As a leading provider of counselling and psychotherapy education in Ireland, PCI College stands in full solidarity with the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) and the wider mental health community in calling for an immediate end to the use of therapy notes in legal cases involving sexual violence. As an institution that provides IACP-accredited programmes, we are deeply committed to the ethical foundations of the therapeutic profession. We believe that the current legal practice of subpoenaing clinical notes is a fundamental violation of the privacy and trust that underpin the healing process for survivors of trauma.
The therapy room must be a sanctuary, a safe, confidential space where individuals can process the most painful and private aspects of their lives without fear of external scrutiny. When survivors are aware that their personal disclosures could be read aloud or scrutinised in a courtroom, it can often lead to self-censorship during sessions or, even more distressingly, causes survivors to avoid seeking the professional mental health support they desperately need. We see firsthand through our clinical community how this threat of legal intrusion re-traumatises individuals who are already navigating the difficult path to recovery.
The core of our educational mission at PCI College is to train therapists to uphold the highest standards of clinical integrity, with client safety and confidentiality as the absolute priority. The use of therapy notes as evidence in sexual assault cases directly undermines these principles, transforming a clinical record of healing into a potential tool for the defence. We believe that the integrity of the therapeutic relationship is essential to a functioning mental health landscape and that this relationship must be protected by law to ensure that therapy remains a viable resource for all survivors.
While we acknowledge the recent legislative discussions regarding the removal of certain waivers, we agree with the IACP that these proposals do not go far enough. PCI College calls for comprehensive legislative reform that guarantees the absolute protection of therapy notes in cases of sexual violence. It is our firm position that the pursuit of legal justice should never come at the cost of a survivor’s psychological well-being. We urge the Government to engage with mental health professionals to ensure that counselling spaces remain protected, client-centred, and entirely confidential.