Guidance Department Informed Consent & Confidentiality Guidelines
Students talk to a guidance counsellor about a host of issues. Some of the topics a conversation with a counsellor may cover could be: academic and life planning, class attendance, timetable changes, relationship issues, family dynamics, social/emotional health, mental health, sexuality, self-esteem, finances, substance abuse, physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
Guidance counselors are advocates for students. As part of the advocacy process, counsellors may speak with parents, teachers, administrators, school division clinicians (such as a social worker or psychologist), or other agencies and experts outside of the school system.
Generally, guidance counsellors will not release any student information without the student’s consent. It is the student’s information and the student has the right to decide which information is released.
There are, however, some exceptions:
1. If a student is being neglected or abused, by law the counsellors must inform Child and Family Services.
2. If a student is thinking of harming him/herself or someone else, the counsellors must inform someone in authority.
3. If a student is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the counsellors must inform the principal.
4. Counsellor files are kept confidential but are subject to a court subpoena.
5. Counsellors may consult with another professional but would only share necessary information.
6. If a student changes schools, the records can be sent to that school’s counsellor or that division’s clinicians.
Counsellors may let the principal or teachers know that a meeting has occurred so that attendance can be recorded accurately.