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Pebble Beach

Confidentiality

What can I tell my school counselor, nurse, or therapist without them telling my parents?

Confidentiality laws are important to know. The sense of betrayal some people go through when a school counselor or an other obligatory reporter tells the adolescent's parents about something they thought would stay secret can cause the teenager to stop telling anyone anything, as their trust had been broken. This is extremely dangerous, as the teenager would bottle up their problems until they explode, often in a detrimental manner.
School counselors are required to tell the student about what the counselor has to share with the parents legally, but this is often unlikely to happen unless the student asks about their confidentiality rules directly. 
Limits to the confidentiality between a counselor or a therapist occur when: the student poses a danger to themself or others, there is a court-ordered disclosure, consulting with other professionals, such as colleagues, supervisors, treatment teams and other support personnel, in support of the student, privileged communication is not granted by state laws and local guidelines (e.g., school board policies), the student participates in group counseling, substance use and treatment are concerns (CFR 42, Part 2; 2017) {source card [a]} Counselors are also made to adhere to the thought that information shared by students is confidential and should not be revealed without the student’s consent. By adhering to all school board policy and federal and state laws protecting student records, health information and special services (i.e., HIPAA, FERPA, IDEA), school counselors are able to, within reason, keep everything the student says between the student and them. 
The link down below provides a page by the American School Counselor Association that goes into further detail of the laws of confidentiality.

Confidentiality: About Me
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