What we will not claim
Confidential, with limits the law sets — and here they are.
AI-generated illustration. Not a real office.
What you tell your therapist is confidential, and New York's own rules say so. It is not 100% confidential anywhere, so this page says exactly where the limits are, before you book.
What you will see advertised
“Everything you say here is 100% confidential, always. HIPAA-secure and completely private.”
Quoted in order to be refused: this practice never says it, and the rest of this page says why.
Why a practice says it, and why it misleads
Privacy is the first worry of almost everyone who thinks about starting therapy, so a sentence that promises total secrecy is the most comforting thing a website can print. A badge or a padlock picture does the same job at a glance, which is why so many sites carry one.
It misleads because the limits are not the therapist's to set or to waive. A clinician who tells you that nothing you say could ever leave the room has told you something untrue, and you may find that out at the worst moment: when a report has to be made about a child, or about a risk to somebody's life. Hearing the limits at the start, before you have said anything you might want back, is what lets you choose what to bring.
A privacy badge also tells you less than it seems to. It names a set of rules without saying whether those rules apply to the practice at all, or what they allow. The notes below say what applies here, in the law's own terms.
The limits, one by one
Said before you come, and again at the first session.
With your written permission
We share information with somebody else — a doctor, a school, a family member — only when you have said so in writing, and only what you agreed to.
If a child may be at risk
Every clinician here is required by law to report a reasonable suspicion that a child they see in their work is being abused or maltreated (Social Services Law § 413).
If someone may be seriously harmed
When, in a clinician's professional judgment, a client is likely to do something that would seriously harm themselves or someone else, the clinician must report it to the county's director of community services (Mental Hygiene Law § 9.46).
If a court orders it
What you say to a social worker is privileged in court, with exceptions the law lists, among them a plan to commit a crime or a harmful act (CPLR 4508). A subpoena alone is not an order, and we would talk to you first.
If you use your insurance
If you send our statement to your insurer for out-of-network reimbursement, the insurer sees the dates, the fee and the codes on it. That is your choice, and it does not waive anything else (CPLR 4508).
No HIPAA badge. You'll see "HIPAA-compliant" on many therapy websites. The federal HIPAA rules apply to a health care provider that sends insurance transactions electronically (45 CFR 160.103), and this practice sends none, so it makes no HIPAA claim. What binds every clinician here is New York's own rule: nothing identifying is revealed without your consent except as the law requires or allows (8 NYCRR § 29.1(b)(8)).
What the law says
As it read in October 2026.
A licensee may not reveal identifiable information about a client without the client's consent, except as the law authorizes or requires (8 NYCRR § 29.1(b)(8)).
Social workers and other mental health professionals must report a reasonable suspicion that a child they see in their work is abused or maltreated (Social Services Law § 413).
A mental health professional who judges that a client is likely to engage in conduct that would seriously harm themselves or others reports it to the county director of community services (Mental Hygiene Law § 9.46).
A social worker may not be required to disclose a client's communications, with exceptions that include the client's consent and a contemplated crime or harmful act (CPLR 4508).
The HIPAA rules cover a health care provider that sends health information electronically in connection with an insurance transaction (45 CFR 160.103); this practice sends none, so it makes no HIPAA claim.
- 8 NYCRR § 29.1(b)(8) (opens the source in a new tab) A licensee may not reveal identifiable information about a client without the client's consent, except as the law authorizes or requires.
- N.Y. Social Services Law § 413 (opens the source in a new tab) Social workers and other mental health professionals must report a reasonable suspicion that a child they see in their work is abused or maltreated.
- N.Y. Mental Hygiene Law § 9.46 (opens the source in a new tab) A mental health professional who judges that a client is likely to engage in conduct that would seriously harm themselves or others reports it to the county director of community services.
- CPLR 4508 (opens the source in a new tab) A social worker may not be required to disclose a client's communications, with exceptions that include the client's consent and a contemplated crime or harmful act.
- 45 CFR 160.103 (opens the source in a new tab) The HIPAA rules cover a health care provider that sends health information electronically in connection with an insurance transaction.
What this practice does
Your clinician goes through these limits with you at the first session, before you tell them anything you might want to keep.
This website keeps only what an appointment needs, and never anything about why you are coming.
Keep reading
- What happens in a first session
- What this website keeps, and what it does not
- What parents hear from a teenager's therapist
The other things this site will not claim
Book a free call
Book a free fifteen-minute call, or go straight to a first session if you know what you want. Nothing is paid online, and nothing on the form asks why you're coming.