Your Privacy is Important to Us...

All student contacts with the Counseling Center are confidential in accordance with New York State law and the ethical standards of the American Psychological Association and the National Association of Social Workers.  Thus, no information is released from the counseling center without a student's written consent:  this applies to releasing information on and off campus.  However, there are several legally mandated exceptions to therapist-client confidentiality, including situations in which the person may be a danger to themselves or others and situations in which there is a suspicion of  child abuse.

These situation do not come up often, but if one of these applied to you, your counselor would be discussing it with you.

In addition to this, your counselor may consult with another counselor here, or with our consulting psychologist or psychiatrist.  These are formal, professional consultations specifically for the purpose of making sure students receive the best quality counseling possible and the same standards of confidentiality apply. 

*Please read the information below about recent changes in New York State law*

In January 2013, NY State passed legislation designed to limit a suicidal or homicidal person’s access to fire arms. This law requires mental health providers to alert the County Director of Community Services and the NY Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) if a person is likely to engage in conduct that will result in serious harm to self or others. The DCJS will then identify if that person has a gun permit and may remove certain fire arms from their possession in order to protect the identified person or others. This law may also prevent impacted people from obtaining a gun permit for 5 years following a report to the DCJS. The Otsego County Director of Community Services is Susan Dalesandro, LCSW, CASAC.

The criteria for reporting clients to the Department of Criminal Justice Services is quite high and this does not apply to all types of gun permits. If you are concerned about this, please call a counselor and we will explain the criteria for reporting and answer any questions you might have.