Being truthful with clients may conflict with maintaining loyalty. Which statement describes this tension?

• A. Sacrificing fidelity in order to be truthful.
• B. Sacrificing autonomy for beneficence.
• C. Sacrificing confidentiality for veracity.
• D. Sacrificing justice for autonomy.

Answer: (A)

Veracity versus fidelity is the central tension here. Fidelity means loyalty to the client—keeping promises, protecting confidentiality, and maintaining trust in the therapeutic relationship. Veracity is the obligation to be truthful with clients. When telling the truth could undermine that loyalty, you’re facing a trade-off between being honest and staying faithful to your commitments to the client. Saying that fidelity is sacrificed in order to be truthful captures this exact clash: the priority shifts from the client's loyalty and the trust built over time to delivering full honesty in that moment. The other potential tensions involve different principle pairs (autonomy with beneficence, confidentiality with veracity, or justice with autonomy) and don’t describe the specific trade-off between truth-telling and remaining loyal to the client.