Updated: June 2026

Reviewed By: Dylan Pomietlo

Approved By: Clinical Director

 At Teenage Mental Health we abide by a strict confidentiality policy within our service. It is important to us that our clients can relax in knowing that Teenage Mental Health is a safe and private place to express themselves and tell us about their experiences.

 We offer our clients the highest level of confidentiality consistent with the law and the ethical framework of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists. Teenage Mental Health offers the highest level of confidentiality consistent with the law, safeguarding responsibilities and the Ethical Framework of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

Information disclosed within therapy is treated as confidential and shared only with those within Teenage Mental Health who require access in order to safely deliver services, provide supervision, safeguarding oversight, clinical consultation, administration, or fulfil legal and professional responsibilities.

All our counsellors meet regularly with a professionally trained supervisor to ensure that their work is to the highest standard. Our supervisors are included within the confidentiality of the service.

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1. Confidentiality within Teenage Mental Health

1.1         Teenage Mental Health offers confidentiality within its service. This means that information given will not go outside of the Teenage Mental Health team.

1.2         Teenage Mental Health offers its clients the highest level of confidentiality consistent with the law and the codes of ethics of the BACP. This protects a client from the voluntary disclosure of confidences without the client’s permission unless legally or professionally required to do so.

1.3         The respecting of client confidentiality is a fundamental requirement for keeping trust. The professional management of confidentiality requires the protection of personally identifiable and sensitive information from unauthorised disclosure.

1.4         Counsellors must be willing to be accountable to their clients and to their profession for their management of confidentiality in general and, particularly, for any disclosures made without their client’s consent.

1.5         The requirement to respect client confidentiality is also obligatory upon all members of Teenage Mental Health staff and workers, whether paid or voluntary. It includes all office staff, fundraisers, educators, and trustees as well as face-to-face and helpline team members and those contributing in any other therapeutic or organisational capacity to our work with or without direct client contact.

1.6         The obligation to maintain confidentiality also continues after the counselling relationship has ended. Teenage Mental Health undertakes to ensure that all client records are kept secure so that only authorised persons can gain access to them.

1.7         All members and ex-members of Teenage Mental Health staff or volunteers, whether counsellors, trustees, paid workers, or volunteers are required to protect the anonymity of all individuals who have been or still are clients of our service. This includes an obligation to refrain from all verbal or written references by which our clients may be identified unless the client has given consent to do so.

1.8         The majority of our clients are children and young people under the age of 18 who are supported by parents, carers or those with parental responsibility.

Children and young people aged 12 years and above will generally be regarded as Gillick Competent unless assessed otherwise. As such, they are afforded a high degree of confidentiality and privacy within therapy.

Parents and carers remain important members of the therapeutic network and may receive guidance, recommendations, general feedback and support where clinically appropriate. However, the specific content of therapy sessions will ordinarily remain confidential unless:

• The young person provides consent for information to be shared;
• There are safeguarding concerns;
• There is a risk of significant and immediate harm to the young person or others;
• There is a legal or professional obligation to disclose information.

For younger children, a more collaborative approach with parents and carers may be required as part of the therapeutic process.

Where a parent, carer or other third party is financially responsible for the service, Teenage Mental Health may confirm attendance, non-attendance, service commencement, service ending, invoicing matters and other administrative information where appropriate. This does not extend to disclosure of therapeutic content without appropriate consent or lawful justification.

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2. Boundaries of Confidentiality within the Counselling Team

2.1         ​In a situation whereby two or more Teenage Mental Health counsellors are seeing different members of the same family or other close-knit relationships (e.g. a supporter and the survivor), it is best practice for the Teenage Mental Health counsellors not to talk to each other about their work with the linked clients.

2.2      If it is thought to be therapeutically beneficial for the counsellors to talk to each other about their client work, then this should first be discussed with the counsellors’ supervisor and Teenage Mental Health’s Clinical Director to agree what is appropriate to divulge and who will be best to communicate this information. For example, it may be best for the Clinical Director to be the channel of communication between the counsellors.

    2.3    All therapists working for Teenage Mental Health receive regular professional supervision and may seek consultation from Clinical Leads, the Clinical Director, safeguarding leads, supervisors or other appropriately qualified professionals where necessary to ensure safe and effective practice.

Where external supervision or consultation is sought, identifiable information is not ordinarily disclosed. Clients are discussed using anonymised information, initials, pseudonyms, reference numbers or other methods designed to protect confidentiality and anonymity wherever possible.

 All supervisors and consultants engaged by Teenage Mental Health are themselves bound by professional and ethical duties of confidentiality

3. Rights to Confidential Client Records

There are situations in which counsellors may be required by law to submit their handwritten counselling process notes for investigation. However, The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 provides explicit and wide-ranging protection for counselling records during police investigations. Section 12 of the Act specifically defines personal records. These are excluded from the powers of the magistrate to issue search warrants, which must be issued by a circuit judge. The aim is to preserve confidences from invasion of privacy by the police.

3.2        A solicitor’s letter requesting disclosure of client information is not sufficient to obtain disclosure of confidential client records. A court order is required before disclosure of such material can be obtained.

3.3     Following the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018., it had been widely accepted that a client had legal entitlement to information and that the therapist had a legal obligation to provide it. It is established in law that a client does not have a legal right of access to the handwritten process notes made by the counsellor following counselling sessions.

​…the client’s right to insist on access to his or her records is currently restricted to those that are held electronically or have been made on behalf of a public service, such as education, health and social services (Freedom of Information Act 2000). Clients who have been receiving services in any other context no longer have a legal entitlement to their handwritten records. In the absence of any legal duty to disclose records to clients, therapists are entitled to use their own judgement in deciding whether to disclose records in response to [a request from solicitor on the client’s behalf]. This is fundamentally an ethical decision to be made in accordance with the ethical principles that inform your work.

(Bond, T. and Sandhu, A. (2005) Therapists in court: providing evidence and supporting witnesses. London: Sage).

However, this should be talked through between counsellor and client and the counsellor will seek to make decisions in the best interest of the client.

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3.4     In circumstances whereby client and counsellor are in favour of releasing counselling notes to the police or a solicitor for a court case, this should only be done after Teenage Mental Health’s official ‘Release of Counselling Notes Consent Form’ is filled in, signed and the requirements written in the form are fulfilled.

  4. Exceptions to Confidentiality:

​There are circumstances in which Teenage Mental Health cannot legally or ethically maintain confidentiality within the service. Wherever possible, Teenage Mental Health will make every attempt to communicate first with the client explaining the reasons for the need to pass on information and to whom this will be given. These exceptions are listed below and would qualify as areas of authorised disclosure:

 4.1     Safeguarding Children: If information is disclosed that a child is at risk of immediate significant harm, Teenage Mental Health has a duty under the Children Act to pass on this information to the Social Services and Police. The safeguarding policy is available upon request.

4.2      Serious Harm: If planned serious harm to the life of self or another person is disclosed, we have a duty to pass this on to the appropriate authority (GP, Police, Ambulance service etc.) in order to do all that is possible to see the person protected.

4.3   Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults: If there is a serious risk of harm/abuse to a vulnerable adult, Teenage Mental Health has a duty of protection to such vulnerable adults. Information may need to be passed on to the appropriate agencies in order to protect vulnerable adults who could be at risk. See Teenage Mental Health’s Policy P11 Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults to understand how a ‘vulnerable adult’ is defined.

4.3    Offences under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent amendments.: If information is given on any planned act of terrorism, Teenage Mental Health is, by law, obliged to report this to the Police without informing the person who gave the information.

4.6    Court Cases: In the event of a Court case, the Judge has power to subpoena a client’s counselling notes, or request that a counselling report is provided as evidence for the case.

4.7  Money Laundering and Related Financial Crime: Teenage Mental Health may have legal obligations to disclose information relating to money laundering, terrorist financing, or other relevant financial offences where required by law.

4.8   Road Traffic Accidents: Teenage Mental Health does not have a duty to initiate disclosure of information known in regards road traffic accidents. However, if the Police contact us as part of such enquiries, we have a duty to pass on any information relevant to that road traffic accident.

4.9     Hearsay witness to murder: There is no legal requirement for Teenage Mental Health to initiate the disclosure of any information in which a client alleges being witness to or causing murder/manslaughter. However, it may well be appropriate for the Counsellor to encourage the client to disclose information to police. If the Police contact us as part of such enquiries, we would have a duty to pass on any relevant information about the alleged murder.

4.10   Complaints: If a Counsellor is formally accused of wrongful conduct, then the need for the Counsellor to divulge information about a client is recognised in order for the matter to be investigated. The breaking of confidentiality will be kept to a minimum, in consultation with advisors. The Counsellor will continue to have regard for the wellbeing of the client.

4.11  Communication with GP: Teenage Mental Health is only able to offer counselling if a client provides the contact details of their General Practitioner or agreed alternative medical back-up, particularly for patients under the age of 18. Wherever possible, clients are expected to provide GP details or an agreed alternative medical or healthcare contact. This information is requested for safeguarding and emergency purposes.

         Teenage Mental Health's usual practice is not to routinely inform a GP that therapy has commenced unless requested by the client, clinically indicated, required for safeguarding reasons, or otherwise necessary to protect life or prevent serious harm.

5. Suicide and self-harm

 From time to time a client may express a desire to end their life or practice self-harm.

 5.1     We will not disclose this to the client’s parents or the authorities unless we believe that this admission carries a risk of significant and immediate harm to the child.

5.2     Should an admission of intention to significantly self-harm or commit suicide be made by a patient Teenage Mental Health Safeguarding protocols will be immediately enacted, and appropriate referrals made.

5.3     We will never make referrals to the police or other health or social care services without attempting to inform the patient first.

5.4   We will never tell a parent of a child about admissions they may make of intention to self-harm or commit suicide without telling the child first.

 All clients will sign this document prior to commencing therapy as follows:

Please sign to confirm receipt of these policies and confirm that by engaging our services you fully understand our confidentiality policies and procedures. 

·         For clients under 18 years old, we require the signature of the parent/guardian who has parental responsibility for the child in the area below.
You may be asked for proof of parental responsibility if the child is under 12 years old.

·         For adult clients who are financially responsible for their own therapy, the client is required to sign below. Where a third party is financially responsible for funding therapy, Teenage Mental Health may require both the client and the funding party to sign relevant service agreements. This does not automatically entitle the funding party to access confidential therapeutic information."

·         For clients over 18 years old who are financially self-reliant to use our services, you are required to sign the area below on your own behalf.