Help Can a therapist make a report about this?

[SpencerSees]

Not my usual post, but I feel like I need to open up about this to someone fully.
I was sexually abused by my uncle from being born to about 16, with 5 year gap when he was in prison. I think he has hurt other minors around that time, as one of my cousins also touched me and I believe she learned it from him. He seems fine nowadays, even has a kid, who I pay very close attention to for any signs of being hurt or taken advantage of.
I'd like to tell this to my therapist, but I don't know if she would make a report about this. I don't want family drama or to recount things to a court as long as my little cousin is fine. I don't want her to grow up without a father.

 

[EmptyBottle]

Not my usual post, but I feel like I need to open up about this to someone fully.
I was sexually abused by my uncle from being born to about 16, with 5 year gap when he was in prison. I think he has hurt other minors around that time, as one of my cousins also touched me and I believe she learned it from him. He seems fine nowadays, even has a kid, who I pay very close attention to for any signs of being hurt or taken advantage of.
I'd like to tell this to my therapist, but I don't know if she would make a report about this. I don't want family drama or to recount things to a court as long as my little cousin is fine. I don't want her to grow up without a father.

Not sure about their reporting obligations (ask them what reporting obligations they have)... tho what if your cousin is experiencing the same things? Having it reported can protect your cousin... since the abuse went on for years, I have a feeling the cousin is at risk of being a future victim, unless preventative action is taken.

 

[SpencerSees]

Not sure about their reporting obligations (ask them what reporting obligations they have)... tho what if your cousin is experiencing the same things? Having it reported can protect your cousin... since the abuse went on for years, I have a feeling the cousin is at risk of being a future victim, unless preventative action is taken.

That's my problem. She seems to be doing okay, and I check on her constantly. If my uncle got convicted, they most likely would have get deported with her mother since their visa is kinda fucked. I really don't want anything bad happen to her and I know preventative measures would be the best, but their only source of income is my uncle unfortunately.

 

[EmptyBottle]

That's my problem. She seems to be doing okay, and I check on her constantly. If my uncle got convicted, they most likely would have get deported with her mother since their visa is kinda fucked. I really don't want anything bad happen to her and I know preventative measures would be the best, but their only source of income is my uncle unfortunately.

Government benefits may be applied for... tho I'm not an immigration attorney so maybe consider getting a free legal opinion about the visa situation?

 

[kcon1243]

Not my usual post, but I feel like I need to open up about this to someone fully.
I was sexually abused by my uncle from being born to about 16, with 5 year gap when he was in prison. I think he has hurt other minors around that time, as one of my cousins also touched me and I believe she learned it from him. He seems fine nowadays, even has a kid, who I pay very close attention to for any signs of being hurt or taken advantage of.
I'd like to tell this to my therapist, but I don't know if she would make a report about this. I don't want family drama or to recount things to a court as long as my little cousin is fine. I don't want her to grow up without a father.

In my area, therapists are mandated reporters. If they suspect child abuse, they have a legal and professional obligation to report it to authorities just like they have a legal and professional obligation to report you if they believe you are a danger to yourself or others. They don't need conclusive proof, just reasonable suspicion. Failure to report can lead to stiff penalties so I'd suspect they'd probably draft a report.

 

[Seneca65AD]

Unfortunately this is one of those "it all depends" responses.

Everything depends on jurisdiction. Best thing to do is call the state or provincial licensing body or college and find out for sure. So, generally speaking, therapists, counsellors, lawyers and doctors get to break confidentiality in 2 cases:

1. Reasonable grounds to suspect self harm in the future;
2. Reasonable grounds to suspect a crime against a person in the future.

With therapists, counsellors and doctors being further mandated to report subject to the following circumstances:

1. Suspected abuse of a child even if it has happened in the past;
2. Suspected abuse of a vulnerable adult even if it has happened in the past;
3. Suspected abuse committed by another therapist/counsellor/doctor even if the victim is not a child or a vulnerable adult.

So there is an interesting dichotomy - counsellors and therapists may have to report past incidents from the victims' perspective. Lawyers do not have to report anything that happened in the past - as long as there are no reasonable grounds to believe it will happen in the future.

 

[EmptyBottle]

3. Suspected abuse committed by another therapist/counsellor/doctor even if the victim is not a child or a vulnerable adult.

That's nice... so if a therapist is abusive... rather than having to state the case to the board or smth... a person can report to another therapist?

 

[Seneca65AD]

That's nice... so if a therapist is abusive... rather than having to state the case to the board or smth... a person can report to another therapist?

For the initial notification process, the answer is "yes" - subject to specific jurisdiction. However the victim would still have to cooperate with the state board for the actual investigation. Think of it this way - notification gets the file opened but it's the investigation which gets the file closed......and abusive can be subject to interpretation; i.e. sexual abuse or impropriety is pretty clear cut, but verbal abuse or even malpractice can sometimes be more difficult to prove.

However, the one thing that is true is that all professional bodies keep track of complaints. Even if the first complaint against a therapist, counsellor, doctor or lawyer does not find traction, the 2nd could, or the 3rd, etc. That is why is is important to report offensive behaviour or malpractice. At the very least it could force the offending professional to perhaps receive extra training or education - or in the most serious situations - be kicked out of the practice completely.

 

[claracatchingthebus]

Tor Browser protects your IP against IP logging. You can download it here: https://www.torproject.org/download/

Without it, websites easily know who you are, even if you don't give them your real name based on "fingerprinting" a way to track the hardware components of your device and match them to other browsing sessions (like your banking session, or a shopping session) with a real name. They can measure your hardware using a type of programming called Javascript that runs locally on your machine. Tor Browser is the only way to protect against that on some small level, and how it does that is a complex topic that I'm not going to go into.

Here is https://rainn.org/ , the Rape Abuse and Incest Network website. They have an online chat there as well as a phone number.

If you use the Tor Browser to go there, and don't provide your real name, number or email, you can ask them questions without giving them real names. You can also ask questions about therapists and mandatory reporting and if RAINN volunteers chatting with you are mandatory reporters. Tor Browser can usually protect you in these situations.

I have no idea what the answer is to this, but it likely depends on the rules of your jurisdiction. Additionally, you can chat with the counselors at RAINN using Tor and you should be protected with what you say if you're not providing any identifying information.

That's my problem. She seems to be doing okay, and I check on her constantly. If my uncle got convicted, they most likely would have get deported with her mother since their visa is kinda fucked. I really don't want anything bad happen to her and I know preventative measures would be the best, but their only source of income is my uncle unfortunately.

That's an awful situation. People who are victims of crimes may have different immigration rights, but it also may not matter; an immigration attorney would know the answer, hopefully?