CONFIDENTIAL PRIVATE REHABILITATION
Your confidentiality is paramount
One of the primary thresholds of trust to be met prior to any admission is how we manage your confidentiality.
In 8 years of operation, with clients spanning the entire range of UHNW and high profile individuals, none have ever been exposed as a client of Istana.
Nor have we received a media inquiry regarding our clients. Inbound communications are restricted to very few people, trained to handle media probes, credible deniability, and the deflection of unwanted attention.
Many clients coming to Istana have spent years, sometimes decades, managing the gap between who they are required to be and what they are privately carrying.
The idea of seeking help, or of being seen to seek it, can feel more perilous than the thing they are seeking help for.
We understand this completely and Istana is designed to allay this very real concern.
No one outside a small and trusted circle need ever know that you came to Istana or were even in treatment of any kind. On departure there remains no trace of your stay.
What follows are the operational details.
Internal and other communications
All operational communications between Istana team members take place via end-to-end encrypted applications. Encryption standards of the applications we use are regularly reviewed and changes made if we detect a loosening of their privacy policies.
Your name is not used in communications. Instead you are assigned a code name. For instance if you came to Bali yours would be “IJ Bali X”.
If information exchanged by email may be seen by unwanted third parties, we create anonymised end-to-end encrypted email accounts using Proton Mail. Proton operates under Swiss privacy laws and is not subject to US or UK data access legislation.
If you are concerned about leaving a digital footprint we can assist you with the installation of a VPN on your devices. This will create an encrypted tunnel for your data, protect your online identity and disguise your location by hiding your IP address.
On the day of your departure, all internal communications related to you and your stay are erased.
Every communication protocol described above has been designed and tested over eight years of operation. None have failed.
Nothing is shared without your consent.
This can present a challenge if concerned family members or other close parties request information.
In this instance we come to you first and consult with you how to best field information requests that appease concerns without disclosing information you wish to be withheld.
Within many UHNW families lie complex family dynamics which may be contributing to your presenting issues.
If appropriate we may suggest, with your consent, that family therapy becomes a part of your treatment plan. We have world class Family Practitioners available precisely for this reason.
Client residences are spacious and we always hold bedrooms if you wish family members or significant others to be present for part or all of your stay.
This is entirely your choice and its merits are best discussed with your psychotherapist prior to making any arrangements.
Personal & Operational Confidentiality
Every element of how Istana functions: how we communicate, how we travel, how we refer to you, how we book a restaurant table on your behalf is structured to protect your anonymity.
Your name
With the exception of senior management and your primary clinical team, no one involved in your stay will know your full name.
Complementary therapists, domestic staff, drivers and support personnel know you by your first name only.
Your NDA, or ours
Every Istana team member is bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement upon engagement.
If you wish to provide your own NDA, it is signed and returned prior to your arrival.
Your residence
Aside from our office in Singapore we have no known addresses. From the outside, client residences look like nothing more than luxury private villas.
Bearing no signage or branding, there is nothing visible to connect the property to Istana, a clinic or a rehabilitation facility of any kind.
Appearance, vehicles, movement and your team
We don’t wear uniforms.
When accompanying clients outside the villa, Istana personnel dress in simpatico to appear as a friend or relative.
All vehicles used during your stay are discreet and unbranded.
Out of villa bookings such as restaurants, excursions, activities or the use of sporting facilities are made in the name of Istana personnel.
Briefing your support and complementary therapy team
Before your arrival these personnel receive a top-level brief designed to convey your preferences and the need-to-know information required to effectively serve you without disclosing sensitive clinical or personal details.
What your team will and won’t ask
Your support team and complementary therapists won’t ask you personal questions or inquire about sessions with your psychotherapist.
However you are free to share whatever you wish with them. It is our hope that the trust you have in those around you to allows for free-flowing and enjoyable conversation.
Most of our clients find that natural, warm relationships form over the course of their stay and many endure long after departure.
Clinical & Medical Confidentiality
What is shared and what is not.
No clinical or medical records, results, procedures or interventions are shared with anyone outside your treating team without your explicit consent.
If you wish we can liaise with your home practitioners to allow our clinical team to be informed and prepared. You are under no obligation to provide this consent.
Psychotherapy
Everything disclosed, and all conversation exchanged during psychotherapy sessions remains between you and your psychotherapist.
The trust and relationship formed between you and your psychotherapist is sacrosanct and closely protected.
Your psychotherapist may ask for your permission to share non-sensitive information with the wider team, for example: “X is feeling overwhelmed today; please give her space and replace intensive activities with calming modalities for the next two days.”
Medical records
Medical records, prescription details and test outcomes are held by the medical team alone. They are not shared with any other team members unless it is clinically critical for them to know — and only ever with your consent.
On departure
You will be given a full medical, psychiatric and psychotherapeutic report. This report is yours to share with your home practitioners if you wish, or to hold privately if you prefer.
You may also request to view clinical information held during your stay and ask that it be deleted within the confines of applicable local law.
The reason this matters
The question we hear most often, posed in many different ways and sometimes only implied, is this: “If I come to you, is there any realistic way that anyone could find out?”
We don’t make unsubstantiated claims such as success rates. In this case we do, our statement of zero client exposure is verifiable.
Confidentiality protocols are baked into the entire operational fabric of Istana making a breach as close to impossible as human ingenuity can achieve. Structurally improbable, and designed to stay that way.
The measures described above, together with collaborating with your family office or advisors, create the conditions in which trust can be forged.
When the fear of being found out is removed, something else takes its place. A sense of calm and relief. With this comes the possibility that you can finally exhale and feel safe enough to be yourself and freely express your feelings.
And the real work of recovery can commence.
If you have additional questions about our confidentiality protocols, we welcome the conversation. The most direct way to reach us is via WhatsApp or if you prefer schedule a confidential call.
We respond personally, promptly, and without any obligation.