Confidentiality Policy
Last updated
Confidentiality is not a formality of therapy — it is the condition that makes therapy possible. If you cannot speak freely, the work does not function.
This document says plainly what stays between us, what the exceptions are, and why they exist. It is written so you can read it before you begin, not after you have said something.
The rule
What you say in session stays in session.
I do not tell anyone that you are a client. I do not discuss the content of sessions with your family, your employer, your doctor or anyone else — unless you authorise me in writing, or in the circumstances described below.
This holds after our work has ended. Confidentiality does not expire.
The exceptions
There are limited circumstances in which the law or professional ethics require confidentiality to be broken. They are narrow and rare:
1. Immediate risk to your life
If there is a serious and immediate risk that you will harm yourself, I may contact emergency services or someone close to you.
This does not mean every thought about death triggers an alarm. Suicidal thoughts are common, are spoken about openly in therapy, and in the overwhelming majority of cases are worked with in session. The threshold is immediate danger, not the presence of the thought.
2. Serious risk to another person
If there is a concrete and immediate risk that someone else will be seriously harmed, I have a duty to prevent it.
3. Protection of children and vulnerable adults
If there is reasonable suspicion that a child or a vulnerable adult is being abused or neglected, the law requires a report to the relevant authorities.
4. Court order
If a court orders the disclosure of records, I am obliged to comply with lawful orders. In such cases only what is specifically required is provided — not the whole file.
How these are handled in practice
In each case, as far as it is safe and possible:
- I tell you first what I have to do and why;
- I share only the minimum information necessary;
- I share it only with the person or body who can help.
You will not one day discover that someone was contacted behind your back — unless telling you would itself increase the danger.
Clinical notes
I keep brief professional notes for each session: the main themes, the plan for the work, and progress. This is standard clinical practice and is required by professional ethics.
- Notes are factual and summarised, not a transcript of the conversation.
- They are kept locked and protected, separately from your contact details.
- They are retained for the period required by professional standards and Kosovo’s health legislation, and then securely destroyed.
- You have the right to see them. If you want to read them, ask, and we will go through them together.
Supervision
Clinical supervision — discussing the work with an experienced colleague — is part of how a psychologist keeps the quality of their work honest, and it is normal practice. I am not currently in a supervisory arrangement, so at present nobody else hears anything about your sessions at all.
If that changes, it changes under these conditions, and this document is dated again before it does:
- cases are discussed without names and without identifying details;
- any supervisor is bound by the same duty of confidentiality as I am;
- the purpose is always to improve the work with you, never curiosity.
Online sessions and email
Online sessions take place over encrypted video connections. On my side they are always conducted from a private room where no one can overhear.
On your side, please make sure you are somewhere you feel free to speak. The most common limitation of online sessions is not the technology — it is the lack of privacy on the other side of the screen.
About email I should be clear: ordinary email is not a fully secure channel. Use it for practical matters — appointments, cancellations, short questions. Leave clinical content for the session.
Sessions are never recorded, by video or audio, unless you explicitly request it in writing and there is a clear clinical reason.
If someone asks about you
If anyone — a family member, a partner, an employer — contacts me about you, my answer is that I can neither confirm nor deny that anyone is a client. This holds even when the question is asked out of genuine concern.
If you want me to speak with someone — a doctor, a psychiatrist, a family member — that is entirely possible, but only with your written consent, and only about what you agree to share.
Questions
If anything here is unclear, ask. I would rather explain something twice than leave it unexplained.
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