Can therapists tell other people their clients​?

No. Under client confidentiality privileges, therapists are not allowed to tell others who their clients are or what they discuss with them during sessions. Whatever you talk about with a therapist stays strictly between you and them. The only exceptions are situations where there’s a risk of serious harm either to yourself or to others. In these specific circumstances, a therapist might have to break confidentiality in order to ensure your safety, the safety of others, and to ensure you receive the care and support you need. If you’re worried or unsure about how confidentiality works in your therapy sessions, you should feel empowered to ask your therapist for some clarification and reassurance.

If you are an adult, therapists cannot tell other people who their clients are. In fact, therapists are required to keep all information confidential unless required by law. This means they will break confidentiality in the case of abuse of vulnerable populations, risk of hurting yourself/other people, or if the information is needed in a court case. This means they cannot tell parents, siblings, and friends, even if you have the same therapist. This changes if you are a minor. Depending on the age of consent, your therapist will likely inform your parent or guardian if you went and saw one. This is 18 years old in most jurisdictions, and sometimes 16 years old if legally emancipated. Other than that, the rules for confidentiality still apply: the therapist will not talk about what you told them to your parents unless required by law.

Privacy is a top priority when it comes to health care, especially when it comes to mental health. It’s important in the therapist-client relationship. Therapists understand this and always keep your personal information safe and secure, whether it is online or offline. A therapist cannot disclose that you are a client, let alone share details about your sessions, without your written consent. This is a professional therapist's ethics that people always uphold when seeking professional help. If you are concerned about what might happen to your information, you can ask your therapists about privacy. It’s for making sure of your anxiety, psycho therary privacy is safe and trust without any worrying.