A Dilemma

[North Rhins]

Let me pose you a dilemma. After reading your local paper you see an advert seeking unpaid volunteers to become alcohol and drug abuse counsellors. Having had many years of witnessing the terrible consequences of the above, you put your name forward, an attempt to try and give something back to your community.
After a two hour drive you arrive at the allotted place for your selection interview. You meet your fellow candidates and to your chagrin you find that you are the only one in the room not to have a university degree. Suddenly your ‘O’ level tech drawing feels somewhat inadequate.
Eventually it is your turn for the interview. In the room is a male, friendly, open welcoming. Along side him is a female, less friendly, stern almost. The man does all the talking, usual stuff about your background, why do you want to be a counsellor kind of thing. Suddenly out of the blue the female asks you what you would do if a client asks if you can keep a secret? The client goes on to tell you that they have committed a crime. What would I do? I ask what sort of crime have they committed? I’m told it doesn’t matter what the crime is. I ask are we talking Priest confessional or doctor patient level of confidentiality? Female won’t elaborate, just that it was a crime. I tell her as I don’t know what her departments guidelines are on this matter then I cannot be expected to give an informed response. It was round about here that I realised that there was not going to be a position for me, and yes I was absolutely right, there wasn't.
What would have been your reply to her? Do you keep the clients confidentiality no matter what the crime is, or is there a point at which you must report it to the authorities? Where do your loyalties lie? :confused

[spiggie]

In any type of profession where you are dealing with vulnerable people you cannot promise to keep any secret that they may tell you. This is a completley different subject but when dealing with suspected cases of child abuse, the child asks you to keep a secret, u agree then u realise you have to tell somebody, the child then realises that you didnt keep their secret and refuses to tell anybody anything about it again because their trust has been broken. All you can simply say is I am here to help you, i cannot keep secrets but im sure we can go about the best way in tackling this issue.

[stratman]

Got to agree with spiggie. It depends what the secret is. There are many cases in which it would not be appropriate to maintain confidentiality. In the scenario that you draw qualifications mean squat. When it comes to the real world in this case you would be completely correct to mention the organisations guidelines. In this voluntary position, with all respect, you are not a professional driven by a Hippocratic oath or similar, if abuse is disclosed it would be a foolish service that tried to be so client orientated and not discuss it further. The answer would be to say to the person that they need to consider that, if you feel i necessary, you may have to act on the information given. To not do so would be abusive or neglectful in itself.

[porshiepoo]

How long would it be before all this secret keeping took it's toll and ended up leaving you needing counselling yourself????

I completely understand the need for counsellors of all descriptions but can all the training in the world really prepare you for what you would 'know' and have to keep secret?

[Solus]

If it was myself, i would first ask him does anyone else know about his ? if yes, who ? it may have been a crime/ offence that has been reported and is know to the authorities.
If no one else knows about it, i would explain that if it is a very serious offence that i would be breaking the law if i did nothing and weigh on my conscience. But i would then do my very best to try and get the person to be honest and do whats right, it maybe he/she is in counselling for what ever his/her crime was and turned to alcohol / drugs as a escape.
It also may have been a crime/ offence committed whilst drunk/ drugged and not normally with character when sober. This can then be used also to try and convince this person a rational that may go for him/her in the courts.
If it was a less severe case such as house breaking/theft/ shop lifting etc then these would more than likely driven by an addiction and counselling may in turn help this issue.

That would have been my answer, yes you can pick flaws in it, but not knowing what the policy is thats about as honest an answer i could give.

ps forgive spelling and grammer etc it been a long day,

[horseman]

Loyalties is the name of the game.

[JAWS]

I think you will find that even qualified Psychiatrists and Psychologists would not promise to keep every single thing you tell them secret.
Anybody who makes such a promise when it come to criminal matters and, for that matter certain non-criminal matters, is being rather naive.

"Last night I kidnapped somebody and have left them tied up and gagged in the cellar of my home and I'm not going to go back there." (No I don't have a cellar before you start!)
Would any of you feel bound by promise of secrecy to say absolutely nothing about it and just hope that the person telling you might return and let them go before they die?

The question as put, North Rhins, is impossible to answer because it includes everything from stealing a small item worth a few pence to acts such as those committed by the Yorkshire Ripper, Harold Shipman and other acts as serious as those.

OK, so it's highly unlikely that such extremes would arise but the question, as worded, is so vague that such situations are covered by it. Nobody can tell you in advance exactly when the line is crossed between what it is acceptable to keep secret and what is not any more than they can tell you exactly what will happen during every single minute of tomorrow.

[Lolabelle]

I agree with all who have said that it all depends on the secret. But what really irks me is the fact that they most likely wanted someone with a uni degree, so why not state that in the advert?? But they don't want to pay anyone, so they don't specify the real requirements. And people with the uni degree, would be looking at the position as a foot in the door. Where as you are just trying to do a good service to the community. Well good on you for having a go. :)

[j4bberw0ck]

Well good on you for having a go. :)

Well said. North Rhins; you probably weren't PC enough. There's an awful lot of stuff involved in "caring" professions which is (to me) hopelessly counter-intuitive. Yeah, I know it probably says more about me and my shortcomings than about the caring professions. No doubt they have their reasons for some of the seemingly strange ways they go about things.

But as Lolabelle says, all credit to you for making the attempt. There are plenty don't give a damn.

[North Rhins]

Supportive posts, thanks. I did want to try and make a difference but it appeared very early on that that wasn’t enough.
Porshiepoo, your post about needing counselling yourself was very apt. Another question put to me was how did I cope with stress in my previous jobs? I told them I just got on with it. Wrong answer, they weren’t happy with that so they asked me again. I told them straight that I just coped with it and moved on. I wasn’t being facetious when I told them that we didn’t have post traumatic stress syndrome in my day. Whatever we came across, whatever we saw, you dealt with it and got on with the job. I don’t think they could understand how anyone could cope without having counselling.
The sad thing is that they are desperately short of counsellors down here in Galloway, never mind at least I tried. :(

[stratman]

Porshiepoo, your post about needing counseling yourself was very apt.

Any counseling service worth it's salt would have a supervision and support proceedure and debriefing to help deal with issues experienced and maintain standards of practice.

[jings00]

good on ya for trying but i would assume that training would be given on how to deal with the different situations that would arise, so I think the answer you gave was good and honest and not one you should have been penalised for. i wouldn't have been lookin for university degrees,if you are a councillor then i would think you would need to have some sort of people skills, which isn't guaranteed just cos you have a degree.

And just what i was trying to put accross too, Stratman, ya beat me to it :-)

[scorrie]

I think you will find that even qualified Psychiatrists and Psychologists would not promise to keep every single thing you tell them secret.


I can confirm that these groups will inform the authorities in cases where you reveal an intention to do harm to yourself or others. Quite rightly, a secret only remains a secret while others do not need to know about it.