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that by listening to him he will be able to dispel his anger against his
colleague so that he will not continue spreading his tale to others, for
those others might believe him and will be guilty of accepting lashon
hara.”

It is further written in Hilchos Lashon Hara (10), “It is possible
that the same applies if his intention in telling his story is to calm
himself – it is considered beneficial for future [and accordingly, when
Chazal said,‘If a person is worried he should speak it out with others’
this also refers to such a case] however, he must be careful not to
omit any of the other details in this paragraph” [such as not entirely
believing the lashon hara as he hears it].

From all this we learn that it is permitted to hear and to relate
lashon hara if there is a benefit in doing so. The same applies to our
case. If speaking about the patient’s spouse will restore peace to the
couple there is nothing wrong with doing so as long as it is being done
with pure motivation and the therapist doesn’t believe the lashon hara
and keeps it a closely guarded secret.

ɳ Response to Question Four

First the teacher herself must be notified, contact should then be
maintained and the situation monitored – perhaps there will be a
change for the better. Only if there is no change is it permitted – and
in fact obligatory – to reveal how things stand to those in charge. This
is clear in Chafetz Chaim (Hilchos Lashon Hara 10, Be’er Mayim
Chaim, 7) – one must first rebuke the sinner. See also Afikei Yam
(Vol. 2, Introduction, in the section Binah Bamikra) explaining the
passuk “Yosef brought evil reports of them to their father.” (Bereishis
36:2)

It cannot be argued that since it is also the psychologist’s responsi-
bility to report faults in the teachers’ performance, he can report the
teacher immediately. It is not so. Even those responsible for reporting
must initially refrain from revealing other people’s deficiencies. They
must therefore first speak to the teacher herself and only if their
words yield no results, pass on their report.

208 1 Medical-Halachic Responsa of Rav Zilberstein