Autonomy
School Counseling
A professional school counselor faces a complex scope in his or her practice in the process of performing various responsibilities and functions. Privacy and confidentiality is an issue that can be breached by a school counselor. It is important for the counselors, according to Stone and Isaac to know the dangers and their own value in regard to how a client self responsibility is exercised depending on age. With the aim of balancing legal and ethical obligation to the parents and the students, counselors should view parents as being partners or allies of the counseling process (Isaac and Stone, 1999, pp 258-266).
From the scenario, it is clear that it can be a challenging issue that the counselor has to deal with. Since, the parent of the student is part of the counseling process, he / she has to be told what the child talked with me as a counselor. I have to tell the parent the effect which their behavior of fighting affects the emotional and psychological development of the child. I will also tell the parent of the impotence of counseling to the parents and the child for the common good of all.
This revelation will impact the child, the parent, and me in way that will depend on the attitude from the parent. If the parent feels that counseling the child was a bad step, then, the whole counseling process is affected. To prevent such a negative reaction from parents it is important for schools to annually send a notification to all teachers, parents, and administrators on my role as counselor in the school. This notification will also have information on the nature of counseling and guidance and possible benefits. This will psychologically prepare parents in cases where their child attends a counseling session in the school. On the same note, it is important for clients, parents, and counselors to agree on confidentiality parameters that will check into which information should be shared and which should not (Baker, Gerler, 2008, p 142).
It is important for the counselor to talk to the students on issues that can be revealed to the parent and which should remain confidential. This prevents cases of conflict with the student. So for this scenario, as a counselor, I have to educate the parent on the process of counseling and how disclosing information against the wish of the child to the parent will have negative consequences (Glosoff, Herlihy, & Spence, 2000, pp 454-462).
As professional counselor, I will not lay the story that the child has given me because I will be breaching the confidentiality that the student wants from me. Therefore, this will negatively affect my performance and other students will not trust me with their problems.
Reference
Glosoff, H. L., Herlihy, B., & Spence, B. (2000). Privileged communication in the counselor-client relationship: An analysis of state laws and implications for practice. Journal of Counseling and Development, 78, 454-462.
Isaacs, M. L., & Stone, C. (1999). School counselors and confidentiality: Factors affecting professional choices. Professional School Counseling, 2, 258-266.
Baker s, Gerler, E (2008) School counseling for the twenty-first century, Publisher Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall, pp 142
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