What Is Counselor Confidentiality?
Not Sure If You Trust a Family Counselor with All Your Secrets?
confidentiality is a phrase that is used to describe the responsibility of a therapist or counselor, to retain all proprietary or personal information given to them by a patient in the strictest of confidence. Breaking this confidentiality by revealing any information without the permission of their patient is not ethical. In some situations, there are legal repercussions for counselors that reveal information told to them in confidence, in addition to losing their license and other credentials needed for them to practice in their region, they could be prone to
hefty fines.
Sometimes referred to as
a client-counselor privilege, counselor confidentiality is in place to allow patients the freedom to share any information pertaining to themselves which is private in nature, however, is important to the process of helping them overcome whatever emotional or other kinds of obstacles they are currently facing. As part of the extension of this, counselors strive also to remain objective and non-judgmental as they try to help patients work through their own personal crisis and arrive at answers which are right for them.
In some cases, the trust which is built on confidentiality will allow the patient an outlet to discuss issues with the counselor they are unable to talk about with their family or loved ones. Breaching this confidentiality often has a devastating effect on the mental state of a patient. Emotions like remorse, fear, anger, and shame may come together should they find out their counselor has revealed information which was deemed private.
The strong sense of betrayal will effectively derail any good which came from the counseling or therapy, which will leave a patient feeling isolated and afraid to show or share their emotions and inner thoughts with anyone else. If you or a loved one need a
family counselor
, please do not hesitate to contact Sally Leboy Individual and Couple's Counselor in San Diego, CA now at (619) 345-3797.