Given that children are typically brought to treatment by their parents, how would you handle a child who confides in you some illicit behavior and asks you not to tell his or her parents?

Discussion question :

Unfortunately, not every child who needs treatment receives it. What do you think are some barriers to receiving treatment? In other words, what are some of the obstacles getting in the way of families hoping to pursue treatment for their child? How can we fix that?

One common dilemma faced by child psychologists is determining who the “client” is. Given that children are typically brought to treatment by their parents, how would you handle a child who confides in you some illicit behavior and asks you not to tell his or her parents?