Abstract

FRANCO, Álvaro. Confidentiality in Psychotherapy: Exploratory Study among Colombian Psychiatrists. rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2008, vol.37, n.4, pp.580-591. ISSN 0034-7450.

Objectives: To bring up the ethical dilemma that arises when confidentiality is broken or not, in situations where the psychotherapist is faced with the obligation of protecting a third party (case Tarasoff). Method: This is an exploratory study using a visual analogue scale, with 10 hypothetical assumptions about aspects of sexual life. Here 50 psychiatrists express their position on dilemmatic situations in which they would or would not break confidentiality. Results: The tendency to break confidentiality was clearly defined in situations of sexual abuse. Cases in which a third person must be protected from HIV contamination hover on the fringe of uncertainty, and in situations of infidelity confidentiality is frequently respected. Conclusions: In the hypothetical situation of protecting a third person, surveyed psychiatrists have marked dispersion in their responses. It is necessary to analyze particular cases and to review the corresponding legislation.

Keywords : Confidentiality; psychotherapy; psychiatry.

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