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Ethics in the medical field
Confidentiality principles in counseling
Confidentiality principles in counseling
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Discussion 2
Confidentiality is the moral principle or legal right that a therapist must uphold secret of all information relating to clients, unless the client gives consent permitting disclosures. Principles of respect for client autonomy and fidelity, is both ethical concerns, and important element in the counselor/ client relations (Welfel, 2013).
In the world of psychotherapy, confidentiality assures honesty and respect between therapist and client. Clarifying what we talk about in the session remain private, but by law counselors may be required to disclose confidential information. There is never absolute counselors must stay alert understanding that privacy is a vital principle in law. Having a disclosure statement would help with issues, stating to the clients) that may come a time when I as a therapist may find it necessary to consult with my supervisor, colleagues, or other professional, such as an attorney concerning issues that arise in therapy. To ensure your covered one would follow the five C’s (a) consent, (b) court order, (c) client complaints, (d) communic...
Although doctor-patient confidentiality is standard today, a caveat about this privilege is that it does not protect all statements made to therapists and only applies to regularly scheduled appointments. Additionally, if a patient reveals that they intend to harm someone, it is the therapist’s duty to report this fact to the proper authorities.
A promise of confidentiality assures clients that information revealed during counseling will not be shared with others without permission. An individual has the right to choose the time, circumstances, and extent, to which he or she wishes to share or withhold information. Marriage and family therapist have different confidentiality aspects from other counseling areas. Marriage and family therapist mostly have more than one client in a therapeutic relationship, there are different limitations for each individual client. AAMFT Standard II (2015 2.2) states When providing couple, family or group treatment, the therapist does not disclose information outside the treatment context without a written authorization from each individual competent to execute a waiver. Conclusively, counselors may be counseling a couple, group, or family for treatment, each client has their own rights to privacy protection and confidentiality. All counselors must follow specific guidelines when in regards to disclosing information that has potential harm to the client or identified others. If court ordered or third party payers have requested information it is the counselors job to obtain written consent from the client to release information about that
They argue that therapists should consider their own motivation to self-disclose and set boundaries. The therapists should never put their own needs above the client. They make sure to point out that self discourse alone cannot affect the outcome of treatment. Self-disclosure is effective only if it is used appropriately and only if it is used when it is necessary. The amount of information disclosed and when it is disclosed is also important. Therapists should draw a clear line with the amount of intimacy to include in their therapeutic disclosure to ensure that no inappropriate boundaries are crossed. The authors suggest two rules of thumb to follow when disclosing information which include: (a) “Why do I want to say what I am about to say” and (b) “What will be the likely impact of the client” (p. 567).
Providing confidentiality: Confidentiality means the limitation in sharing information with others. Confidentiality is considered as a human right. Some people prefer to remain their information confidential and for this purpose confidentiality should be maintained if demanded by a particular individual. Sometimes confidentiality is important because it may create the mental or other problems for individual.
However, there are some cases that professionals have to rely on the Law. The Law is different from moral principles and Code of Ethics and its focus is on the legal perspective to protect the professional. The Law is defined by Remley and Herlihy (2010) as “general or specific regarding both what is required and what is allowed of individuals who from a governmental entity” (p.4). One major example is the Tarasoff and the Duty to Protect which is a law that was created after the case that happened with a university student, Tatiana Tarasoff and her boyfriend. Tarasoff’s parents sue the psychotherapists alleging that the professionals should have warned the student. Because of this case, the law raised a major concern that the confidentiality that professionals should follow according to the ACA and AMHCA Code of Ethics has to be broken when there is an issue that can affect a third party in the situation. Like the AMHCA refers to confidentiality as “a right granted to all clients of mental health counseling services. From the onset of the counseling relationship, mental health counselors inform clients of these rights inclu...
As stated in the previous quote, confidentiality is an important concept in medicine and many other different professions. In technical terms, confidentiality is the right of an individual to have personal, medical information kept private (p. 62). It is especially important in the health care profession because as a health care professional, individuals are responsible with the personal information of their clients and are obligated to keep that information from those who it does not concern.
The similarity between confidentiality, privilege information, anonymity, and protected health information is small when comparing their differences. Although they all protect clients in some extent, they are distinct from one another regarding their boundaries. Confidentiality focuses on protecting information shared between a client and social worker. To keep confidentiality between a social worker and clients, the social worker must keep the information away from the media, and away from court unless they must report it under law. Privilege information is any information that cannot be disclose, and cannot be part of a testimony in court. Anonymity is when the clients’ identity is kept a secret. Protected health information is any information
Corey, G., Corey, M.S. & Callahan, P. (2007). Confidentiality: Ethical and legal issues. In Brooks/Cole (8th Ed.), Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions pp. 208-264.
A counselor should always keep their thoughts to themselves and remain open-minded about the situation. The only time a counselor should share their thoughts is if it helps the client with their situation that they are dealing with. “Counselors must practice only within the boundaries of their competence (Standard C.2.a.), and, if they “determine an inability to be of professional assistance to clients” (Standard A.11.b.), they should facilitate a referral to another provider. (Kocet, M. M., & Herlihy, B. J. (2014). Addressing Value-Based Conflicts Within the Counseling Relationship: A Decision-Making Model. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 92(2), 180-186 7p. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2014.00146.x).” Keeping your thoughts to yourself is
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...
Informed consent. Counselors, whether in a group or individual counseling setting, must obtain informed consent from their clients. Counselors must disclose information about themselves to their clients. They also need to share with potential clients how long counseling will last and the topics that will be discussed in each session. According to the ACA code of ethics (2006), “informed consent is an ongoing process, and counselors appropriately document discussions of informed consent throughout the counseling relationship” (p. 236). Informed consent in group counseling is tricky because you have multiple clients; however, counselors have the option to meet with each group member individually in order to gain consent from their
Confidentiality is a common controversy today when deciding if therapist should keep their patients confidential when they have made any kind of threat. Confidentiality should be breached in this instance. One main reason that threats should be taken more seriously from mental patients is the Tarasoff case.
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.
...confidential information is shared without their permission, this situation can be detrimental to the client. The client may stop treatment or be passive-aggressive towards the therapist by being late of cancelling appointments with the clinician.
As a result if these ethics codes are not followed, legal action can be brought up against this counselor. Committing to clients is the first code of ethics which includes: “Primary Responsibility, Confidentiality, Dual/multiple relationships, Exploitive relationships, and counseling environments. “ Mental health counselors value objectivity and integrity in their commitment to understanding human behavior and they maintain the highest standards in providing mental health counseling services” ( https://amhca.site-ym.com/page/codeofethics). Establishing a relationship with the client opens up the floor in which she or he will be honest. S/he will be comfortable with speaking about the problem. The honesty of the client gives the counselor an ideal start of how the problem began. Under Ethic code C Assessment and diagnosis: Competent “Mental health counselors employ only