CONFIDENTIALITY
Phone/In Person Communication
Confidentiality is the key to our services. You have a legal right to privacy and can expect your contact with us to be kept private. Your written permission must be obtained before C&PS will release your information to anyone, with only limited legal and ethical exceptions, which include:
Can't Call? The San Diego Access & Crisis Line offers online CHAT services Monday - Friday from 4 - 10 p.m.
- There was an imminent risk that you could hurt yourself or someone else.
- We learned information from you which led us to believe that a minor child or elderly person might be being abused.
- We received a valid court order to release information from your record.
- Knowingly accessed, streamed, or downloaded material where a child is engaged in an obscene sexaul act.
Counseling records are maintained separately from any other records of the University, so that no one at SDSU outside of C&PS has access to your information. Your records are stored electronically with numerous physical and electronic safeguards in place to protect your information from unauthorized access.
E-Mail and Social Media Communication
In order to help ensure privacy, patients are cautioned against sending sensitive, detailed personal information to C&PS staff and/or therapists via e-mail. Our email and social media accounts are only checked during operating hours. If you are experiencing a crisis situation, please contact our office by phone or in person during office hours, or contact the after-hours crisis line or 911 if our office is closed.
Additional Information about Confidentiality at C&PS
In order to facilitate your counseling, there are several other ways in which information about you might be shared with others. First, if you are seeing one of our graduate student therapists, all their sessions are supervised by a senior staff member. This means that your sessions might be videotaped, though this requirement can always be discussed with the therapist. Second, any member of the staff might consult with one or more other staff members within C&PS regarding the best way to be helpful and to coordinate treatment. If you also see another professional, such as a community provider or a previous therapist, we will ask your permission to get in touch with them in order to coordinate your care.
