Is the Information Given to a Mental Health Therapist by a Child or Adolescent Kept Confidential?
Children and adolescents (17 and younger) are considered minors in the eyes of the law. This means that their parents are responsible for them. Parents must give permission for their children to have mental health treatment and also have the legal right to information about their children’s treatment. Although parents/guardians have a right to all information about their child’s or adolescent’s mental health treatment, it is usual for parents/guardians to agree that some or most information given to the therapist by the child or adolescent will be kept private unless the young person agrees that it be shared. This is often necessary to make a young person feel comfortable telling the therapist what is bothering him or her. The exceptions which must always be made are that parents/guardians will always be told if safety is involved. When a therapist is told by a child or adolescent that he or she intends to inflict self harm or harm another person, the therapist must share the informati
