Ethical Issues in Counseling: 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 but powerful to the professional Counselors, because it talks about one of the most common ethical issues in the counseling profession, and which it will be talked about in more depth in here. Confidentiality has been a huge issue not only in the counseling area but in many others, like education and business in between many others. An example could be business, banks, their number one policy besides customer experience is protecting customers privacy and confidentiality, to continue to keep that bank- client relationship and to keep customer’s business with them. When you enter a bank wanting to process a transaction where information needs to be disclosed, the first thing they do is request a method of identification,(Driver’s License, State ID, Passport, etc.) and the reason behind this is because they cannot disclose any information to anybody but the person that owns the account, why?, to protect their privacy and their confidential information. Just how there is employees at the bank f... ... middle of paper ... ...ll whoever thinks like that will learn right now that in schools things do not work like that. ` References Cohen, E. D. (1990). Confidentiality, Counseling, and Clients who Have AIDS: Ethical Foundations of a Model Rule. Journal of Counseling & Development, 68(3), 282. Gray, L. A., & Harding, A. K. (1988). Confidentiality Limits with Clients Who Have the AIDS Virus. Journal of Counseling & Development, 66(5), 219. Huss, S., Bryant., & Mulet, S. (2008). Managing the Quagmire of Counseling in s School, Bringin the Parents Onboard. Professional School of Counseling, 11(6), 362,367. Bodenhorn, N. (2006). Exploratory Study of Common and Challenging Ethical Dilemmas Experienced by Professional School Counselors. Professional School of Counseling, 10(2), 195-202. Corey, G., Schneider., & Callanan, P. (2011) Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions.
When working with this population, if a client is withholding their diagnosis from their sexual partners and having unprotected sex the social worker faces an ethical dilemma. Confidentiality is a major concern but so is duty to warn and the duty to protect. According to Granich (2012), “Mental health professionals do not have the legal right to disclose that a person is HIV-positive to another person. This is at the discretion of physicians in many states. However, social workers and mental health professionals must struggle with this legal situation if a client insists on potentially harming another person through risk of transmission of HIV”. Social workers need to consider the society in which they are working and the society that the
...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.
Although there is value in group counseling at school, some of the problems that surface include scheduling issues, teacher resistance, and ethical concerns as well (Pérusse, 2009). Leading group counseling requires highly specialized skills (Pérusse, 2009). It is important for the counselors to have a solid foundation in group counseling theory and practice to be effective (Pérusse, 2009). As with individual counseling, counselors in this setting struggle with issues of confidentiality from parents wanting to know details of what was said but also with the issue of other students breaking confidentiality outside of group (Crespi, 2009).
Chapter 135-7-03 of the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia (2014) stipulates that confidentiality especially of client information must be observed at all times. The counselor should safeguard the client’s information to the extent stipulated by the law. The American Counseling Association (2005) incorporates confidentiality as part of their Code of Ethics. It requires counselors to keep the counselor-client relationship and information shared confidential. In the case of group counseling it stipulates that provisions must be stated that protect confidentiality. The counselor must clearly record and keep the client information confidential at all costs. According to the Texas certification Board of Addiction Professionals, the chemical dependency specialist has a duty to protect the privacy of clients and must not disclose information obtained fro...
Moreover, ethical issues are ubiquitous within the field of social work. As such, social workers employed in all facets of the profession, whether it is substance abuse, mental health, among many others encounter ethical issues common and specific to each area. According to the article “Ethical Issues in Addiction Counseling” by Cynthia G. Scott (2000), prominent ethical situations specific to the field of substance abuse include, “confidentiality and privileged communication” (p. 213). In her article Scott (2000) discuss the blurred boundaries of confidentiality with regards to group counseling. The author points out the discrepancy in federal confidentiality laws that prevent the practitioner from sharing confidential information disclosed
...be pathway to autonomy by supporting a person’s entitlement to make decisions about their own health and health care (Feinsod & Wagner, 2008). It is a person’s right to know when they seek medical treatment it will be delivered with no bias or discrimination. This can be achieved by continuing AIDS education in health care facilities and to their staff. The education would also benefit society. The health care community has an ethical duty to do whatever is needed to ensure that all patients, including those with AIDS, gain from the most current treatments. Nurses have many roles in patient care. Expanding some of those roles, in order to determine the various aspects of a patient’s life, to help organize services to start/continue the most current treatment available to AIDS patients, may assist in minimizing the fear of discrimination in the clinical setting.
Self-disclosure: Important aspects psychologists, therapists and counsellors should keep in mind when disclosing personal information.
When working as a counselor or psychologist there will be various dilemmas that will require the therapist to make the decision to break confidentiality with the client. Sometimes therapist are stuck in the dilemma whether it is ethical appropriate to bridge that therapist-client confidentiality. The article, “Adolescent Health Risk Behaviors: When Do Pediatric Psychologist Break Confidentiality?” discusses a study conducted to determine when pediatric psychologist deemed it appropriate to break confidentiality between their adolescent patients. The study included vignettes about patients engaging in health risk behaviors. Participants had to respond to the survey based on when they would break the confidentiality with their patients. The
The topic of this paper focuses on the battles school counselors face as the law and ethical standards collide. School counselors face a number of legal and ethical issues and recognizing a clear decision isn’t always easy. School counselors have to work with a large number of students, parents, and administrators while conforming to ethical codes, state laws, and school board guidelines. This topic is of great relevance to me as I will be going into the school counseling profession. It is also a meaningful topic to me because life-changing decisions are made every day in reference to legal and ethical issues. Researching this topic has shed some light on the difficulty for school counselors to fulfill both legal and ethical requirements. The main reason for this is that laws and ethical codes may sometimes provide differing and contradictory messages regarding the same subject. This can lead to legal ramifications, even while following ethical norms as we will look at in the example case of Woodlock v. Orange Ulster B.O.C.E.S. (2006/2008).
The ACA code of ethics “reflects the counseling profession’s understanding of changes in the role of the professional or changes in the society counselors serve” (Ponton & Duba, 2009, p. 119). The ACA code of ethics discusses many things counselors need to keep in mind when counseling an individual or a group. Some topics addressed are informed consent, confidentiality, and group work (ACA code of ethics, 2006, pp. 236-238). All three of these topics are all issues counselors will encounter in counseling a group or an individual.
Various articles examining the ethical and legal issues surrounding the disclosure of HIV status prior to sexual relationships make evident that the disadvantages of disclosure outweigh the benefits, making clear that disclosure is unnecessary.
In the Introduction of section B it states, “Counselors recognize that trust is a cornerstone of the counseling relationship. Counselors aspire to earn the trust of clients by creating an ongoing partnership, establishing and upholding appropriate boundaries, and maintaining confidentiality. Counselors communicate the parameters of confidentiality in a culturally competent manner.”
Confidentiality is a necessary aspect of creating a safe and helpful environment for therapeutic work to occur. Yalom and leszcz (2005) state: “Confidentiality...is as essential in group therapy as in any therapist-client relationship” (pp. 301-302). This is one reason why all of the professional organizations in the field have a section on confidentiality in their code of ethics. It is a complex topic and this discussion will focus on the aspect of privileged communication. Corey, Corey, and Corey (2010) mention that this term refers to the fact that professionals do not break confidentiality unless there is concern about safety of the patient or others. Vermont also has a mandatory duty to warn if someone threatens to destroy property. I believe that law came about because a patient threatened to burn a barn down during a session, the therapist did not report it, and then the patient followed through with the threat.
Sexual relationships between counselors and clients should never ben permitted due to the power associated with the counselor’s role with clients. While ethical guidelines vary between different counseling associations as to whether it is acceptable for counselors to have sexual relationships with clients after the professional relationship has ended, in many cases these relationships continue to be prohibited. This standard is held because some believe that the powe...
Becoming a Mental Health Counselor for a patient with HIV/Aids is a position of dignity that can be often skewed or unwarranted due to the negative realm our society has placed upon the diagnosis. The main function of the HIV/Aids counselor is to be supportive of his or her infected and affected clients, to listen to their problems and to empower them to solve their problems and better their lives. These abilities can come easy for some; harder for others. I, as an HIV/Aids counselor, will embrace my future clients that seek my services. Support and empowerment should be an underlying task for any counseling profession, but particularly when working with a client who has HIV/Aids.