Therapist reports!

What ichi said is correct, there’s no way a therapist (alright, there are stupid therapists in the world, but not many) would report you for something like smoking, it would be completely counterproductive, it’s not like they’re getting you out of danger, and you would stop talking to them which means they could no longer help you. The only time they break confidentiality is in cases where you are a threat to yourself (suicide), a threat to others (homicide), you’re being abused (those three are mandated by law), or you are seriously hurting yourself in some way.

As for the confidentiality. I’m sorry, but that does not apply to children under the age of 18. Parents unfortunately have more rights than their kids in most states, and your parents can request to see any and all records. However, if your parents truly want you to get help they will not intervene in the therapy process, and your therapist is not going to voluntarily disclose without a very good reason.

What I used to do (before I learnt all the rules and laws) is ask questions hypothetically. ‘If another teen client told you they smoked, would you tell their parent.’

um well a therapist signs an oath not to speak about anything you guys discuss in the sesion so no she/he shouldt say anything and if they do you can actually sue them for lying about having patient confidentiality

I wouldn’t tell them that. Even though my therapist says she won’t tell a thing,she will most likely tell on me for that (I smoke,also). Why not keep it to yourself,if you want to keep smoking?

rockstar69 is right…to a degree.

They can speak forward if they feel the patient’s life, health, or general welfare (such as in abuse cases) is in jeopardy.

Your parents will figure it out themselves before long, anyway…once you start smelling like smoke all the time, ending up with yellow stained fingers and teeth and begin getting wrinkles prematurely. Smoking isn’t glamorous…it’s stupid.