Discussion
Confidentiality communication is any communication between two people that is not supposed to be shared with anyone else. This type of communication is about information that the individuals do not want shared with anyone that they do not trust.
Private communication is communication in which the person has an expectancy of privacy. So, this means that the individuals that are having the conversation expect the conversation is private and respected.
Privileged communication is communication that take placed between trusting friends, like a student and teacher, or doctor and patient.
Confidentiality refers to the duty of an organization to keep data that is given to them. The organization is required to enforce any safety precautions that guarantees no unauthorized people can have access to client information.
The information can be revealed for certain situations as result of the duty to warn and the duty to protect. A counselor has the responsibility and duty to warn any person who may be who might be danger based on information the counselor received during a session. The duty to protect can give a therapist the right to protect a potential victim from harm from their client.
Scenario
An example would be if a person told me about a murder that is going to happen, but only because they wanted to get it off their chest and needs to tell someone. I believe that in this case it would be fine to break the barrier and share the information because it would be more beneficial to share the details and possibly save a life.
Bokhari, M., Saadan, R., Pilus, A. M., Hassan, S. N. S., Jano, Z., Ishak, N. M., & Mahmud, Z. (2014, July 24). Contribution of awareness and understanding in legal and ethics towards the practice of confidentiality amongst counselors [PDF file]. Asian Social Science, 10(16), 144-151. doi:10.5539/ass.v10n16p144.
Difference between Privacy, Confidentiality, and Privileged Communication
Privacy, confidentiality, and privileged communication are three related concepts that relate to the keeping of people's information by an organizations or a professional.
Although similar, these three concepts are legally different. Privacy refers to the right of a person to choose what other people know about them. Privacy gives a person freedom from unwarranted intrusion into their personal information (Welfel, 2015). On the other hand, confidentiality refers to the duty of an organization to keep data or information that is given to them, confidential.
An organization is required to enforce safety precautions that will ensure no unauthorized people can have access to client information (Welfel, 2015). Lastly, privileged communication refers to communication between people who are in a confidential relationship such as a lawyer and client or a therapist and the patient (Welfel, 2015). In the context of counseling the therapist is required to keep all the information given by clients private.
However, the information can be disclosed in certain situations as a result of the duty to warn and the duty to protect. The counselor has the responsibility of using their duty to warn to caution any person who may be in imminent danger based on information they received in their therapy sessions. On the other hand, the duty to protect gives the therapist the right to protect a potential victim from imminent harm from their client.
Scenario
As a therapist I am required to keep the information that my client provides in therapy private and confidential. The client should be able to be confident that they can talk freely without their issues being known by other people. However, there are instances where privileged communication can be broken. For instance, if I have a client who tells me about their plan to commit murder and I have determined that they have the capability to carry out their plan, I have the duty to warn the victim based on the information that was given to be in confidentiality.
Welfel, E. R. (2015). Ethics in counseling & psychotherapy. Cengage Learning.