Question Related to Ethics/Confidentiality

[abcdef]

Hi. I'm new here and am hoping for some knowledgeable feedback on a situation concerning ethics and confidentiality.

I had seen a therapist (for individual therapy) in a small counselling office for several years, when she recommended couples therapy. She indicated that since she was my therapist, it would not be appropriate for her to also be involved in my couples therapy. She recommended another therapist in the office (whom I knew was the counselling director of the office). I later found out (after a handful of couples therapy sessions), that my couples therapist was also serving as the supervisor to the therapist I was seeing for individual therapy. (That is, my therapist referred me to this couples therapist WITHOUT telling me that this couples therapist was also her supervisor.) When I found out that this couples therapist knew about me (name and personal details) from my therapist (her supervisee), I felt betrayed and exposed. When I complained, I was referred to the confidentiality statement (that I had signed) which listed one of the limits of confidentiality as the supervisor's relationship with the therapist.

From an ethics point of view, is it acceptable for a therapist to refer a client to her supervisor for counselling WITHOUT letting the client know that this new therapist (i.e., the supervisor) has been privy to details about the client?

A second question regarding supervision: is it common for therapists to refer to their clients by name? Are therapists under no obligation to make an attempt to protect the identity of the client (especially when the supervisor works in the same office as the therapist)?

[Ads]