COUN 5334 Chapter 6

Therapists have the responsibility to prevent suicide if they can reasonably anticipate it. Once it is determined that a client is at risk for serious harm to self, the professional is:

legally and ethically required to take appropriate action aimed at protecting the person.

As a matter of law, __________ refers to the constitutional right of an individual to be left alone and to control their personal information.

privacy

James is in court facing drug-related charges and his therapist was subpoenaed to testify in court regarding any discriminating evidence concerning the case. His therapist came to court but refused to answer questions regarding the case or produce James's records. The therapist used the following legal concept to protect himself from forced disclosure:

privileged communication.

The following are all major types of elder abuse EXCEPT:

protection and positive treatment.

Susan is quite distressed after finding out her husband has been unfaithful. She tells her counselor that she is so angry that she feels like killing him. Upon hearing this, the counselor needs to:

question Susan to determine whether she is serious about doing physical harm to her husband.

An African-American woman was interacting with her child in a domestic abuse shelter when she is over-heard saying to her child, "Keep touching that and I'm going to whoop you." The social worker that heard this statement should:

recognize that what constitutes abuse in one culture may not be viewed as abuse in another culture and is not reportable until it is determined that the child is in danger.

The basic standard of care for school counselors is clear; courts have uniformly held that:

school personnel have a duty to protect students from foreseeable harm.

Which of the following is NOT identified in the text as a guideline for counselors using the telephone?

After addressing the ethical guidelines and ensuring absolute privacy, counselors may speak to their clients as freely as they desire without fear that their conversations will be used in legal proceedings.

Which of the following would be an ineffective way of managing a client's suicidal ideation?

Be willing to communicate your caring without setting limits.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that a physician has a duty to take reasonable care to prevent a potentially dangerous patient from inflicting harm in:

Bradley Center v. Wessner.

_______________ is at the core of effective therapy; it is the counselor's ethical duty to protect private client communication.

Confidentiality

In this court case, the court found that school counselors have a duty to use reasonable means to attempt to prevent a suicide when they know about a student's suicidal intentions. The reasoning of the court was that an adolescent is more likely to share thoughts of suicide with friends than with a school counselor, teacher, or parent. The court found that reasonable care would have included notifying the student's parents that their daughter was at risk for suicide.

Eisel v. Board of Education

In _____________, the court expanded the practitioner's duty to warn those in danger to include the circumstance in which a family member communicates to a mental health practitioner a belief that the client poses a risk of grave bodily injury to another person.

Ewing v. Goldstein

Schools that receive federal funding are generally bound by the provisions of the:

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1994 (FERPA).

_______________ extends the duty to warn in California to a foreseeable, identifiable person who might be near the intended victim when the threat is carried out and thus might also be in danger.

Hedlund v. Superior Court

The HIPAA Privacy Rule was designed to provide a uniform level of privacy and security on the federal level. This Privacy Rule, which applies to both paper and electronic transmissions of protected health information by covered entities, developed out of the concern that transmission of health care information through electronic means could lead to widespread gaps in the protection of client confidentiality. Which of the following is NOT a requirement of The Privacy Rule?

It provides detailed patient information to individuals outside of the health care agency.

The intended victim's knowledge of a threat does NOT relieve therapists of the duty to protect, as can be seen by the decision in:

Jablonski v. United States.

In ___________, a Supreme Court decision ruled that communications between licensed psychotherapists and their clients are privileged and therefore protected from forced disclosure in cases arising under federal law.

Jaffee v. Redmond

In most cases, therapists will not have advanced warning that a client is dangerous. Therefore, therapists must be prepared for such an eventuality. Which of the following is NOT a suggestion from the authors' for preparation?

Limit disclosure to all clients until they are deemed safe.

_________________ is designed to encourage reporting of any suspected cases of child, elder, or dependent adult abuse; thus, therapists are advised to err on the side of reporting in uncertain circumstances.

Mandatory reporting

The California court's ruling that requires therapists to breach confidentiality in cases where the general welfare and safety of others is involved is a result of the:

Tarasoff decision.

_______________ was passed by Congress to promote standardization and efficiency in the health care industry and to give patients more rights and control over their health information

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)

The experts who testified at this trial believed the school board failed to provide adequate training for school personnel. Without training, school personnel will most likely underestimate the lethality of suicidal thoughts, statements, and attempts. The conclusion of this expert testimony was that the student would not have committed suicide if the employees had been adequately trained. Persuaded by this input, the court held that the school could be found negligent for failing to notify the decedent's mother. This explains the court decision in which court case?

Wyke v. Polk County School Board

It is illegal and unethical for a therapist to disclose confidential information when:

an employer requests disclosure to determine the mental status of an employee without their consent

Jolene tells her counselor that she is depressed about the break-up of her relationship and "just wishes she could go to sleep and never wake up." In this case, the counselor needs to:

assess if Jolene is suicidal and intervene if necessary.

Privileged communication does NOT apply in cases of:

child abuse and neglect

In the case of disclosing confidential information when working with an HIV-positive client, several writers state that the therapist has a duty to protect when the following condition exists:

clear and imminent danger must exist.

Two processes that offer safeguards against malpractice liability in suicidal cases are

consultation and documentation.

There are three types of ______________: health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care providers who transmit health information by electronic means.

covered entities

Ethical guidelines regarding confidentiality require that counselors do NOT:

disclose client information unless there is clear and imminent danger to the client or others or when legal requirements demand that confidential information be revealed.

Even if clients argue that they can do what they want with their own lives, including taking them, therapists with suicidal clients have a legal:

duty to protect.

Most counseling centers and community mental health agencies now have guidelines regarding the duty to warn and protect when the welfare of others is at stake. These guidelines generally specify how to deal with:

emotionally disturbed individuals, violent behavior, threats, suicidal possibilities, and other circumstances in which counselors may be legally and ethically required to breach confidentiality.

All of the following pose a number of potential ethical problems with regard to protecting client privacy EXCEPT

face-to-face interaction.

A counselor working in an AIDS-related case:

has few legal guidelines to help determine when or how to inform a potential victim of the threat of HIV transmission.

In Chapter 6, a six-step ethical practice model for protecting confidentiality rights that places legal mandates in an ethical context is presented. The six steps include all of the following EXCEPT:

have your attorney respond to legal requests for disclosure.