Question.......any mental health dr/professionals

Moe4572

I have a friend who just filed for divorce.........he is FREAKING OUT....he had a therapist that he went to for about a month or so, and a couple of the times his wife went with him (not for marriage counseling, necessarily...just he was working on himself, and so they brought her in a couple times). He is very worried that his wife will find out some things they spoke about...........the therapist can not tell due to dr./patient confidentiality, correct? Assume there is no physical danger to anyone involved............

La_Amazona

nope, unless like you said, somebody's life is in danger or he's a danger to himself.

lorro

The therapist can't disclose to the wife in any circumstances. They can only breach confidentiality to another health professional or police if there is a serious safety risk to the guy or a third party. Unless this involves an illegal act the therapist would have to tell him before they made the disclosure. The best interests duty of care is always to the patient, in the circumstances you describe that would be to the guy, rather than the couple. If he's still concerned I'd advise him to call the therapist and discuss it, they will be well used to dealing with such concerns.

Moe4572

The therapist can't disclose to the wife in any circumstances. They can only breach confidentiality to another health professional or police if there is a serious safety risk to the guy or a third party. Unless this involves an illegal act the therapist would have to tell him before they made the disclosure. The best interests duty of care is always to the patient, in the circumstances you describe that would be to the guy, rather than the couple. If he's still concerned I'd advise him to call the therapist and discuss it, they will be well used to dealing with such concerns.

Thanks....this is what I told him to do,.....but he had some "problem" with the therapist.....he said she left him a very nasty message last week before his appt, and he NEVER wants to go back to her/speak to her again....but I ddin't press on that........I just assured him of the confidentiality ...... but he is still concerned........

lorro

Well I guess if he has evidence that she is unprofessional then he may worry about whether she may breach her ethical code. It may help put this fear in perspective to know that she may lose any accreditation/liscence she has for a period of time if a complaint were made and upheld about a confidentiality breach. If it was me, I would be wanting to check out if the person I saw was accredited/licensed, just to reassure myself. You can get this information from the organisation they work for, if private it is usually on websites/business cards. Then I would call the licensing body to check. Hopefully this will put his mind at rest but if he is still really concerned then this would indicate that the message left may be an ethical breach in itself. It's not acceptable but I can see how someone may come across as abrupt or short, but if it was a lot more serious than this then I would consider reporting for that breach alone - it would ensure that they would be unlikely to act unprofessionally again as the consequences would be too dire. I guess it's not his primary concern given what he is going through but it would also protect other vulnerable people from someone who may abuse their position of power.