ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN COUNSELING

Confidentiality: Acknowledgement of the process of keeping trusted information private by the clinician, while distinguishing the reason for breaking one’s promise in keeping information secret; through written and verbal communication.

In the article, “Confidentiality: Concept analysis and clinical application”, author Winifred Ellenchild, examines confidentiality from both a theoretical perspective using concept analysis and through the use of a clinically based empirical investigation. The author compared the two approaches and discussed the features, credentials, costs, empirical referents, and implications for clinical practice. The results discussed in the article are those provided through a research project involving participants’ definitions of confidentiality and confidentiality issues.

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).

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.

4.3- Describe situations where information normally considered to be confidential might need to be passed on.

It goes without saying that at some point in a counselor career, he or she can expect to be faced with an ethical dilemma. Ethical decisions are rarely easy to arrive at, as the dilemmas a counselor is faced with can be very complex

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.

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.

This paper is a response to a video discussing the issues of confidentiality, privilege, reporting, and duty to warn. This paper looks at these issues and their explanations in the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics as well as the Georgia State Board of Professional Counselor’s ethical guidelines and provides a commentary on the laws. It was found that these issues are not always black and white, but there is some debate on these issues. Confidentiality is both an ethical and a legal responsibility yet there are often times when the ethical demands clash with the legal demands. This paper explores some of those crashes and explains what I have learned from the video and the professional and stage guidelines concerning confidentiality and its implications and how I will apply what I have learned into future practice.

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).

* Confidentiality – the steps that are taken when people’s information is not kept confidential and on a need to know basis

When it comes to confidentiality there are rules that one has to follow in order to abide by the person’s rights. Using caution when talking to others about the client who want to obtain information that they are not at liberty to have. An example of this would be someone claiming to be a patient’s friend wanting a room number in the hospital to go visit them. Confidentiality is a very delicate situation in the practicing field of professionals.

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

Confidentiality was explained to Lorena, and also the exceptions in which, confidentiality would have to be breached. Lorena was asked if she understood this, she replied “Yea”. ACA (2005, Section, 2.3.3.1. Breaching the confidentiality and therefore trust between Lorena and myself in this instance, was necessary and unavoidable, ACA, 2.3.4.1, (2008), and 2.3.4.3 and ACA, , B.2a, B.2c(2005).