The objective here that is seeking to be answered is, "If a counselor is an associate Pastor on staff or even just solely a counselor should the Senior/Sole Pastor be made aware of details on every client, since it is important for the Pastors to know their flock in order to best know how to lead and tend them, or does confidentiality apply always strictly between counselor and counselee". It is important to start off understanding what Counselor confidentiality is at its most fundamental nature. It is the responsibility of a therapist or counselor to hold any proprietary or personal information supplied by a patient in the strictest of confidence. It is a generally accepted ethic that breaking counselor confidentiality by revealing the type of information stated above, without the expressed permission of the patient, is considered highly unethical. Keep in mind, however, that in Standards B.1.d, the ACA Code of Ethics requires counselors to fully inform their clients of the limits of confidentiality (ACA, 2005). Also, HIPPA- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-actually gives a list of nearly two pages of things where confidentiality may be breached legally (hhs.gov). Counselor confidentiality in a "classical" setting, which is the viewpoint we have been speaking from thus far, is designed to allow patients the freedom to share information about themselves that is private in nature, but is important to the process of helping the individual overcome whatever emotional or other types of obstacles he or she currently faces. As part of the extension of privacy to patients, counselors also strive to remain objective and non-judgmental as they aid patients in sorting through a personal crisis and arriving at answers that are right for that individual. In some cases, the trust that is built by this promise of confidentiality allows the patient an outlet to discuss ideas and issues with the counselor that cannot currently be discussed with family and other loved ones. It seems to be a safe and widely accepted assumption and secure leap of common sense based logic to say that if a counselee finds out that you have told someone else about their situation, they will likely no longer trust you. That loss of trust can ruin the relationship that you have established with the client and could jeopardize the progress you have made with them. Breaching counselor confidentiality can have a devastating effect on the well-being of a patient. Emotions such as anger, shame, remorse and fear may all come together in the reaction to news that the counselor has revealed information that was shared in private. The strong sense of betrayal may effectively derail any good that has come from the counseling or therapy up to that point, leaving the patient feeling isolated and afraid to expose their emotions and inner thoughts with anyone else. Now, still speaking from the standpoint of a "classical" counseling milieu, while that loss of trust is something that must be guarded against their is still certain situations that should be overridden. As a counselor of any kind, whether Biblical or Psychological, there is always a legal responsibility where betrayal of confidentiality has to happen or else the counselor may become a criminal, themselves. Some obvious scenarios would be: when child abuse is suspected, when elder abuse is reported and if someone's life- whether it be the patient, counselor or someone else- is at immediate risk. Before treatment starts it would be good to have a routine miranda stated and signed to the counselee informing them of any possible circumstances where confidentiality could be breached. This gives them the choice to use your services or not and protects your reputation and integrity. This confidentiality subject is one that is not all black and white. It has shades of gray. The shades of gray always make a issue dangerous. As a counselor you must be very careful to understand what is going on and to act with the utmost of integrity and righteousness when dealing with this particular issue because along with the potential to destroy the emotional well-being of the patient, a breach in counselor confidentiality can have serious consequences for everyone involved. The formerly private information may cause public embarrassment to the patient, leading to alienation from loved ones and possibly even the loss of a job or a place to live. For the counselor who broke the patient’s trust, disapproval from the counseling community would seem likely. Other patients who learn of the breach may withdraw from therapy altogether, or at least seek the services of a different therapist. There is also the possibility of legal action by patients that could lead to the filing of civil suits that leave the counselor financially devastated. Moving on to the objective answer being sought, the Biblical counselor in a church setting functions under similar ethics, but a somewhat different version of them than seen in the "classical" setting that has been aforementioned, because of the lack of Psychological governing policies and more under direction of Biblical policies. The Bible is a very unique handbook, which doesn't always follow the ways of man. Actually it very rarely follows the ways of man. What is similar to between these two types of counseling environments is that it is clearly due to confidentiality that clients enter into and continue with the counseling process. If clients are not afforded a safe environment to disclose things that they may never disclose to any other person there would be no place for counseling professionals. Having said that, there are threats to confidentiality and counselors must be aware of those threats while working to minimize them to the best of their ability. Providing complete and comprehensive informed consent to treat forms to all clients is the first step in minimizing the complications of confidentiality. One source that is passionate about this states, "Soundproofing is a suggested mechanism for minimizing the content of conversation between counselors and clients being overheard by others in the office (Zur, 2007). To further drive home the point of the necessity of assuring any unnecessary and potentially unethical sources of confidentiality breaching, another complimenting source states, "It may prove necessary to make use of white noise machines to muffle what is being said in the individual offices. If you are able to have music playing in the waiting area and or in your office itself during sessions this goes a long way to reducing the possibility of voices being overheard. If you have a particularly loud client in session it can be a sensitive issue to remind them that others may hear what they are saying. It may be to their advantage to be loud at that time. If you employ a receptionist or secretary who is in the front office area be sure to instruct them not to have lengthy or involved conversations with clients who call as others in the waiting area will be able to hear those conversations. Many practitioners who use receptionists use glass partitions to muffle what is being said on the phone" (Barnett and Johnson, 2010). In a church setting anyone who comes for counseling should never be under the impression that certain issues won't be told to anyone else. The counselor is responsible with the rest of the Elder and Pastoral staff in maintaining a healthy spiritual growth and must tell the other church elders where there are needs for ministry and prayer. Those who come for counseling are coming as part of a church body, and should beware of that fact from the beginning. As far as going to Scripture for a solution to confidentiality ethics it seems to be something that is not addressed so logically the decision is really based on wisdom. Truthfully, it might be said that the promise or expectation of absolute confidentiality is not biblical and indeed is anti biblical. Jesus said, "If he will not listen, take one or two others along." If there is no resolution, take it to the church (Matthew 18). As one source in the field puts it, "Within the context of biblical counseling, counselees frequently bring to counseling their struggles to overcome besetting sins. Struggling against sin is not a cause for increased levels of church discipline intervention. However, persistent refusal to renounce a particular sin- habitual unrepentant rebellion against the Word of God- can lead to the initiation of a church restoration/discipline process" (rpmministries.org). Perhaps, what should be promised is biblical confidentiality, never absolute confidentiality. An effective Biblical church staff counselor should always reserve the right to bring in other wise people of the church into the situation. Issues should not be passed around to others outside of the advisory circle for relief, sympathy or even "prayer." The call of Jesus to biblical confidentiality must trump any cultural view of absolute confidentiality. There certainly are times when other elders need to be told about particular situations, since each elder is required to "watch out for the souls of the flock, as those who must give account" (Heb. 13:17). How can they shepherd the flock with no knowledge? Alot of the crying about confidentiality and embarrassment of sharing can be manged effectively by just making the counselee aware of who may be consulted on their case. This gives them the choice and that makes all the difference. The Pastor's wife or counselor's wife can even be included in necessary personnel to consult. Just always tell them that if necessary to include other elders and wives, if applicable. This actually works to their advantage; God gives a plurality of elders to the church so there is greater wisdom in addressing pastoral matters. The wives may be a gray area but if you are bluntly honest, what spouse withholds information from their spouse, on the overall average, and a rightly so why not to that? Wives are Biblically charged with being the husband's help meet. While this is not a dissertation on the role of a Pastor's wife, it is important to point out some highlights of that role because it applies to all church leaders such as the counselor. The Bible does not address the involvement of the pastor's wife in any ministry. In other words, it depends upon the denomination, the individual church within a denomination, the church board, and the pastor and his wife to determine how active the pastor's wife should be. The main area of responsibility for any wife is to support and be submissive to her husband (Ephesians 5:22-24). However, if the Lord calls a man into the ministry, He calls the whole man, and that includes the man's wife and his family. The wife does not do the work of the pastor, but the pastor and his wife are a team who are yoked together to do God's work. Too few recognize the reality of this and want to put the pastor's wife in a box and relegate her to keeping the home fires burning and prayer support for her husband. That certainly is her responsibility, but quite often the pastor's wife has gifts that can and should be used in the ministry. On the other hand, there are women whose husbands are pastors and they see it as "his" ministry and do not enter in to the work in any way. There should be a good balance between these two ideas with the goal of bringing glory to God in all things. An active, outgoing pastor's wife is a valuable asset to any church in today's climate of apathy to the things of God. Of course, discretion and care should be used. The same concepts still apply of informed consent, is all. When speaking to a church member about a serious matter, always say in advance that sometimes you speak about matters with your wife, but that she does not spread information around loosely. It is most likely a sure bet that the objections to this would be minimal, because they most likely do the same thing with their spouse. It's just one of those natural laws of man that are accepted. Of course, in speaking both to elders and your wife, you need to always be on guard against gossip, and say only those things which are necessary. Never should matters be shared with others in the congregation unless it is a case of public sin and church discipline. Care, discretion, and purity of motives are always necessary. When it comes down to the bottom line on this it can be said that demands for confidentiality are rejections of authority, rejections of pastoral wisdom, rejections of the role of community. It's insistence upon individualism. It's a misguided belief that one has some "right" to decide everything in any way involving them. If you are guaranteed absolute confidentiality, some sort of "doctor-patient" or "lawyer-client" privilege, then you have the right to expect confidentiality. And you definitely aren't talking with a pastor in a scriptural context. It requires trust and humility to share, but God has used this means of grace to help us overcome sin and hurt. The difference in Biblical counseling really comes down to matters of everyday body life within a church: the young college student who seems to be growing rapidly in his walk with Christ, the teen who is rebelling, the criticism made about last week's sermon, the woman who wept through last Sunday's service because it was exactly a year ago that her husband left her, encouraging comments made in a joint-elders/deacon meeting the night before, etc. These aren't matters of "counseling and confidentiality", but rather matters of living together as the people of God, sharing in one another's joys and sorrows, and pointing one another to Christ.

References :
1. ACA Code of Ethics: American Counseling Association, Alexandria Virginia, 2005
2. Barnett, Jeffrey, and W. Brad Johnson: Ethics Desk Reference for Counselors. American Counseling Association, Alexandria VA, 2010
3. HIPAA Privacy Rule document: office of Civil Rights: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa
4. God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit: The Holy Bible, NIV. New York, NY, 2012
5. The Law and Church Counseling: Part Five- Building Safeguards Into Your Ministry: 5. http://www.rpmministries.org/2011/08/the-law-and-church-counseling-part-five%e2%80%94building-safeguards-into-your-ministry/
6. Zur, O. (2007). Boundaries in psychotherapy: Ethical and clinical explorations. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association