Can a parent or faculty member be informed of a students attendance or progress in counseling?
By law, and according to ethical principles, information about counseling is strictly confidential except in extenuating circumstances. Counseling Center staff have a legal obligation to disclose client information, even without consent, in the following situations: • When a student is under the age of 18 and parental permission is required • When doing so is necessary to protect you or someone else from imminent physical and life-threatening harm, • When a client lacks the capacity to care for himself/herself, • When the abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a child, elder adult, or dependent adult is suspected, or • When release is otherwise required by law (e.g., court order, reporting of medical errors, Patriot Act). Otherwise, no information can be released, including whether or not a student is attending counseling, without written consent from the student. If it seems that there would be some therapeutic benefit to release information to a third party, the counselor and student wil
