The importance of maintaining confidentiality

Information obtained from individuals who are undergoing marriage/family counseling should always be treated with privacy. This practice is known as confidentiality. Professionals who offer counseling services to clients are the only one expected to have access to the confidential data. In all counseling sessions, clients should be made to feel secure and comfortable even before they begin sharing their experiences with the counselor. If clients feel intimidated or insecure in any way, the counseling process cannot get along as expected.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The importance of maintaining confidentiality specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Worse still, the client cannot receive any workable emotional or psychological assistance if the privacy of information shared cannot be guaranteed. The ability to maintain confidentiality of information obtained from clients is a critical ethical component since it is i llegal to share private data without consent from the affected party, the client being counseled can hardly share personal information if it will not be kept confidential, and it also leads to gross counseling failure since the patient cannot receive the required help. Although some counselors argue that verbal information can be shared out especially if it does not infringe the rights of clients, it is completely unethical to do so. Both verbal and written information obtained from clients undergoing marriage counseling should be treated with high level of confidentiality (Melton, 1997). In any case, all forms of information obtained from counseling sessions are usually very sensitive and can lead to gross mistrust as well as poor relationship development among the parties involved. It is perhaps necessary to begin by exploring what can be considered to be confidential or private in a marriage/counseling process. Some of the examples of sensitive information that can be shared out include infidelity problems between partners or spouses, emotional trauma arising from deep family wrangles, serious medical problems that impede procreation, infertility and stigma arising from an embarrassing infection (Mulligan, 1996). We cannot imagine such type of information being shared out to third parties without the consent of the client being counseled. It can be disastrous to both the counselor and recipient of the services if delicate data of such magnitude is accessed by the public and other uninterested parties. There are ethical standards that ought to be followed keenly when applying the concept of confidentiality on the records of clients undergoing counseling sessions (Melton, 1997). Although breach of confidentiality is a common experience in most counseling institutions, it is prudent to mention that the privacy of patients can only be tampered with when the mental health condition of the affected person is at high risk. Needless to say, exposing confidential da ta should only take place when there is looming danger. Professional marriage counselors may plunge themselves into costly law suits if they breach the privacy of their clients.Advertising Looking for essay on ethics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There are several factors that have hindered full application of ethical standards. For instance, lack of clear guidelines or legislations in some jurisdictions and counseling facilities is a major setback. Even in the absence of strict legislations in place, breach of privacy can be minimized with the assistance of staff members who have undergone thorough capacity building and training on ethical standards (Melton, 1997). A case study of the United States reveals that strict legislations have been adopted by both the state and federal authorities when it comes to privacy of counseling information obtained from clients. Both the Patient Bill of Rights and HIPAA have been passed by the legislature in order to protect the confidentiality of recipients undergoing counseling. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Acts (HIPAA) are instrumental in enhancing the privacy of counseling recipients. Even though confidentiality has been a critical issue in both of these pieces of legislations, the ability of a counseling institution to offer high quality care should be a vital part of the entire process. It is not possible for counseling experts to offer poor quality care while at the same time claim to be capable of protecting the privacy of clients (Melton, 1997). High quality counseling sessions should go a long way in addressing the innermost needs of clients especially in regards to confidentiality. Conclusion To recap it all, the ability to maintain confidentiality of information gathered from individuals undergoing counseling is a critical ethical factor bearing in mind that it is against the law to share private information without permission from the concerned party. In addition, the individual being counseled cannot easily share personal information if it will not be kept confidential. On the same note, it may culminate into gross counseling failure because the patient cannot obtain the required counseling assistance as anticipated. It is also vital to assert that marriage counselors should not harm clients in any way when obtaining, recording and distributing their data. This implies that a positive relationship should be developed between counselors and clients. In other words, both of them should have a common understanding on the type of information that can be shared with the third party without causing any gross risk to the patient. References Melton J.L. (1997). Sounding Board: The Threat to Medical-Records Research. New England Journal of Medicine, 337 (20), 1466-1469. Mulligan, D. (1996). Privacy and Health Information Systems: A Guide to Protecting Patient Confidentiality. Center for Democracy and Technology: Wash ington, D.CAdvertising We will write a custom essay sample on The importance of maintaining confidentiality specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This essay on The importance of maintaining confidentiality was written and submitted by user Athena Zamora to help you with your own studies. 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