The Ethical Issues Within Counseling

According to the ethical and legal principles of the counseling profession, it is our morally professional responsibility to break confidentiality in order to eliminate the possibilities of chaos, to the best of our ability. The American Counseling Association (ACA) code of ethics explains adherence to confidentiality in a number of instances. In standard A.2.e., Mandated Clients, it describes the requirements for informing mandated clients of the limitations to confidentiality and, should an issue arise, to whom the revealed information must be shared with. This rule applies to all clients. The counselor’s responsibility to do so must be conveyed to the clients at the very beginning of the counseling relationship, with periodic reminders throughout sessions, and include the dangers involved if the client refuses to participate in the mandated sessions. ACA code of ethics further explains in standard B.1.c., Respect for Confidentiality, that counselors are to guard “confidential information” and “disclose” this “information only with appropriate consent or with sound legal or ethical jurisdiction.” Therapists must also “identify situations” where breaches can void or challenge confidentiality (ACA, 2014, B.1.d., p. 7).

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

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

B.2.a Confidentiality should be breached if the counselor believes the client will bring harm upon themselves or others. (The counselor would be obligated to break confidentiality in order to warn the

The Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California case on confidentiality are legal and ethics-related implications derived from the case where the psychologist failed to inform the victim or the parents of the victim of death threats, thus failing to carry out the duty to protect or warn. Three general categories of states include: those that mandate some duty to warn or protect (and that often specify whether law enforcement, the victim, or a combination should be “warned”); those that allow therapists to warn by protecting them from liability for breach of confidentiality if they do so, but do not require them to issue a warning; and those that offer no statutory or case law guidance (Johnson, Persad & Sisti, 2014).

Finally, and perhaps most important, the ACA ethical code serves to protect this covenantal relationship as it continues to evolve” (p.121). By looking at counseling relationships as a covenant between the counselor and client the counselor will then respect the welfare and the dignity of their client.

Confidentiality is an obligation that counselors have professionally, ethically, and legally. They are prohibited from disclosing client information without written consent; unless the client is at risk for harming self or others (Gladding, 2011). Although confidentiality is not guaranteed in group settings, the therapist must inform the group of the importance of confidentiality, and establish what it means to them as a group. In order to keep confidentiality within a group, the leader must first teach the members how to communicate about their experience in such a way as to maintain the confidentiality and privacy of other group members (Corey, Corey, & Corey, 2014). From there, if confidentiality is broken within the group, the leader can

The moral code of the American Psychological Association has vital impact in the therapist's expert obligations. A standout amongst the most imperative of these codes is that of protection and confidentiality (Standard 4.0). Confidentiality assumes a significant part in the analyst/customer relationship. Most customers view the clinician as somebody they can trust in. By what means can a therapist abstain from breaking confidentiality in both individual and expert settings? Furthermore when is it legitimately and morally allowable to break confidentiality? The creator will clarify the part that confidentiality plays in the clinician's calling, and also examine the cutoff points of confidentiality, in addition to assess how this moral code influences

Counselors are inclined to protect clients’ confidentiality, and a client’s legal right to privileged communication reinforces that ability to defend clients’ privacy. This is definitely an advantage for a client, knowing their conversation is kept private and protected from outside sources such as the court of law, which might try to use this information against our client. As a future counselor my ethical duty will be with to know the concept of privileged communication, practical steps to take in order to protect clients, and exceptions to clients’ right to privileged

The article I chose covered confidentiality within the counselor-client relationship. The complexities that arise between confidentiality and what is required by law to report. The article provided a view of the complexities of privileged communication between the client and counselor. It is a balancing act between a counselors ethical and legal obligations. Each state has their own set of rules regarding confidentiality and what must be reported. The article summarizes how important confidentiality is to the counselor-counselor relationship. When a counselor is faced with having to disclose privileged information, they need to be well informed of the statutes within their state. Therefore, they can provide information regarding confidentiality

client, a question emerges how will the counselor convey this information to the client without also engaging in dishonesty? Based on APA ethical guidelines the following guidelines apply:

Section B.1.c. outlines the exceptions to confidentiality including the fact that confidentiality does not apply “when disclosure is required to prevent clear and imminent danger to the client….” This exemption was written with the suicidal client in mind, clarifying that counselors have a duty to protect client from harm and that this supersedes the harm that may happen due to a breach of confidentiality.

According to Code of Ethics of the American Mental Health Counselors Association (2000) it has the following principle about confidentiality: At the outset of any counseling relationship, mental health counselors make their clients aware of their rights in regard to confidential nature of the counseling relationship. “They fully disclose the limits of, or exceptions to, confidentiality, and or the existence of privileged communication, if any. (Corey, Schneider & Callanan, 2011) This previous paragraph clearly stating what our ethical approach to confidentiality should be can be found in section 3.a in the Code of Ethics of the AMHCA. This paper starts with this probably confusing to others

Although the counselor-client confidentiality agreement exists and must be held with utmost importance, it is imperative for professional therapists and counselors to still be conscious of the limitations to this rule. Confidentiality must be at the very core of the therapeutic relationship for the rehabilitation process to be successfully effective, which is the cornerstone of the counseling profession. When trust is broken, or the confidentiality has been compromised, providing that breaking this agreement falls within its limitations, the expectancy of failure of the relationship is likely to ensue (Capuzzi & Gross, 2011). In this paper, I will attempt to briefly explain the pledge of confidentiality that therapists make to both the client and

However, because counseling is based on a trusting relationship between the counselor and the students, the leader will keep the information shared by the members confidential unless district policy and/or ethical responsibilities require disclosure. These circumstances are if a child reveals information about harming themselves or others, or if a child reveals information about child abuse. In these rare cases only relevant information will be shared following district policy.