For counselling to be effective, it is important for confidentiality to be established between the councillor and client. This way, the client entrusts that what they say is private and will have no problem opening up in counselling sessions (Geldard & Geldard, 2009). However, not every conversation can be kept confidential. There are two circumstances for which breaching confidentiality is deemed important. When a councillor sees that the client is at risk of harming themselves or someone else or when a client/child is being abuse, they will disregard any confidentiality rules in order to prevent this.
All councillors need to know the limitations of confidentiality and to know their duty to report in these circumstances. (Corey, 2009). It is also important for councillors to be up-front and explain to clients the limitation of confidentiality. (Geldard & Geldard, 2009). If there is a need to disclose personal information about a client then councillors should talk to their supervisor. The clients informed consent needs to be sought out before making a decision to divulge any information, regardless if it is ethically acceptable or for professional reasons.