Answer Q1 and Q2, then respond to both of the student responses
Q1:
You are a counselor working at a publicly funded alcohol and drug treatment program. Your client, Doug, attends one of your counseling groups. He has a previous conviction and is on probation for possession of an illegal substance. He also entered treatment as a court-referred client. Doug’s probation officer is aware that Doug is in treatment, and the officer has sent you a letter requesting that you provide a progress report and an assessment of Doug’s likelihood of relapse. The probation officer will use this information, if favorable, to petition the court for Doug’s early release from probation.
Discuss your options and strategies for responding to the probation officer’s request and describe what you would do. Cite relevant legal issues, including federal confidentiality and privacy regulations in your discussion. Identify the specific circumstances under which you would provide the information requested by the probation officer. How would you handle this differently if Doug were voluntarily attending the group?
Student response 1:
In this scenario, Doug is attending treatment due to legal issues, making him a client that is legally mandated to attend sessions, additionally, causing my responsibility as a counselor to report Doug’s progression or status within treatment to the court. Since, the court takes responsibility of Doug, it is a legal and ethical action to make sure I abide by these orders. This is to prevent Doug from hurting himself or others.
However, there are a few concepts within this scenario that should be addressed. First, progress notes are the reports written by counselors that state the progression of their clients. According to Corey et al. (2019), progress notes “…contain information on diagnosis, functional status, symptoms, treatment plan, prognosis, and client progress” (Corey et al., 2019, p. 188). Due to the probation officer asking for a progress report, the information revealed can be easily censored to where only the bare minimum is exposed, allowing myself as the counselor to still abide by ACA code of ethics, standard B.2.e. which states “when circumstances require the disclosure of confidential information, only essential information is revealed” (American Counseling Association, 2014, p. 7).
Secondly, Doug is participating as a court mandated client within in a publicly funded treatment center, which not only presents concerns of the risks of harm towards himself or others, but also presents concerns regarding effective informed consent for Doug, by myself. Doug must be aware of his rights, yet understanding of the circumstances that allow myself as the counselor to reveal confidential information from sessions. Corey et al. (2019) state that “if clients are involved in involuntary counseling, they can decide what they will disclose in their sessions” (Corey et al., 2019, p. 239). This allows Doug to not only have informed consent, but also be cognizant of how the information he may reveal could affect him within legal proceedings.
One could argue that legally mandated counseling sessions differ from personal counseling and the therapeutic process in general, due to reports that the court may request, potentially hindering the disclosure of information provided by the client.
Honea-Boles & Griffin (2001) present the importance of client-counselor relationships, presenting Gelso and Carter (1985) definition of this relationship as “the feelings and attitudes that counseling participants have toward one another, and the manner in which these are expressed” (p. 159 as cited in Honea-Boles & Griffin, 2001, p. 3). Furthermore, Honea-Boles & Griffin (2001) present the differences and ethical concerns for mandated clients within therapy. Providing research from Pollard (1995), these relationships are described as dehumanizing and dishonest, where the client is subjected to the power given to the counselor and the submissive vulnerability of the client remain exposed (as cited in Honea-Boles & Griffin, 2001). Pollard describes these relationships as “the therapist became a “double agent,” where the clinician was at the behest of two dictating forces–the ethics of the profession guiding the relationship with the client and the legal mandates of the authorities involved (Popiel, 1980 as cited in Honea-Boles & Griffin, 2001), p. 5). This information reveals ethical concerns regarding court mandated clients, especially because if Doug entered therapy voluntarily, the outcome would drastically change. For example, if the court asked for his progress notes, I would not have to disclose these notes and could defend Doug’s confidentiality rights as a patient. I would still have to provide Doug with informed consent and ensure that he understands the limitations, however, I would not be violating any laws in the event that Doug declines having his records given to the court. Also, it is possible that Doug wouldn’t be hesitant revealing information to me as his counselor due to him knowing that I cannot reveal this information unless he becomes a danger to himself or others, or he consents to the disclosure of his information. This enhances the client-counselor relationship and could encourage Doug to continue therapy sessions.
References:
American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA code of ethics (pp. 1–24). https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf
Corey, G., Schneider Corey, M., & Corey, C. (2019). Issues and ethics in the helping profession. In bibliu.com (10th ed., pp. 1–546). Cengage Learning. https://bibliu.com/app/#/view/books/9781337671378/pdf2htmlex/index.html#page_11
Honea-Boles, P., & Griffin, J. E. (2001). The court-mandated client: Does limiting confidentiality preclude a therapeutic encounter? TCA Journal, 29(2), 149–160. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564223.2001.12034592
Student response 2:
In this situation, Doug has been mandated by the court to join group counseling in hopes of treating his addictive habits. Since his participation is required by the court, as a counselor it is my responsibility to report his progress. I would have to supply the probation officer documentation of my clients progress in order for it to be used for his benefit in court.
The ASGW (2008) “Best Practices Guidelines” state that group counselors define the meaning of confidentiality and its limits. Group counselors are responsible to inform the participants of the reasoning of confidentiality and the consequences of breaching it (A.7.d.). This not only protects the counselor but it also provides all of the group members with a clear picture of the importance of confidentiality. In this case Doug would be aware of the confidentiality limits in regards to legal exceptions.
If Doug were a voluntary participant the situation would be handled differently. According to Corey, a therapist should safeguard a client’s right to privacy, protect identity, and protect confidential information. (p.440, 2019). Since Doug is a voluntary participant I would need to ask his permission before sharing any information regarding him and his process.
References:
Asgw Guiding Principles for Group Work. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2022, from https://asgw.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ASGW-Guiding-Principles-May-2021.pdf
Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Corey, C. (2019). Issues and ethics in the helping professions. Cengage Learning Inc.
Q2:
Judith is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in private practice. She has a contract to facilitate psycho-educational groups for students in a local public high school. Many of the students in her groups are dealing with the divorce of their parents. Judith has decided to create a specific psychoeducational group for adolescents whose parents are divorcing or divorced. What should be covered in her pregroup screening interviews with the students?
Additional respurce for Q2:
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ629087.pdf
Application of the Respective Codes
When addressing the case scenario, remember to take into account the respective code of ethics (application). That means identifying the actual standards of the code, not just including the citation for the respective code. This demonstrates application of the code in addressing the ethical dilemmas.
Review attached resources if needed
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|