Privacy Matters

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Confidentiality is the foundation for the therapeutic relationship – without it, nothing else works.  I take my clients’ confidentiality very seriously and I’ve written this page to help you understand my policies with regards to confidentiality in the counselling room and online. If you have further questions, please contact me directly.

Confidentiality & Privacy Policy

My counselling, coaching and psychotherapy services strictly confidential, even after our work has ended. I do not share any information with other third parties, without your signed permission.

Exceptions include:

• suspected abuse of a child or vulnerable adult, for which I am required by law to report this to the approrpiate authorities.
• if a client is at serious risk of harm to him or herself.
• if a client is threatening serious harm to another person.
• if a client discloses information about criminal and/or terrorist activities.

In these exceptional circumstances, I will always talk to you, preferably before breaching confidentiality, of the reasons why this was necessary, and offer you the required support.

I also keep short, brief, process notes of our sessions which are securely stored. Under the Data Protection Act, you have a right to access these notes at any time.  Please contact me for more information.

Email Policy

My email address is: info@terrysergeant.com

Please use this address for appointments or questions you have about my services. Because the privacy of email cannot be guaranteed, I encourage clients to consider other methods for communicating sensitive information.  I do return phone calls as promptly as possible.  I tend to respond to business email during business hours.

I frequently come across information that may be pertinent to a particular client’s issues.  Clients are welcome to provide me an email address with permission to contact them, and I will send links to useful information as I come across it.  This information is not intended to be diagnostic or as treatment, simply as an educational adjunct to the therapy process.

Social Media Policy

Because I want to share resources and helpful mental health information with as many people as possible, I have an active presence online.  I developed this section of the policy because I know social media sites can allow for multiple levels of connection.  In general, both to protect client privacy and to actively work to avoid unethical dual relationships, I do not connect directly with clients on any social media platform.  Included in this section are several specific platform examples, but the general policy of not connecting directly applies to emerging platforms as well.

I maintain a business page on Facebook.  This is a public page, without any of the privacy settings that are available to individuals.  I use this page to share resources, and answer questions if they are appropriate for a public forum.  Clients may browse this page without “liking” it.  However, if you choose to “like” the page, please make sure that you are fully aware of the level of sharing and privacy that you have enabled on Facebook.  The settings for the page include a publicly visible list of those who have “liked” it.  As stated above, I do not extend or accept “friend requests” clients on Facebook because I believe that puts us at risk of forming a dual-role relationship and risks client confidentiality, both of which are prohibited by my ethical guidelines.

I also maintain both a Twitter account and a LinkedIn profile.  These tools provide me outlets to share information, and a way for me to network with professional colleagues.  My Twitter account is a publicly shared account, so anything posted on my Twitter feed is public information.  I do not answer questions via Twitter because of its public status.  Please use email or telephone for questions.  I do not follow clients on Twitter, and I don’t encourage clients to follow me, although if you choose to do so, the account is public, and your name would be listed in my “Followers” list.  I do not connect with clients through my LinkedIn profile, because that is also a public forum.

My primary concern is that my clients’ privacy be as protected as possible.  Any connection through social media presents a possible compromise of that privacy, so I do not encourage clients to do so.

Please contact me directly with any questions or concerns.