think children tend to think parents won’t understand or will be angry when it isn’t true, but sometimes it is true, especially if your parents are abusive.