When Confidentiality and Child Safety Collide: A Therapist’s Perspective on the Arizona Clergy Reporting Ruling

The recent Arizona Supreme Court ruling that upheld clergy privilege in cases involving child abuse disclosures has sparked important conversations across the country. For many people—especially survivors of abuse, individuals navigating religious trauma, and parents—it has raised difficult questions about where confidentiality should end and protection should begin.

At WORTH IT counseling + consulting, we believe these conversations deserve space, nuance, and compassion.

Click here to read the news article about the ruling. 

Why This Ruling Feels So Personal

For survivors of abuse, this isn’t simply a legal issue.

It’s deeply emotional.

Many people who have experienced abuse within religious settings already carry questions like:

• “Why didn’t someone protect me?”
• “Why didn’t anyone believe me?”
• “Why was keeping the peace more important than keeping me safe?”

When news stories touch on these topics, they can reopen old wounds—even for those who have spent years working toward healing.

If this ruling has brought up anger, grief, confusion, or sadness, your reaction makes sense.

Confidentiality Is Important

As therapists, confidentiality is one of the foundations of our work.

People deserve a place where they can speak honestly about their experiences without fear of judgment.

Without confidentiality, many people would never seek help.

But confidentiality has ethical and legal limits.

Mental health professionals are mandated reporters. If we learn that a child is currently being abused or is at imminent risk of harm, we are legally required to report it to the appropriate authorities.

Why?

Because protecting vulnerable children outweighs protecting confidentiality in those situations.

This isn’t about punishing someone who seeks help.

It’s about protecting a child who cannot protect themselves.

Faith and Child Safety Don’t Have to Be Opposed

This conversation can quickly become polarized.

Some people hear criticism of clergy privilege as criticism of religion itself.

Others see the ruling as evidence that religious institutions cannot be trusted.

The reality is more nuanced.

Many faith communities work tirelessly to protect children, support survivors, and respond appropriately to abuse disclosures.

Likewise, many clergy members care deeply about the well-being of the families they serve.

Wanting children to be protected is not anti-faith.

It’s a value shared by people of many different religious traditions—and by those with no religious affiliation at all.

Child safety should never be viewed as incompatible with spiritual care.

The Lasting Impact of Religious Trauma

For some survivors, abuse occurred within a religious community.

For others, the trauma wasn’t the abuse itself but how trusted adults responded afterward.

Being dismissed.
Being told to forgive before healing.
Being encouraged to stay silent.
Feeling responsible for protecting the reputation of a family, leader, or institution.

These experiences can leave lasting emotional wounds that affect relationships, self-worth, trust, intimacy, and even one’s relationship with faith.

Healing often involves grieving not only what happened, but what should have happened.

Children deserve adults who protect them.

Every time.

If This News Has Been Triggering

News stories like this can bring up memories you thought were behind you.

You might notice:

• Feeling anxious or on edge
• Trouble sleeping
• Anger that seems bigger than the headline itself
• Memories resurfacing
• Questioning your faith or spiritual community
• Feeling emotionally exhausted after reading comments online

These reactions are common after trauma.

It doesn’t mean you’re “back at square one.”

It means your nervous system recognizes themes that have been painful before.

Healing Is Possible

Whether your experiences involve religious trauma, childhood abuse, family secrets, or betrayal by trusted people, healing is possible.

Therapy provides a space where your story can be heard without minimizing your pain or asking you to protect someone else’s comfort.

You deserve relationships built on safety.

You deserve communities that value accountability.

And you deserve support as you make sense of experiences that may have felt impossible to understand alone.

At WORTH IT, we work with individuals, couples, and families navigating trauma, religious transitions, abuse recovery, and relationship healing. If this news has brought up difficult emotions, know that you don’t have to carry them by yourself.