Counselor Confidentiality

Clients have the right to confidentiality. Counselors cannot share information about clients without shared consent. Counselors throughout treatment process must inform clients when confidentiality can be breached (Mears, G., 2010). If a counselors foresee that a client is a danger to himself or others confidentiality must be broken.

Breaking confidentiality is a serious ethical component in counseling and must be considered very carefully before doing so. Each state has laws regarding the disclosure of confidentiality whether it to the courts, the clients, relatives, lawyers, schools, or other unbiased parties (Corey et al., 2015). It is very important that the therapist is aware of the laws in regards to disclosure of confidentiality in the state in which they practice to ensure that they are practicing in an ethical manner and to avoid any legal

Remley and Herlihy (2016) defines confidentiality as an ethical concept which refers to the counselor 's obligation to respect the client 's privacy and in session discussion will be protected from disclosure without their consent (p.108). The receptionist never disclosed what was being discussed in wife A session; however, her inadvertent breach of confidentiality occurred the moment she divulged the fact that wife A is a patient at a mental health facility. An important premise to understanding the ethical principle of confidentiality is base that a counselor respects the client 's right to privacy (Remley & Herlihy, 2016; Quigley, 2007). Premise one states the "counselor honor the rights of clients to decide who knows what information about them and in what circumstances" (p.110).

This is a legal requirement that obliges the counselor to disclosure in regards to protecting the client or the identified individuals the client shared from harm. Furthermore, the counselor has the right to disclosure when legal requirements are commanding confidential documentation that needs to be released. Why this guideline was implemented into the counseling field was due to the Tarasoff case that occurred at California University. The situation was that a counselor was seeing a client who stated that he was going to kill his girlfriend, who was named Tatiana Tarasoff. After the session, the counselor contacted the campus police, who confront the client on his disclosure during therapy. The counselor attempted to follow up on the police’s

In this article, Boden (2006) investigated the ethical dilemmas that school counselors face in their line of work. He surveyed responses from school counselors examining potential difficulties that school counselors faced. According to Boden, the five most challenging areas school counselors reported and faced includes student confidentiality of personal disclosure (46%), acting on information based on danger to self or others(45%), awareness of colleagues ethical breach (34%), parental rights (33%) and dual relationships with faculty(19%). All counselors do share the commonality of navigating a collaborative relationship with parents while respecting confidentiality of the student. In Susan’s case, she too had similar concerns involving the

While appropriate self-disclosure can be beneficial to the therapeutic alliance, self-disclosure can be considered an ethical violation if the counselor utilizes it for their own benefit. Client treatment would be negatively impacted by the counselor’s repeated disclosure of personal information and issues as the counselor would no longer be participating in the “one-way caring” characteristic of the therapeutic alliance and would foster a potential reversal of roles where “the client becomes the emotional caregiver” (Remley & Herlihy, 2016, p.

The codes addresses situations in counseling where confidentiality breaks in situations where a client dies, the counselor continues to protect the client’s confidentiality, unless specific legal requirements call for it (p. 7). Or if the client gives consent, third-party payers may receive information (p. 7). Additionally, the ACA provides information when working with families and couples. It points out the importance in defining who the client actually is, such as the marriage or the family being the client, not all of the individuals involved serve as a client (p. 7). Also, the code stresses the importance of when breaking confidentiality to protect any and all identifying information of the client, if a counselor seeks out consultation on a certain case (p. 8).

In the relationship between counsellor and client the need for confidentiality is vital as it is not only the bases that the relationship is built on and it is a legal obligation.

Professional counselors and their staff are exposed to sensitive client information and records. The helpful receptionist and whose privilege videos, show how to apply both the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics (ACA Code of Ethics) and state board counseling laws to common ethical scenarios. The content explores aspects designed to call attention to favorable and unfavorable skills and techniques in handling such matters. These two videos demonstrate the limitations of confidentiality and privileged information. As a professional counselor one is expected to uphold the principles of confidentiality and privilege according to the ACA Code of Ethics and state laws. One may conclude that the helpful receptionist video shows clear violations of confidentiality. While the whose privilege video indicates the significance of insuring that counselors comprehend state laws and ethics codes pertaining to confidentiality and privilege. Furthermore, counseling professionals are held accountable for violating ethics codes and state laws as well as training staff on informed consent.

Before a counselling session starts it is important that the client understands confidentiality. To be able to understand this the counsellor must explain to the client that anything they say within the

However, it is not always that simple and there may be some instances when it is not possible to maintain total confidentiality and the counsellor my have to pass on certain information that was revealed. For example, if a crime has been committed or if there is a risk of harm to another person. In this case the counsellor must be clear with the client what information they may have to pass on and to whom.

Clearly, confidentiality is essential to the healing process. However, though it may appear to be a relatively easy concept, its application in the therapeutic atmosphere has proven to be quite complex (Younggren & Harris, p. 589). One issue that causes confusion for many professionals pertains to the differences between confidentiality and legal privilege. Quite often, ethical obligations overlap with the legal requirements. Frequently, the practitioner is not well informed about these particular limits on confidentiality and this lack of knowledge can place both the client and the helping professional at risk (Younggren & Harris, p.590, 598).

I feel that counselors do struggle with maintaining confidentiality, which is the most common ethical dilemmas that they will face

Both the ACA (2005) and AACC (2004) code of ethics require the counselor to maintain client confidentiality to the fullest extent. Working in the counseling field, trust is a rock in the foundational of a helping relationship and confidentially plays a large role in the client counselor relationship. Both codes share similarities regarding their stance on confidentiality. When counseling others, a counselor is to inform their clients about their commitment to confidentiality as well as their limits before

Ethical issues in a counseling practice lay the foundation of a therapist in practice. Ethics are at the center of how the counseling process functions and operates in a successful manner for the clients who seek help in such a setting. In order for the counseling profession to be ethical and hold professional recognition, there are many facets that need to be examined and outlined to make sure all counselors and practitioners are functioning at the highest level and withholding their duties required by the counseling profession. The first introduction so to speak of the area of ethics also happens to be one of the first steps in counseling, which is the informed consent. The informed consent provides the basis of what happens or will be