As professional school counselors, we are personally committed to serving all students in their personal, social, and academic interests and needs by providing them with care, resources, and guidance curriculum necessary to their individual success. All students are deserving of services that maximizes their individual potential in every regard. While it is important that a student's conversations with a school counselor be kept confidential, confidentiality does have its limitations. According to the American School Counselor Association's Ethical Standards for School Counselors, counselors must "keep information confidential unless legal requirements demand that confidential information be revealed or a breach is required to prevent serious and foreseeable harm to the student" (American School Counselor Association [ASCA]. 2016)
The most frequent type of breaches include a student verbalizing the following:
Verbal, Physical or Sexual Abuse
Neglect
A desire to harm him/herself
A desire to harm someone else
An unreported sexual assault
Link to our professional code of ethics:
