Confidentiality

Confidentiality means not sharing information about people without their knowledge and agreement, and ensuring that written and electronic information cannot be accessed or read by people who have no reason to see it. As your counsellor, I Ventsi Vasev, will treat what you disclose with great care. My ethics and the code of good practice of the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) and NCS (The National Counselling Society) prevent me from telling anyone else what you tell me in our counselling sessions unless you give me written permission to do so. With their code of ethics and good practice the BACP and the NCS recognise and support the privacy of what is discussed in session – in other words, the "confidentiality" of therapy. However, there are some times when the law requires therapists to disclose client confidences to others. There are also some other limits on confidentiality. Please read these pages carefully and we can discuss any questions you might have.

Understand the limitations of confidentiality
If you or other persons are in physical danger, my ethics and the code of good practice requires me to tell others:
• If I believe or suspect that you are abusing a child, an elderly person, a disabled person, or a vulnerable adult, a report must be filed. To "abuse" means to neglect, hurt, or sexually molest another person. Therapists do not have any legal power to investigate the situation or find out all the facts. If this might be your situation, the legal aspects should be discussed in detail before you disclose anything about these topics and/or talk to a lawyer.
• If I have reason to believe that you are threatening serious harm to another person, I am required to try to protect that person, and have a duty to warn them. I may have to tell the person and the police, or perhaps try to have you put in a hospital.
• If you seriously threaten or act in a way that is very likely to harm yourself, I may have to seek a hospital for you, or to call on your family members or others who can help protect you. If such a situation does come up, I will fully discuss the situation with you before any decisions are made or actions are taken, unless there is a very strong reason not to. In an emergency where your life or health is in danger, and I cannot get your consent, I may give another professional some information to protect your life. Every attempt to try to get your permission will be made first, and I will discuss this with you as soon as possible afterwards.

Professional Consultations and Supervision
It is my professional and ethical responsibility to seek consultation and supervision from experts, supervisors, and mentors in my chosen fields of art therapy and marriage and family therapy. This is essential to my learning and ensuring that I use current best practice, but more importantly it helps to ensure that I consider all possibilities for your treatment and to maintain the safety of our therapy relationship. My supervisor and any other professionals that I may consult are highly trained and experienced therapists. I would provide only that information necessary for applying best practices and maintaining safety.