Our Information Sharing and Privacy Policy lays out how information shared with us, via our forms/paperwork and/or correspondence with third parties/schools is shared internally and externally.

The Children’s Wellness Centre additionally understands that at times a service user may share personal information with their Clinical Practitioner via conversations; in-person, via email or on the phone and this information will be managed respectfully.

Aside from the agreements held in our Privacy Policy and Information Policy this personal information will be treated confidentially, and information that you speak about with your individual Clinical Practitioner will be kept private, except in situations whereby your Clinical Practitioner is concerned about you or your child’s safety, or the safety of someone else.

The Children’s Wellness Centre and/or your Clinical Practitioner will endeavour to always share with you any concerns they have and/or what needs be shared externally and gain your consent for this. In some situations, or in an emergency, this may not be possible, and your consent may not be obtained, meaning a confidentiality breach.

For those attending child and adolescent counselling sessions, in line with The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy ethical principles, the duty of confidentiality owed to young clients who are capable of consenting to their own counselling is the same as that offered to adults. This means that unless your child’s counsellor has a concern about your child’s safety, behaviour, or something that they have shared, or a concern about the safety of someone else, aspects of your child’s session will remain confidential. Any comments or concerns about this need to be discussed with the counsellor that your child has been assigned to see.

As with all our services, if a counsellor has any concerns about safety, this confidentiality will be breached, and the child will be made aware of this at the start of their counselling journey, during their counselling journey and where appropriate at the time of the confidentiality breach.