Postscript: BCP Introductory Statement on Confidentiality

Following the BCP conference on confidentiality, the BCP Working Group on Confidentiality produced an ‘Introductory Statement on Confidentiality’ (July 2003). This is a working document that states the position of the BCP on the issue of confidentiality of clinical records. On the basis of this statement, the Working Group will be producing guidelines for BCP members on good practice including how and what information is kept on patients and what practitioners need to know about the Data Protection Act.

The constituent members of the BCP attach the highest importance to the maintenance of confidentiality in the communications between patients and their psychoanalyst or psychoanalytic psychotherapist and also in the privacy of any written notes.

The need for confidentiality in psychoanalytic work is akin to, but goes well beyond the need for medical confidentiality generally and beyond that required by psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists and others who treat emotional and behavioural disturbance. The ethical codes of each of the professional groups contain statements about confidentiality relevant to their practice and some professional organizations provide guidelines for their members to follow. Central to the psychoanalytic approach is the exploration of interpersonal processes with attention to underlying unconscious activity. Very strict confidentiality is an essential prerequisite for the focus on and the use of this material. The disclosure of such material to third parties can be acutely damaging to the process and should be resisted in nearly all circumstances.

It is recognized that confidentiality in psychotherapeutic work has a particular clinical importance. The decision of the United States Supreme Court in Jaffee v. Redmond 518 US 1 1 that ruled against the disclosure of a psychotherapist's notes is a case in point. The court there noted that treatment by a physician for physical ailments can often proceed successfu