Counseling Minor Clients Case Study

How do you think legal and ethical requirements might come into conflict with each other when counseling minor clients?
Clients who are minors have a moral right to privacy within the alliance between the client and the counselor. Moreover, according to the text, (Remley & Herlihy, 2015) counselors how obligations to the minor as well as the parent or guardian which may come into confliction. Accordingly, an obligation exists legally to the parents and an ethically and morally obligation is extended to the minor. A child will have the need to build a trusting relationship with the counselor so they may feel comfortable and able to open up with the counselor. However, they may expect the counselor to maintain confidentiality and not confide in the parents. This could present as a challenge depending on the age of the client, the client’s personality, circumstances surrounding the reason for counseling and setting of counseling. The conflict could arise regarding loyalty and with whom the counselor is in allegiance. The minor should be told up front that the counselor might have to confide portions of what is said in the session to the parents, which could prevent the minor from communicating. Another consideration may the potential conflict between the parents and counselor, if the parents are demanding to know the details of the child’s confidential sessions. …show more content…
Ordinarily there exists a contract between counselor and client and one who is less than 18 is not able assert legal rights by him/herself but must proceed through their parents. Many minors are not mature enough or cognitively and developmentally competent to make decisions for themselves. However, some states are changing their laws regarding what legal rights and decisions minors can make on their own. Nevertheless, minors do not always have the autonomy to make decisions that are in their best interest in many instances (Remley & Herlihy,