ABSTRACT
The concepts of boundary and confidentiality are closely linked. Psychotherapy, counselling, and psychoanalysis are all based on the premise that the patient is free to say whatever is on his mind and the therapist is similarly free to think. The therapist needs to be able to ‘listen freely’ rather than to ‘listen out’ for information that would compel him to report the patient to the authorities. ‘The right to confidence is based on the idea that the information belongs to the person who imparted it –rather as though it was a piece of property’. The legal implication of this is that the information contained in a therapist’s notes belongs to the patient. The patient should be consulted when the therapist is considering contacting another professional involved in his care. Despite the therapist’s impression of an enviably rewarding job, the patient soon began to complain about unhappiness at work and a feeling that he was being bullied.
