List some of the circumstances when a professional is permitted, expected, or required to violate confidentiality

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

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There are a number of other circumstances when a professional is permitted, expected, or required to violate confidentiality.

These include:

¦When a client formally (usually in writing) authorizes the professional to release information.

¦ When a professional is called to testify in a criminal case. (State statutes vary regarding guidelines on what information may be kept confidential in criminal proceedings; practitioners must research their own particular statutes in each instance.)

¦ When a client files a lawsuit against a professional (such as for malpractice).

¦ When a client threatens suicide. A professional may then be forced to violate confidentiality to save the client's life. Although the treating professional is encouraged to violate confidentiality in such circumstances, there is not necessarily a legal requirement to do so.

¦ When a client threatens to harm his or her therapist.

¦ When a professional becomes aware that a minor has committed a crime, when a minor is used by adults as an accessory in a crime, or when a minor is a victim of criminal actions. In such situations, most states require that counselors inform the legal authorities. Again, the question arises of how serious the crime must be before it is reported.

¦ When there is evidence of child abuse or neglect. Most states require professionals to report the evidence to the designated child protection agency.

¦ When a client's emotional or physical condition makes his or her employment a clear danger to himself or herself or to others (for example, when a counselor discovers that a client who is an airplane pilot has a serious drinking problem). All these instances require professional judgment in deciding when the circumstances justify violating confidentiality.?