Duty to Warn versus Duty to Protect Confidentiality: Ethical and Legal Considerations Relative to Individuals with AIDS/HIV

Abstract

This article explores ethical dilemmas associated with rehabilitation counselor service provision to individuals with AIDS/HIV, emphasizing the conflict between the duty to protect confidentiality and the duty to warn and the ethical and legal considerations pertaining to this conflict. A discussion on the limits of confidentiality, the application of the six ethical principles, the specific guidelines provided in rehabilitation counselors' code of ethics, and the legal actions that address the issue of duty to warn are provided.