Regardless Of The State In Which They Are Operating, Mental

The American Counseling Association and the American Mental Health Counselors Association Codes of Ethics both provide guidance and direction in making ethical decisions for their members (ACA, 2005) (AMHCA, 2010). Both the ACA and the AMHCA Codes of Ethics cover a wide range of moral and ethical situations that could present themselves to mental health professionals. Both of these codes of ethics have significant impacts on the counseling profession. The tools provided by these codes of ethics ensure that mental health professionals are able to conform to the regulations set forth. They address common concerns from varying points of view. Understanding these codes of ethics is essential to all mental

When mental health counselors work with various clients during their career, they need to practice confidentiality and privacy when conducting one-on-one, group, or any type of counseling services. Like any medical patient, mental health clinicians need to treat their clients with dignity and respect. It is extremely important for the mental health counselor working with his or her assigned caseload

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).

The court held the psychologist responsible for the murder of his girlfriend and for not informing of the intent to harm. I believe Justice Tobriner said it best, “the protective privilege ends where the public peril begins.”

The article “Duty to Warn and Protect: Not in Texas” cites the 1999 Texas Supreme court decision in the case Thapar v. Zezulka; which stated that counselors do not have a duty to warn and protect because it breaks client/counselor confidentiality (Barbee, Combs, Ekleberry, & Villalobos, 2007). As a result of the 1999 ruling the

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.

These three characters in this vignette brought up many good questions related to confidentiality, mandated reporting privileged information, and the Therapists responsibility related to reporting suspected child abuse, elder abuse and/or suicidal ideations, and the Therapists responsibility to warn third parties if it is apparent that they are in imminent danger. Constance states she believed the victim should be allowed to win in this case as they failed to avoid an avoidable harm. In so saying it is obvious to me that confidentiality cannot be an absolute, nor do we work in a perfect world. So as one goes forward working as a therapist and the mental health field it is important to understand the standards of our profession and how it is important for us to know whether a victim is in peril and that we always have the duty to warn or protect individuals in our care are affected by those that we provide mental health care for

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.

There are several ethical dilemmas that the mental health professionals that are working as a team will face including “ensuring that the client has given informed consent, maintaining client confidentiality, and involving professionals, paraprofessionals, and family in appropriate coordinated processes that benefit the client” (Paproski & Haverkamp, 2000, p.96).

The judicial precedence set by Tasaroff v Regents of the University of Caliornia.17 Cal.3d 425,551 P.2D 334,131 Cal. Rptn 14 (1976) demonstrates vividly that unlike their counterparts in other medical disciplines, Psychiatrists may need a lower disclosure threshold given that they may see patients who are mentally volatile and potentially dangerous!( Farlex,2012).In this scenario, Prosenjit Poddar, a mental health patient student at the University of California, informed his Psychologist of his intent to murder Tatiana Tasaroff two months in advance. The Psychologist went ahead and disclosed this information to the campus police who held the patient for a brief period and released him upon deeming him rational only to end up killing Tasaroff !The

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

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.

The second ethical issue occurred when the psychologist disclosed information about Mr. Hartwig’s to his psychiatrist without Mr. Hartwig’s consent. The psychologist motivations for contacting Mr. Hartwig’s psychiatrist appears to be ethical. He was attempting to establish a collaborative relationship with the psychiatrist in order to maximize the effectiveness of each for of treatment in order to best serve the client (APA, 2002). However, The APA guidelines on stipulate that while psychologist should attempt to establish a collaborative relationship they must request release from the client before disclosing confidential information (APA, 2002). The client shared the name of his psychiatrist, but there was no evidence that the client consented to an exchange of information between the two professionals. In addition to the psychologists’ obligation to obtain consent to disclose information to the psychiatrist; he was also ethically obligated to ensure that the client understands what he/she is giving consent for. Koocher and Keith-Spiegel, suggest elements that a release-of-information form should include; who the information is to be released to, and any limitations on the information to be released (2008). If the client consented to disclosure with the

One of the most controversial issues is whether practitioners have a duty to disclose their client’s HIV status if an identifiable third party is at risk of becoming infected. Several factors influence whether therapists decide to listen to the law or the ethical guidelines, since they are extremely contradictory. Hook and Cleveland (1999) argue that breaching confidentiality in cases related to HIV/AIDS is wrong. The researchers communicate that mental health professionals have a duty of non-maleficence and by breaching confidentiality, they are doing more harm than good. Certainly, disclosing that a client is HIV-positive to a third party could leave him/her vulnerable to discrimination as well as stigmatization. Given that a therapist’s

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