ABSTRACT
This chapter takes a careful look at the law and ethical guidelines as they apply to areas such as confidentiality, consent, and safeguarding children, as well as exploring how to combine a desire to work ethically and effectively with an adherence to important laws and government guidelines. It also shows how the private practitioner can draw up their own policies and guidelines for best practice. The psychotherapist undertakes to notify their clients, when appropriate or on request that there are legal and ethical limits of that confidentiality and circumstances under which the psychotherapist might disclose confidential information to a third party. Therapists may wish to use some resources to develop a series of questions to ask themselves either alone or alongside their clinical supervisor when it comes to considering breaching confidentiality. The chapter presents case examples that look at some of the questions a therapist might need to ask themselves when facing such a dilemma.
