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DunningKruger · 61-69, M
It obviously becomes a conflict of interest. The therapist has to report this to her supervisor.
The question then becomes whether it's ethical for her to use this information to confront her husband. That's a more complex issue than one might think. She learned of the affair because a patient told her this information in confidence, not knowing (presumably) that her therapist was her lover's wife. On the one hand, that's clearly covered under patient confidentiality — if the woman was having an affair with someone else's husband, the therapist certainly couldn't inform that husband's wife about the affair.
That said, this is a personal issue for the therapist. Does patient-therapist confidentiality go out the window in this situation? It seems counter intuitive that the therapist cannot make use of information that intimately affects her own life.
Then there's the question of what should the therapist tell the patient. Does she just tell the patient that she can no longer be her therapist, or should she inform the patient why?
Very sticky situation.
The question then becomes whether it's ethical for her to use this information to confront her husband. That's a more complex issue than one might think. She learned of the affair because a patient told her this information in confidence, not knowing (presumably) that her therapist was her lover's wife. On the one hand, that's clearly covered under patient confidentiality — if the woman was having an affair with someone else's husband, the therapist certainly couldn't inform that husband's wife about the affair.
That said, this is a personal issue for the therapist. Does patient-therapist confidentiality go out the window in this situation? It seems counter intuitive that the therapist cannot make use of information that intimately affects her own life.
Then there's the question of what should the therapist tell the patient. Does she just tell the patient that she can no longer be her therapist, or should she inform the patient why?
Very sticky situation.
SilentObZerver · 22-25, M
@DunningKruger She obviously wont be in the right frame of mind to continue being her patient's therapist
DunningKruger · 61-69, M
@SilentObZerver Looking up the story, it seems that the therapist learned that her patient was having an affair with her husband when her husband told her he was leaving her for this other woman, so some aspects of the situation become moot. However, it seems that she was required by confidentiality not to reveal that the patient was her patient, or even that the woman was in therapy at all.
Pretty sad.
Pretty sad.
SilentObZerver · 22-25, M
@DunningKruger very very dicey and sad!
@DunningKruger I think that she would be allowed to mention to her own therapist that she had a client who was involved in an affair with her husband... but that's about it.
It's not like she's writing a feature length film about the client in all of it's gory details - she's just sharing the parts of the story that are applicable to her and that are conductive to her healing journey.
It's not like she's writing a feature length film about the client in all of it's gory details - she's just sharing the parts of the story that are applicable to her and that are conductive to her healing journey.