In an era of increased need and expectation for confidentiality, the counseling record of the deceased client challenges confidentiality. Using ethical codes and legal mandates, the authors explore whether the counseling record of a deceased client should be released when the client’s will and the client’s counseling records are silent on this issue.
American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA code of ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author.
2.
American Medical Association on Ethical and Judicial Affairs. (2000). Confidentiality of health information postmortem (Rep. No. 5-A-00). Chicago, IL: Author.
3.
AndersonG. (2005). Who, what, when, where, how and mostly why? A therapist’s grief over the suicide of a client. Women & Therapy, 28, 25–34.
4.
BarskyA.GouldJ. (2002). Clinicians in court: A guide to subpoenas, dispositions, testifying and everything else you need to know. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
5.
BembryJ.PoeN.RogersO. (2009). BSW students' experiences with the deaths of clients: An exploratory study. The Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, 14, 1–15.
6.
BergJ. (2001). Grave secrets: Legal and ethical analysis of postmortem confidentiality. Connecticut Law Review, 34, 81–122.
7.
BradleyL.WhitingP.HendricksB.WheatL. (2011). Ethical imperatives for intervention with elder families. The Family Journal, 18, 215–221.
8.
BurkeC. A. (1995). Until death do us part: An exploration into confidentiality following the death of a client. Professional Psychology, Research and Practice, 26, 278–280.
9.
CoreyG.CoreyM.CallananP. (2007). Issues and ethics in the helping profession (7th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
10.
GillilandB.JamesR.BowmanJ. (2002). Theories and strategies in counseling and psychotherapy (5th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
11.
HendricksB.BradleyL.SouthernS.OliverM.BirdsallB. (2011). Ethical code for the international association of marriage and family counselors. The Family Journal, 19, 217–224.
12.
HuntD.RosenthalD. (2000). Rehabilitation counselors' experiences with client death and client anxiety. Journal of Rehabilitation, 66, 44–51.
13.
KocherG.Keith-SpiegelP. (1998). Ethics in psychology: Professional standards and cases. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
RoanS.DolanM. (1994, June 16). Therapist may face discipline for discussing case. Counseling: Social worker Susan Forward appears to have violated Nicole Simpson’s privacy by revealing comments, an official for state examiner’s office says. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/1994-06-16/news/mn-4765_1_social-worker
16.
RubelR. (2004). When a client dies. Psychoanalytic Social Work, 11, 1–39.
17.
ScofieldT. (2005). When clients die: Using storytelling, journaling and correspondence in times of loss. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 1, 25–39.