Short Answer Questions - Ethics
1. Name two important circumstances in which counsellor would consider breaching confidentiality. What factors would need to be considered and what steps might be taken, before making this decision?
Confidentiality is someone who is trusted with private or secrecy matter; confidential whisper or issue. (Credo Reference, 2001). Certain situations where the confidentiality between client and therapist, may need to be breached to ensure the safety of the client him/herself, the community or ourselves. Two important circumstances would be a client/child under 16 who has been abused or a client needs hospitalisation because they have been considering taking their own life or other concerning issues (Corey, 2009).
In both of these cases as counsellor I would need to breach the client / therapist confidentiality by speaking with my supervisor, to explain what the best interest would be for both client and therapist. I also would have to reveal information to another professional about the client, furthermore I would try and gain a written consent from the client, as per the agreed term/agreement , this way the client will see why another professional is being consulted to avoid any confusion in the future (Geldard and Geldard, 2009).
This will ensure that the client is receiving the best quality of care and is in the best outcome for everybody involved, if the client refuses the help/advice and is a danger to themselves or the community then relevant information will become informed the significant authorities and health professionals will be contracted. Corey, (2009) claims even though confidentiality is vital to developing a trusting relationship between client and therapist, clients are always informed of the limits in confidentiality and its successfulness can still be achieved in counselling.
2. Outline the factors you would consider, and the actions you would take if you found that your values were negatively affecting an already established
Confidentiality is someone who is trusted with private or secrecy matter; confidential whisper or issue. (Credo Reference, 2001). Certain situations where the confidentiality between client and therapist, may need to be breached to ensure the safety of the client him/herself, the community or ourselves. Two important circumstances would be a client/child under 16 who has been abused or a client needs hospitalisation because they have been considering taking their own life or other concerning issues (Corey, 2009).
In both of these cases as counsellor I would need to breach the client / therapist confidentiality by speaking with my supervisor, to explain what the best interest would be for both client and therapist. I also would have to reveal information to another professional about the client, furthermore I would try and gain a written consent from the client, as per the agreed term/agreement , this way the client will see why another professional is being consulted to avoid any confusion in the future (Geldard and Geldard, 2009).
This will ensure that the client is receiving the best quality of care and is in the best outcome for everybody involved, if the client refuses the help/advice and is a danger to themselves or the community then relevant information will become informed the significant authorities and health professionals will be contracted. Corey, (2009) claims even though confidentiality is vital to developing a trusting relationship between client and therapist, clients are always informed of the limits in confidentiality and its successfulness can still be achieved in counselling.
2. Outline the factors you would consider, and the actions you would take if you found that your values were negatively affecting an already established