Description
Counselling and the law make uneasy bedfellows. Whilst counsellors often have no more than a vague idea of the ways in which the legal system might impact on their work, the legal profession is quite clear about what therapists should do if required –
to hand over their counselling notes
to appear in court as a witness
to describe their counselling work in detail
For the counsellor this presents huge dilemmas, and many find themselves caught between a need to comply with the law and a fear of the impact that this will have on the client/counsellor relationship. This programme differentiates the facts from the fantasies, and explores the issues involved when therapists find themselves under pressure to break confidentiality, or alternatively when they themselves begin to wonder whether they should do so.
Peter Jenkins, a writer and practitioner with considerable experience in this field, discusses with Mike Simmons some of the conflicting pressures that can come into force when this happens, and by means of a series of role-plays, considers a number of scenarios, any one of which might confront the therapist the next time a client walks through their consulting room door.
Edited and produced by Mike Simmons
There are Chapter markers on the DVD
