[maymie]

I was seeing a counselor for a month or so and I decided to stop seeing him. I decided to stop seeing him because he wasn't comfortable with me opening up about my dad, he knows my dad. I was fine with seeing someone else.
Last night I was out with a friend and I ran into the counselor. He hints around to him being my counselor and then tells me he is just the type of counselor who likes closure. It bothered me he would say anything like that in front of someone else. It bothered me that he did that. I thought that he was bound by confidentiality. Yes, I know that I am not seeing him any more but it has only been 2 weeks since I've gone without seeing him. I was considering giving him another chance but if he can say that much in front of someone who is a stranger to him, then what else can he say. He is private practice so I'm not sure what he can and can't do. Now I'm skeptical to go to anyone though. If they can just talk about my counseling sessions or hint that I'm going to counseling with them then that makes me uncomfortable. I don't go to counseling so they can talk about it in public or talk to me about it in public. Now I'm scared to go to anyone else. Please help me.

[Apathy123]

That was wrong. All the counselors I've seen have said if we run into you in a social or other situation that they would leave contact up to me. Meaning it would be ok if I chose to say hello to them but they wouldn't make contact to protect confidentiality.

[stopdog]

That is crazy and he should not have done it. Further it does not matter if he wants closure or not - the client gets to decide how and when to quit. The guy can go get his own counseling if it bothers him.

[ThisWayOut]

I'm sorry that happened. He is still bound by confidentiality even if you are no longer seeing him and that is a breach of confidentiality. If he has no boss, I would suggest reporting his behavior to his licensing body. While they may not take action, it would be good to make them aware of it.
I would be leary of seeing another therapist also if something like this happened. It's one thing for you to decide to disclose, it's a totally differnet hting for him to do so. Very unprofessional.

[maymie]

Does confidentiality matter even though I haven't seen him in 2 weeks? What do I do? How do I trust another counselor?

Originally Posted by Apathy123

That was wrong. All the counselors I've seen have said if we run into you in a social or other situation that they would leave contact up to me. Meaning it would be ok if I chose to say hello to them but they wouldn't make contact to protect confidentiality.

[Apathy123]

Originally Posted by maymie

Does confidentiality matter even though I haven't seen him in 2 weeks? What do I do? How do I trust another counselor?

Yep, it doesn't matter when you last saw them. They aren't supposed to let on about the relationship. When you meet with a new therapist, I would bring up the past situation and say that you want to be clear about how your new therapist handles confidentiality so there is no mistake moving forward. Then you'll know that they take confidentiality seriously.

That is completely unethical. Sorry it happened to you

[Bill3]

It doesn't matter if you saw him two weeks ago or ten years ago. He was wrong to say anything.