Reference no: EM133471691
"You are a psychologist providing psychotherapeutic services to a client with emotional difficulties resulting from having been sexually assaulted. Much of your sessions' content has been devoted to how she has been dealing with the lengthy legal process. Her case was recently heard in court, where her accused was found guilty and sentenced to prison. During a session shortly after the trial, your client says she feels conflicted. She tells you that the man convicted of assaulting her was not actually the man who did it. In a cold and angry voice, she states, "I know that he's done lots of things that he was never convicted of, so I hope he rots in jail." She refuses to reveal this to anyone else and insists that you not tell anyone either."
Is there a general duty of confidentiality, and what is the basis for this general ethical rule? Based on the presented case, is it ever appropriate to violate the duty of confidentiality? If so, under what conditions? Provide legal and ethical examples where breaking the rule of confidentiality might be justified?
This will be a discussion of confidentiality and duty to warn! What will be the consequences if the man is found guilty? Do they constitute harm to an individual (physical or psychological)? This is where you will bring in those 3 aspects needed to justify duty to warn (supreme court ruling-- I'll add the citation here). There won't be a wrong answer as long as you can justify it using the codes! I encourage you to be open to both perspectives though. Be mindful of your biases here!
- Confidentiality Counselling/therapeutic relationships and information resulting therefrom are kept confidential. However, there are the following exceptions to confidentiality: (i) when disclosure is required to prevent clear and imminent danger to the client or others; (ii) when levels of jurisprudence demand that confidential material be revealed; (iii) when a child is in need of protection; (iv) persons with diminished capacity, and as otherwise mandated by municipal, provincial/territorial, and federal law. (See also B4, B6, B13, B18, C5, D5, D8, E10, G7, H1, H4, H6
- Duty to Warn When counsellors/therapists become aware of the intention or potential of clients to place others in clear and imminent danger, they use reasonable care to give threatened persons such warnings as are essential to avert foreseeable dangers. In cases in which it may not be appropriate or safe for counsellors/therapists to intervene directly to give warnings to threatened persons, they take appropriate steps to inform authorities to take action.