VISTAS Perspectives on Counseling Today and Tomorrow

VISTAS Online is an innovative publication produced for ACA by Dr. Garry R. Walz and Dr. Jeanne C. Bleuer of Counseling Outfitters, LLC. Its purpose is to provide a means of capturing the ideas, information and experiences generated by the annual ACA Conference and selected ACA Division Conferences. Papers on a program or practice that has been validated through research or experience may also be submitted. This digital collection of peer-reviewed articles is authored by counselors, for counselors. VISTAS Online contains the full text of over 900 proprietary counseling articles published from 2004 to 2017.



Confidentiality in Question: The Erosion of the Cornerstone of Counseling?

Kevin S. Doyle and Maureen J. Walls-McKay

2017

Confidentiality is a fundamental principle of the counseling profession. Recent
events and initiatives, however, have led to a variety of efforts to infringe upon
this principle by requiring mandated reporting of a number of issues, including
domestic violence, infectious disease, animal abuse, professional impairment,
and criminal activity, particularly sexual assault. This erosion of confidentiality
needs to be examined by the helping professions, and further changes should not
be implemented without thorough consideration of the unintended effects they
could produce.

Keywords: confidentiality, mandated reporting, privileged communication,
sexual assault, animal abuse, domestic violence, criminal activity
 

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