When you share information with your school counselor, we will keep it confidential.  This means that anything you share with us will stay between us unless we feel concerned that you:

- May hurt yourself or someone else

- You are being neglected or abused

- There is something illegal or dangerous going on

 Just to clarify, confidentiality doesn't guarantee that information is kept a secret.  It means that you can trust that we will not talk about what you said to other people unless it is absolutely necessary.  If we have a concern and need to break confidentiality, it means that we will need to share the important information with the appropriate people (like the principal or your parents.)

Don't worry. If we have to break confidentiality, we will let you know so we can talk about it before talking to anyone else.  In many situations, we can role play conversations in our office.  This can help you prepare for talking to your parents or the principal. This might sound scary, but we promise that we will do our best to support you in handling the situation.

Confidentiality is VERY important to us, and we want you to have a safe place to share and talk about your experiences.