There is one thing that overrides confidentiality.

The rule

If we believe that a child or young person is at risk of significant harm, we act on it. That duty sits above the confidentiality of the therapy room, and it applies to every registered therapist in the country.

Everything else — what your child says, what they play out, what they think of you, what they have done — stays between them and their therapist.

What "significant harm" means in practice

It is a higher bar than "something worrying was said". In this building it usually means one of:

• A child is being hurt, neglected, or is not safe at home or elsewhere
• A young person is at serious and immediate risk of harming themselves
• Someone is at risk of being seriously harmed by the person we are working with
• Another child, who we may never meet, is at risk

It does not mean ordinary risk-taking, ordinary family conflict, ordinary teenage behaviour, or a difficult thing said in anger. Therapy would be impossible if it did.

What happens if we are worried

1. We tell the young person first, in almost every case, and we explain what we are worried about and why.
2. We think about it with a colleague, and with our supervisor. Very few decisions here are made alone.
3. Where it is safe and sensible, we talk to the parents or carers before doing anything else.
4. If the concern remains, we contact the Gloucestershire Children’s Help Desk, which is the county’s front door for safeguarding referrals. In an emergency we would call 999.
5. We tell you what we have done, unless doing so would increase the risk to the child.

What we tell children at the start

Every child and young person hears a version of this in their first session, in language matched to their age. For a seven-year-old it is roughly:

"What you say in here is private. I do not tell your mum what you said. There is one exception: if I ever thought you or another child was not safe, I would have to tell someone whose job it is to help. And if that ever happened, I would tell you first — you would not find out afterwards."

Telling children this at the beginning, rather than when something happens, is the difference between a safeguarding action that feels protective and one that feels like a betrayal.

Who is responsible

Ruth Ellery is the designated safeguarding lead for Harbour. Sam Okonkwo is the deputy. Both hold current enhanced DBS checks and refresh their safeguarding training every two years, as does everybody else in the building, including Mel.

Our other duties

• Every therapist is registered with BACP, UKCP, HCPC or AFT and works to that body’s ethical framework.
• Everybody has an enhanced DBS check and professional indemnity insurance.
• Everybody is in regular clinical supervision outside this building.
• Records are kept as described on the privacy and records page.

If you are unhappy with something we did

Tell us first — Ruth handles complaints and will meet you in person if you would prefer that to writing. If that does not resolve it, every one of us belongs to a professional body with a complaints procedure that is independent of us, and we will give you the details rather than making you look for them.

Ask us about any of this