Professional conducts and ethics
The licensed professionals offering these services follow a code of ethics which protects themselves and the clients. The psychotherapist will never judge or demean the previous or current actions of their clients. Furthermore, the psychotherapist will never discriminate the client based on age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, or any basis proscribed by law. The psychotherapist is also prohibited from engaging in sexual, intimate, or exploitive relationship with their current clients and individuals closely associated with their client. Similarly, the psychotherapist is not allowed to be in multiple relationships with the client or individuals closely associated with them; whereby, the psychotherapist is engaged in both a professional and personal relationship with these individuals. Engaging in such a relationship will impair the objectivity, competence, and effectiveness of the psychotherapist.
The psychotherapist has the primary obligation of protecting all confidential information. In the case of disclosure, the psychotherapist must obtain the permission of the client. The only time when the psychotherapist must disclose information without client consent, is when he/she is mandated by law. In the case of consultation with colleagues, the psychotherapist will only disclose information to the extent that will achieve the purposes of consultation and in a way that will not compromise the identity of the individual. The same applies for the use of confidential information for didactic purposes. Confidentiality must be broken if the client is at risk of harming themselves or others or in cases involving abuse; the therapist is required to break confidentiality in these situations. In all, your engagement in psychotherapeutic services will remain strictly confidential and nothing that is shared during the sessions will be repeated outside the sessions for reasons other than those mentioned above. This is a common concern among individuals who are contemplating psychotherapy. If the therapist breaks confidentiality for no valid reason (as the reasons stated previously), they are at risk of losing their license. Therefore, the consequences are quite severe for this important issue.