wondering

TRIGGER WARNING!

I told my T that I was going to end my life last week and as soon as I left the session, T called my husband and told him that.

Now, the end result was that I was hospitalized and am still around to tell the story, so no complaints there.

My question is: Did my T break confidentiality with the call to hubs? T said he had a duty to inform.

I don't want to say yes or no on this because I don't know the law, but my gut feeling is absolutely not. He might have been obligated by law to hospitalize you and calling a family member was the "softer" version to make it more supportive for you.

Hope it's feeling better now lady.

No, if you are feeling that bad, they have to intercede for you and help you get help. Your T apparenty thought getting your husband involved was the right thing to do. Otherwise, he could have called the police to come get you from his office.

Hope you are feeling better now!

I don't know, this is a tough one! Did you ever sign a release to T for your H? (your T sees your H too tho, doesn't he?)
I know my T would not call my H at all unless I had done so, and if I said I was suicidal and meant it and had a plan, I think she would send me directly to ER!
Anyway, I am SOOOO glad you are still here and are safe!

My t told me up front that he would contact my husband and pdoc when I am suicidal. As he says, he refuses to be an accomplice to my suicide. It has always been the understanding between us, and I know if I call him and I'm suicidal, the first thing he is going to do is ask to speak to my husband. I'm okay with that. He can't just sit by and do nothing. My husband is supportive, so it is natural that he is brought into the loop when things go awry.

Threat to self or other is the guideline for breaking confidentiality. I am glad you are safe.

My understanding is that yes, your T did break confidentiality, unless you are a minor. I believe your T should have called authorities directly to arrange for hospitalization, rather than told your H. Better yet, your T should have first tried to get you to agree to enter the hospital voluntarily. I hope you will go easy on your T for this, though. It sounds like he was very worried about you and trying to keep you from harm. I'm sorry you were in such a dire situation last week. How are you doing now?

There is a "duty to warn" if the T's client has revealed he/she plans to harm someone else. The T must not only call authorities but must notify the person who the client has threatened to harm. (Tarasoff)

I'm surprised she called your husband rather than just getting you hospitalized herself. Not only for the confidentiality reasons, but what if you offed yourself before you got to your husband?

But I think that in the case of a threat to yourself or others, your confidentiality is gone.

Also, you may have him down as your "emergency contact" - and this was an emergency.

Thanks for sharing. I wasn't too upset about it. More curious. My T was very worried. He kept me in session for four and a half hours because he did not want me leaving in the state I was in. So, I understand. I just hated that my husband had the crap scared out of him when I wasn't even home from session yet.
Pdoc hospitalized me next day anyway. So, there you have it.

(((((ladyjrnlist)))))))

I am glad that your T did keep you safe - and here on this planet. You are one of a kind and I am glad you remain.

I'm glad you are safe! Are you feeling better?

((((lady))))

hospitalizations are yucky. I am glad you came thru it!

I think most T's would have given you the choice of 1) calling H and having him come get you or 2) calling police to come get you....either way you'd end up in the er. I'm glad you're T kept you a long time, and maybe after you left he felt an urgency after the fact and called H. Whatever...T he did the right thing and got you safe.

I have my own question: If you told someone (say, perhaps a nurse you work with, NOT a therapist) with whom you have no confidentiality agreement, but with whom there is also no duty to inform...can they still get you sent to the ER? Legally?

As an RN, I can tell you that "legally" a Nurse has a duty to act if someone discloses that they are suicidal and might possibly hurt themselves. Regardless of whether there was a treatment contract or not, that Nurse would still be liable for not reporting if something were to happen to you. Nurses are mandated reporters when it comes to things like sui, abuse, etc., so yes, they can still call 911 and have the police or EMTs come and if they deem it necessary (they feel you are a danger to yourself or others) they can take you in, legally.

I think that the most important thing is that you are SAFE. Thank god for that. I am not certain but I believe that if your T believes that you are at risk of harming yourself or someone else she reserves the right to tell someone. I am just not sure if your husband is included in that ir not. I think it might be more geared towards ERs, 911, parents, (if still a minor) child sevices, (if you have kids) and the police. Like I said I am no expert on the matter. I am just glad that you are safe. Perhaps your T thought that you were so serious that you wouldn't have time to tell your husband yourself or would choose not to...I understand your wodering though, Maybe bring it up with T at your next session. Say you aren't mad, but you are just curious about what the boundaries and exceptions for confdentiality around suicide. Just a thought, Take care of yourself!

Have you tried to turn it around and look at it from the T's perspective? What would you have done, both as a human and as a professional? Sometimes we put our T's in tough situations where they have to make tough choices. I don't like the hospital either, but I'm glad that you are safe. Perhaps you could talk to your T about how you would like it handled if something similar occurs in the future. Just my thoughts...I know I've put people in tough situations where they have to choose between keeping me safe and breaking my trust.

I've had 3 friends call me (at separate times) and tell me they were about to commit suicide. for 2 of them I called their husbands because it seemed like the right thing to do - 1 forgave me and we are still very close to this day. the other one did not and we don't speak anymore.
The third one lived by herself, across the country and was already halfway to an overdose, and i had to call the police in her state and give them her address and stay on the phone and try to keep her awake so she could answer the door when they got there. She thanks me still.

If you tell someone you are going to do this, I don't care about confidentiality, it is a dangerous situation and whoever you tell has the obligation to do the right thing which includes telling a significant other.

I'm pretty sure the husband is NOT included in that. Family members must be told if the client is a minor and in danger of hurting self or others. If 1) the client is an adult and 2) the client is threatening suicide and is at high risk, the authorities are the ones to be notified, unless the client gives permission/release for the husband to be notified. If, however, the client is threatening to harm someone else, then both authorities and the person who is in danger of being harmed must be notified. (We just studied all this legal stuff in school.)

It is different if you are a friend. Of course you would call their husband. (Thank goodness you did.) A friend has no legal confidentiality agreement that they and their friend have both signed--at least I hope not!

LJ, even though it sounds like the T broke confidentiality in this case, I hope you won't be too hard on him for this. He just wanted to keep you safe, and he did. I agree with the suggestion to discuss this with your T and talk about how you would have liked for him to react. Then he can tell you how that would or would not be consistent with his legal obligations.