Confidentiality in Mental Health with Deaf Populations Perceptions of the Consumer

Confidentiality issues have drawn concern among clinicians in the field of mental health. In part, managed care, fax machines, electronic records, and the use of the internet have added to the concerns related to the protection of client rights, especially related to confidentiality. The issues of confidentiality have always been a concern for therapists who work with deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. Due to the close-knit nature of the Deaf community, clinicians who provide psychotherapeutic services have the added burden of protection of confidentiality as it relates to chance encounters, dual role and boundary issues between consumers, and the use of interpreters