Trust is an essential factor in the helping process. Without it, clients will not feel free to share their most intimate thoughts and feelings. They will not be completely honest or forthcoming in conversations which will hinder the professional’s ability to truly help the client. For this reason, the promise of confidentiality becomes critical to the process. It is the “secret keeping duty” all helping professionals have an ethical obligation to observe (Younggren & Harris, p.589). It protects the client’s right to privacy and fosters an atmosphere in which one feels safe, facilitating trust and allowing one to feel comfortable enough to share their inner most feelings and thoughts. Most helping professionals agree that confidentiality is key to the healing process and it is their primary obligation to protect it (Fisher, p.1). It is a standard included in the American Psychological Associations Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct (2002) and it is regulated by law in many states. The importance of preserving confidentiality was highlighted in an article published in the Lancet in February of 2006 titled, “Pressures on Confidentiality”. Several reasons were given on why its preservation was necessary including protection of individual privacy and retention of personal autonomy. Additionally, maintaining confidentiality implies a degree of secret keeping, instilling a feeling of trustworthiness and faith in the doctor-client relationship (Rogers, p. 553). Furthermore, the importance of confidentiality was highlighted in a land mark decision by the Supreme Court in Jaffee v. Redmond (1996) which states:
Effective psychotherapy, by contrast, depends upon an atmosphere of confidence and trust in which the patient is wi...
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How technology changes everything (and nothing) in psychology: 2008 annual report of the APA policy and planning board. (2009). American Psychologist, 64(5), 454-463.
O'Neil, M. K. (2007). Confidentiality, privacy, and the facilitating role of psychoanalytic organizations. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 88(3), 691-711. doi:10.1516/0334-5427-247W-X038
Richards, M. M. (2009). Electronic medical records: Confidentiality issues in the time of HIPAA. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40(6), 550-556. doi:10.1037/a0016853
Rogers, W. A. (2006). Pressures on confidentiality. Lancet, 367(9510), 553-554. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68200-7
Younggren, J. N., & Harris, E. A. (2008). Can you keep a secret? confidentiality in psychotherapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 64(5), 589-600. doi:10.1002/jclp.20480
Sobel, R. (2007). The HIPAA Paradox. The Privacy Rule that’s Not. Hasting Center Report, 37(4), 40-50.
...rt of the medical profession, the therapists are expected to maintain the confidentiality of their clients. A psychologist must be able to acquire a client’s trust in order to keep quality confidentiality amongst the two parties. Only on seriously occasions should the patient’s records be shared, under certain other conditions the psychotherapy records of a minor can be reviewed by others without prior written consent. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), psychologists can usually give way the patient records to parents or legal guardians. Some of the ethical rules that apply to the practice of child and adolescent psychiatry are clear and generally agreed upon For example, rules against sexual contact or harsh or abusive treatment are encoded as boundary violations. A psychotherapist must be able to respect the boundaries of the client.
. HIPAA privacy rules are complicated and extensive, and set forth guidelines to be followed by health care providers and other covered entities such as insurance carriers and by consumers. HIPAA is very specific in its requirements regarding the release of information, but is not as specific when it comes to the manner in which training and policies are developed and delivered within the health care industry. This paper will discuss how HIPAA affects a patient's access to their medical records, how and under what circumstances personal health information can be released to other entities for purposes not related to health care, the requirements regarding written privacy policies for covered entities, the training requirements for medical office employees and the consequences for not following the policy.
Heitler, Susan. Ph.D. “8 Reasons to Cheer for Psychotherapy and to Broaden Its Availability.” Psychology Today. N.p. 10 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2013
HIPAA is there to help protected all the patients information no matter if is written down, oral and or an electronic record (Stember, 2005). There are more than one HIPAA rules that protect all aspects of the PHI. Some of those rules let the patient take hold of their healthcare. This lets the patient have more control over their health records. HIPAA lets the patient get their records when they want to view them. But they can’t get and medical records that are involved in a criminal or proceeding of any kind, and do not have the right to psychotherapy notes (Green, 2017).
Disclosure is an essential aspect of a medical professional and his or her patients’ relationships. In the 1950s, the medical client and professional relationship was one of paternalism as opposed to the now fiduciary relationship. Then a paternalistic professional took all of the responsibilities, disclosed what he then thought was necessary, and essentially told the patien...
Roth, A., Fonagy, P. (2005). What works for Whom? A Critical Review of Psychotherapy Research. US: Guilford Press.
There is much debate about how psychiatric patients should be cared for and treated. Especially in an in patient setting, many healthcare providers will choose to care for mentally ill patients in their own way. Patients who are mentally ill have restrictions on certain aspects of their care such as access to certain things along with the environment they are in. Although confidentiality is important and should be maintained in all aspects of medical care, I do think that psychiatric patients should have the same have the opportunity to keep as much information confidential as they wish. Given the circumstances there are reasons to breach that confidentiality in mentally ill patients in order to keep the patient safe and out of harms way.
Over the course of their therapeutic relationship, Dr. Davenport violates client confidentiality as it is described by the American Counseling
In today’s society with the blogs, the gossip sites and the other forms of social media, confidentiality is a thing of the past. However, for, physicians and other health professionals, they are held to a higher standard to maintain a level of ethics and confidentiality for their patients. Confidentiality is a major duty for a health professional, but is there ever a time to where it is okay to tell what a patient says in confident? What if the patient is a minor, or a senior citizen or someone who is mentally challenged? What if a patient is being abused or wants to commit suicide? Does it matter if it is a nurse, or a dentist, or a psychologist or is all medical professional held to the same moral standard? What roles does a consent form or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act plays in the medical world in being confidentiality? I would like to explore Confidentiality and the moral effects it has on the health profession.
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 happening in a counseling setting and serves to inform the client to their rights, responsibilities, and what to expect. Most importantly, the informed consent is in place for the client’s benefit. It also is important to understand that culture and environment play a role in the treatment of a client and how theories can positively or negatively impact this treatment. Therapists need to understand how to work within the context of a theory while being able to understand the individual in their own environment. Although theories are put into place to serve as a framework, there are also alternative ways to approach counseling, one example being evidence-based practice. Such an approach is very specific, which presents a series of solutions for counseling as a whole, but also brings forth many problems. Every approach or theory introduces ethical concerns that need to be taken into consideration by the entire counseling community and how each can positively and negatively affect clients and the pr...
Smith, T. B., Rodríguez, M. D., & Bernal, G. (2011). Culture. In J. C. Norcross (Ed.), Psychotherapy relationships that work (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Ethics in the counselling and psychotherapy protects the client and the therapist involved in the therapeutic relationship and the therapeutic process as a whole; with the concepts that act as a guide for the therapists in provision of good practice and care for the client. The framework is built on values of counselling and psychotherapy; principles of trustworthiness, autonomy, fidelity, justice, beneficence, non-maleficence and self-respect, and provides standards of good practice and care for the practitioner (BACP, 2010). Ethical framework contributes to the development of the therapeutic relationship and process by assisting therapist’s decisions, and guides their behaviour and proceedings within their legal rights and duties. The ethical frame is structured on the boundaries of the therapeutic relationship and the therapists should be aware of their categories and be responsible for their forms. Monitoring and being aware of what goes on in and out of the room physically, emotionally and psychologically is primarily the duty of the therapist.
The use of active listening is an essential skill to achieve this type of relationship as well as a sensitivity for clients who come from a culture different than the counselor’s culture. Great counseling also includes being honest with the client from the first session where informed consent is provided. It is important to discuss the limitations of confidentiality. Another important factor is to guide the client into setting realistic goals, so the counseling sessions can be more
In the world of psychology therapist raise a question whether or not they should “disclose personal information during psychotherapy. Several therapists “have suggested that therapist self-discloser can have a positive impact on treatment. From this view, self-discloser by the therapists may elicit greater discloser by the client enhancing the possibilities for client self-exploration”(e.g., Bugental, 1965, chap. 7; Jourad, 1971, chap. 17; Strassberg, Roback, D’Antonio & Gable, 1977). In addition, “self-discloser is thought to encourage an atmosphere of honesty and understanding between client and therapist, fostering a stronger and more effective therapeutic relationship”). However many other therapist disagrees with that statement. They reply “ psychodynamic theorist since Freud have generally regarded therapist self-disclosure as detrimental to treatment because it might interfere with the therapeutic process, shifting the focus of therapy away from the client”(e.g., see cutis, 1982b; Freud, 1912/1958; Greenson, 1967, chap. 3). In addition, it is argued that therapist self-discloser may adversely affect treatment outcome by exposing therapist weakness or vulnerabilities, thereby undermining client trust in the therapist”(e.g., see cutis, 1982b, 1981)