Opinion ID: 1175611
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: full disclosure

Text: Second, the guarantee of confidentiality is essential in eliciting the full disclosure necessary for effective treatment. ( In re Lifschutz, supra, 2 Cal.3d 415, 431; Taylor v. United States (D.C. Cir.1955) 222 F.2d 398, 401 [95 App.D.C. 373]; Goldstein & Katz, supra, 36 Conn.Bar J. 175, 178; Heller, Some Comments to Lawyers on the Practice of Psychiatry (1957) 30 Temp.L.Q. 401; Guttmacher & Weihofen, Privileged Communications Between Psychiatrist and Patient (1952) 28 Ind.L.J. 32, 34.) [3] The psychiatric patient approaches treatment with conscious and unconscious inhibitions against revealing his innermost thoughts. Every person, however well-motivated, has to overcome resistances to therapeutic exploration. These resistances seek support from every possible source and the possibility of disclosure would easily be employed in the service of resistance. (Goldstein & Katz, supra, 36 Conn.Bar J. 175, 179; see also, 118 Am.J.Psych. 734, 735.) Until a patient can trust his psychiatrist not to violate their confidential relationship, the unconscious psychological control mechanism of repression will prevent the recall of past experiences. (Butler, Psychotherapy and Griswold: Is Confidentiality a Privilege or a Right? (1971) 3 Conn.L.Rev. 599, 604.)