What do I speak to my counsellor about?

If I tell her how I actually feel she might get police or even get someone to do a mental health assessment at home

Maybe she will, but if she did, maybe you might actually need support like this. Things rarely get better by everything staying the same.

You also have choice remember, you say what you want. Most people have similar concerns like this when they open up for the first time, but even if things are really bad you should be treated with care and given as much info as things go along, its very rare for there to be surprises (so very unlikely you wont know the counsellors concerns when they have them). I would also say the threshold for police being actively involved or having home assessments are very high (they only really happen in the most serious situations like longterm or high risk abuse or criminality)

Good luck,

Greg

Reply 2

Nerol

Original post by Anonymous

If I tell her how I actually feel she might get police or even get someone to do a mental health assessment at home

Hi!
I am a counsellor and CBT Therapist. We have pretty clear guidelines related to confidentiality and its limitations. You should be able to speak to your counsellor and feel safe that what you say will be kept confidential, however there are exceptions to this at times. If your counsellor feels you or someone else is at serious imminent risk of harm (e.g., if you disclose a plan to attempt suicide when you leave the session, or mention current ongoing child abuse or abuse of a vulnerable adult etc.), they will need to disclose this information. There are also certain illegal activities that we are bound by law to pass on to authorities if you mention knowledge of them, which include money laundering, drug trafficking and acts of terrorism. Outside of these things, you should be able to speak openly with your counsellor about anything. Also, I would always encourage my clients to share any concerns they have about speaking openly so I can try to put their minds at ease, so do ask questions about confidentiality when you see your counsellor if you are worried about this.

Loren

Reply 3

black tea

what makes you think she might do that?

Reply 4

Anonymous #1

Original post by black tea

what makes you think she might do that?

I have been feeling quite low recently, let's just say that. I usually let my mouth run away with itself so I don't want to bring up so much about my past, I might just talk about some things but not go too much into it because she will just escalate the situation. I might just talk about friendship breakdown, that's the best thing to talk about.

Reply 5

black tea

Original post by Anonymous

I suspect you are overestimating the consequences of talking about how low you feel. As Nerol has said above, breaking confidentiality would only happen in very specific circumstances - just saying you have certain thoughts won't result in a police visit or anything like that. But of course you should only talk about what you feel comfortable talking about, and I hope that you find the counselling sessions useful.