IS COUNSELLING CONFIDENTIAL ?
Yes. We take your right to privacy seriously. All information gathered is for the purpose of providing counselling services. No information will be released to VIU administrators, instructors, outside agencies or anyone else unless authorized by you or required by law.
The VIU Health and Wellness Clinic shares a single unit of confidentiality. This means that your counsellor may consult with colleagues within VIU’s Health and Wellness Clinic to ensure that you are receiving service of the highest quality.
However, as with all Counselling Services, we may set aside confidentiality when there are reasonable grounds to believe:
- A person under the age of 19 needs protection,
- Individuals are likely to cause injury to themselves or others,
- We are ordered by a court to provide confidential information.
Confidentiality of information communicated by electronic means cannot be guaranteed. If you choose to use email to contact the Counselling Centre, please be aware that information could be viewed by others.
Please feel free to discuss confidentiality, the protection of your information, and legal obligations with your counsellor.
What Happens with my Information?
Any information we receive from you is used in order to assist you more effectively, to evaluate our services and for the purpose of statistical information gathering. Counsellors enter clinical notes into an electronic record. The record is accessible by other counsellors. The record system is protected to prevent accessibility by other individuals within or outside Vancouver Island University.