However, there are some instances in which this code can (or must) be breached.
Some are concerned that breaking a client’s confidentiality for any reason can damage the therapist-client relationship.
What Is the Duty to Warn?
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For some therapists and counselors, the decision to disclose without consent is an ethical consideration.
For others, it is a legal obligation.
In 1969, Poddar became a patient of psychologist Dr. Lawrence Moore at UC Berkeley’s Cowell Memorial Hospital.
Neither the police nor Poddar’s therapists warned Tatiana Tarasoff or her family of the threats.
After a confrontation, Tarasoff screamed for help, at which point Poddar shot her with a pellet gun.
After his arrest, Poddar was diagnosed withparanoid schizophrenia, the same diagnosis Moore had initially made.
Tarasoff’s parents filed a lawsuit against the therapists and the University of California, Berkeley.
The lower courts agreed with the therapists and university, dismissing the case.
The Tarasoffs filed an appeal to the California Supreme Court.
When Jablonski was released, he killed Kimball.
Colello was going through a rough breakup, his former girlfriend now dating a man named Keith Ewing.
They are not to discuss or disclose the details of the patient’s care or treatment.
Any information that is not relevant to the immediate threat is to remain confidential.
There continues to be a debate about what exactly constitutes a credible threat.
Direct, specific plots to harm to kill another individual would clearly trigger a duty to warn.
He added that breaking a client’s confidentially should only occur as a last resort.
However, there is simply no way to know if the situation may have played out in this way.
National Conference of State Legislatures.Mental health professionals' duty to warn.
American Psychological Association.Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct.
Adi A, Mathbout M.The duty to protect: Four decades afterTarasoff.Am J Psychiatry Resid J.
2015;43(4):451-455.
American Psychological Association.Ewing v. Goldstein.
Bersoff DN.Protecting victims of violent patients while protecting confidentiality.Am Psychol.
2014;69(5):461467. doi:10.1037/a0037198
American Psychological Association.
(2013).2013 APA presidential address from Donald N. Bersoff, Ph.D., J.D.
Privacy and confidentiality in psychotherapy.
), Ethical Conflicts In Psychology (3rd ed.).
Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Vitelli, R. (2014).Revisiting Tarasoff.
