Unusual confidentiality breach

Thanks ruhroh. It is a wake up call that this security guy remembers details. I think I was under the false impression that it was empty chit chat. I am now going to be careful not to reveal any more identifying info.

I totally get your being rattled -- I wonder if the rattle response is intense enough that you'd want to talk Kashi just about that (not necessarily for him to call out the security guard although he could well choose to do that and that wouldn't be your issue but more as a way to process what you're feeling)?

Btw, I like and loathe my weekend appointments for similar reasons -- T has to buzz me in and she has a client before me. I want to make sure I don't disrupt their session and so, I wait until the absolute last minute to ring the buzzer. But, until then, I'm sitting in my car, freezing my posterior off (can't get there exactly on time given traffic and if I switched on the engine for the heat, it'd clearly be heard in her office).

I know a lot of people are hating on the security guard, but I actually feel kind of honored/special when strangers in that kind of setting feel that they can now have a real conversation with me because we've interacted enough that they trust me and consider me an equal. This includes the girl at the pizza store who now remembers me and says a friendly hi because I've been kind to her - not just at therapy offices. I think that when the receptionists at my therapist's office talk to me for real, even if it's in a vague way about another patient (it never is identifying), a) I feel reassured that they don't see me as a freak or an outcast or something undesirable, and b) I feel good about myself that I make other people feel comfortable.

I go to therapy at my university, where there are only about 20 counselors for a campus of 20,000 students. Of course not all 20,000 go to therapy but the chances that my T sees someone I know are pretty high.

I get this completely. I would rather keep a positive relationship with the security guy. I may need his help one day

I agree. Guards and therapists both need integrity and discretion, but in completely different ways.

If a T left a door unlocked, that's a forgivable mistake. If a security guard did that, he might be sacked.

I, personally, wouldn't be bothered by the security guard's comment. And yes, I've had a t who breached confidentiality. She was seeing another client who had an eating disorder and self harmed and she suggested we get together. She told me about this client and her name and I'm sure she told the girl my name. She the t held an outdoor challenge course thingy and both of us were there, and it was awkward. Besides the total breach, I think it's odd a t would want 2 people with the same unhealthy issues to get together. Weird.

My current t, I'm not sure who else she sees. I've recommended her to friends, so who knows. In past therapies, I've known others who saw the t and was never bothered by it. I had a friend seeing the same t, and we discussed all of t's little quirks. And I've been inpatient about 10 times for my eating disorder, so in those circumstances you know who is seeing which t and who is seeing the same t as you.

I had a very very odd situation with the T I saw before XT. I'm a nanny so my only "co-workers" are the parents I work for. The mom of one family about 10 years back recommended her T to me. I went to see said T. When we decided it was okay to move forward with having him as my T it didn't take long for him to start bringing her up in my sessions-like all the time. Not to mention I asked to not be scheduled back to back with the parent I was working for, but he often scheduled her right before or right after me. Now that I think about it-he probably should have been reported for the amount of information he disclosed. Of course I knew a lot about what was going on as I was in these people's home everyday for 9 hours a day. But even so...the T was unable to keep us separate. Needless to say, I terminated therapy with him fairly quickly. Yeah-it was odd. I think in your situation security guard was just making small talk. I'm not downplaying how you feel about it-but if it seemed like an honest slip up and he stopped himself-I think it will be okay. You can Just choose to be mindful during your chit chat with the security guard from here on out.