Mandatory Reporting and Professional Dilemmas

Summary

Mandatory reporting of suspicions of abuse on minors carries some risk to professional confidence in certain instances. This is of particular importance when a trainee is involved. A clinical case is described to illustrate the issues that an intern may face with respect to therapeutic alliance and professional development when reporting occurs. The issue of countertransference to reported families and its successful resolution is one that would be helpful to address in both graduate and clinical training.