Collaborating with non-clinical stakeholders

“Collaborate with non-clinical stakeholders (e.g., legal counselor, community resources)” (NBCC, 2027 task 5.2)

Counselors often work alongside people outside the mental health field: attorneys, employers, schools, housing agencies, community organizations and others. Collaboration can help clients a great deal, but it raises questions of consent, role and confidentiality. The exam tests appropriate collaboration within professional boundaries.

Key points

Non-clinical stakeholders include attorneys, courts, probation, schools, employers, housing and benefits agencies, and community organizations.
Get specific, written consent for each disclosure, and share only what is necessary for the purpose.
Understand each stakeholder's role and what they will do with the information; for example, information given to an attorney may be used in legal proceedings.
Maintain your professional role: provide clinical information within your competence, and avoid offering legal advice or opinions outside your expertise.
When a client's attorney requests records or a letter, discuss the request and its consequences with the client first.
Letters of support should be factual, limited to what you know from your work, and agreed with the client.
Document all contacts and what was shared.

In practice

A client asks her counselor to write a letter to her landlord supporting her request to keep an emotional support animal. The counselor discusses what the letter will disclose, confirms she has a clinical basis for it, writes a brief factual letter, and documents the client's consent.

A client's attorney calls asking for an opinion about the client's fitness as a parent. The counselor explains that she cannot release information without the client's written consent and that, as a treating counselor, she does not offer custody evaluations.

Check yourself

What should a counselor discuss with a client before sending information to the client's attorney?

What will be shared and how it might be used, including in legal proceedings, so the client can give informed consent.

Should a treating counselor give a custody recommendation to a court?

No, because forensic evaluation is a separate role and treating counselors should not evaluate their own clients for forensic purposes.

What should a letter of support contain?

Factual information within the counselor's knowledge and competence, limited to what the client has agreed to share.

NBCC's knowledge and skills for Domain 5

Knowledge of: Documentation practices and models; Release of information and confidentiality; Basic psychopharmacological information; Professional roles; Record retention and management.

Skill in: Completing case notes; Case conceptualization; Advocating for client.

A study guide written by ExamDragon from NBCC's published task; not NBCC material and not part of the exam.