Counselling and Ethics
Question One:
Name two important circumstances in which you would consider breaching confidentiality. What factors would you consider and what steps might you take, before making this decision?
Confidentiality is extremely important for trusting and effective counselling practice (Corey,2009), however there will be certain situations where confidentiality may need to be breached to ensure the safety of the client or community. Two of these circumstances would be a client under 16 who has been abused or a client that is contemplating taking their own life (Corey, 2009). In both of these cases I would need to breach confidentiality by speaking with my supervisor. If it was in the best interest of the client to disclose information to another professional then I would try and obtain written consent from the client, this way the client will see why another professional is being consulted and avoids any confusion in the future (Geldard and Geldard, 2009).
Ensuring the client has quality care is the best outcome for everybody, if the client refuses the advice and is a danger to themselves or the community then it would be irresponsible and unlawful not to inform the relevant authorities and health professionals. Corey, (2009) claim even though confidentiality is vital to developing a trusting relationship,when clients are informed of the limits in confidentiality successful counselling can still be achieved.
Question Two:
Outline the factors you would consider, and the actions you would take if you found that your values were negatively affecting an already established client/therapist relationship, e.g. you may not believe in abortion but find your client is seeking assistance with the issue of whether or not to have an abortion?
We all come from different backgrounds and therefore have different values and beliefs, it is important to remember this to have an effective client-counsellor relationship (Geldard and Geldard, 2009). There will be times
Name two important circumstances in which you would consider breaching confidentiality. What factors would you consider and what steps might you take, before making this decision?
Confidentiality is extremely important for trusting and effective counselling practice (Corey,2009), however there will be certain situations where confidentiality may need to be breached to ensure the safety of the client or community. Two of these circumstances would be a client under 16 who has been abused or a client that is contemplating taking their own life (Corey, 2009). In both of these cases I would need to breach confidentiality by speaking with my supervisor. If it was in the best interest of the client to disclose information to another professional then I would try and obtain written consent from the client, this way the client will see why another professional is being consulted and avoids any confusion in the future (Geldard and Geldard, 2009).
Ensuring the client has quality care is the best outcome for everybody, if the client refuses the advice and is a danger to themselves or the community then it would be irresponsible and unlawful not to inform the relevant authorities and health professionals. Corey, (2009) claim even though confidentiality is vital to developing a trusting relationship,when clients are informed of the limits in confidentiality successful counselling can still be achieved.
Question Two:
Outline the factors you would consider, and the actions you would take if you found that your values were negatively affecting an already established client/therapist relationship, e.g. you may not believe in abortion but find your client is seeking assistance with the issue of whether or not to have an abortion?
We all come from different backgrounds and therefore have different values and beliefs, it is important to remember this to have an effective client-counsellor relationship (Geldard and Geldard, 2009). There will be times