Counselors,Confidentiality, and Life-Endangering Clients |
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| Authors: | LEON VANDECREEK SAMUEL KNAPP |
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| Abstract: | Counselors value both the confidentiality of client information and the sanctity of human life. These values come into apparent conflict, however, when counselors work with life-endangering clients in such situations as child abuse and homicidal and suicidal threats. Legal incursions into the activities of mental health professionals should not threaten counselors into abandoning good clinical judgment or into refraining from treating potentially dangerous clients. Ethical and legal standards guide counselors in their treatment of such clients. Breaching confidentiality is rarely necessary. Counselors should understand their ethical codes and their state statutes. |
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