ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that unrestricted confidentiality has awkward implications for both classes of relationships—between consultant and client, as well as between children and adults. Confidentiality can be a very good thing, but it is easy enough to have too much of even the very best things. The chapter shows why a consulting relationship is awkwardly guided by the unrestricted pledge: "Promise not to tell." It presents three themes: general distinctions between two models of confidentiality; some action scenarios involving confidentiality; and an application of the two ideals about confidentiality to the scenarios. The "unrestricted view" of confidentiality in consultation has much in common with the metaphor of the confessional. Restricted confidentiality implies a goal of evermore precise sharing of goals, strategies, and views of the world between client and consultant, so that consultant interventions reflect increasingly informed choices.
