I welcome you to my blog and another wonderful edition of the Hive Learners' featured post. I think every job has some level of client privilege whereby whatever the client reveals to you, whether good or bad, is supposed to stay between the two of you until the end of time. This has helped clients get comfortable and not hold back about pouring out their minds to the doctor, priest, pastor, lawyer, etc. c. If at any point they knew or felt that their secret was not safe with the person in charge or in office, they would hold back, and that would affect the service they offer, and if they offered a service not effective enough, it would still bounce back to them and leave a dent on their name or the name of their firm.
So clients' privileges do not only affect only the client but also the one offering the services. If you offer me a good service and keep my secrets secret, I will be able to encourage others to work with you, but when you fail to keep my secrets, I will advise others to avoid you at all costs, as their personal matters can become a public matter if they deal with you. The availability of a client's privilege affects both parties, and so does the lack of it; the availability of it is the only reason clients are able to open up and share whatever they have in mind or has been eating them up.
Trust me, if a doctor, a priest, a lawyer, and a therapist were to go against the laws binding them from spilling their client's secret, you would realize that even the things you did not imagine are actually happening and are not happening just once in a while; rather, it is a regular and normal occurrence in the lives of many people. I think client privileges are one of the things holding our world from crumbling because there are things that, if brought to the knowledge of the public, will not leave our world the same way after that.
For me, I feel if revealing that secret shared with the priest, doctor, or therapist can save lives, then I think revealing it has become an option, even if it is not revealing it word for word like you were told, but taking some actions to help save that life can also go a long way. I have seen a movie where a psychopath confessed to wanting to kill a girl to a priest, and then he allowed the law to hold him back; he did not reveal it and at the same time did not take any action, and then the girl was killed just like the psychopath confessed.
Now I will be using this movie to answer the question: Could he have revealed it and the girl given maximum security and her every move watched closely by a security agent to prevent the loss of life or even reveal it and get the psychopath arrested before he executes his plan? Also in the case where you do not want to go against the laws and principles guiding your line of work, there are actions he should have taken, such as giving the girl some clues or advising her to even leave town, but he did nothing and let her die just because of some laws and principles.
There should be some room for a little bending and a little flexibility, especially when lives and properties are involved. If revealing a secret can save a life or two, I think it should be revealed rather than protecting a client and firm name while leaving a life in danger.
Images were generated using chatgpt.
