Ethical Issue of Confidentiality in Group Counseling

Ethical issue of confidentiality in group counseling

Introduction

The ethical issue of confidentiality in group counseling has been under discussion since ages. In group counseling, confidentiality plays a pivotal role. The counselor and the group have a special relationship of confidentiality, which should be maintained appropriately. If, the relationship is not maintained properly, it will become an ethical dilemma. It should be made clear enough that the communication between a professional counselor and a group would not be revealed at any cost (Remley & Hermann, 2003, p. 72). True confidentiality then must take into account the fact that members must honor the anonymity of people in the group, while being taught how to speak up outside the group about their issues and needs. Here, is how this can be done.

At the beginning of a new group being formed, the members are given an instruction on how to share information from in the group to the outside. In essence, a variety of examples are covered. A typical example would be for a member who has shared deeply in the group that her father's alcoholism ruined the family. He was physically and sexually abusive, and eventually lost his job because of it. In this type of sharing other members, would talk about the pathology they encountered in their families.

To maintain confidence, while still being able to share members would be taught that when talking about the group to others you leave all the identifying material about the other member out of the conversation, and you say what got activated for you as a member in the group. Your reaction is yours to share, and the origin of it, the details of it, are kept confidential.

Discussion

In group counseling people benefit from the experiences of the group, everyone shares his or her own experiences. It mainly focuses on a problem. Anger management and obsessive compulsive disorder can be cited as good examples of group counseling.

Group counseling helps an individual with a thought that he is not alone handling the problem, but there are other individuals, as well. This technique also helps an individual from an attempt of isolation by gathering people with a similar problem (Cottone & Tarvydas, 2003, p. 339). Additionally, every individual in the group will get relieved after sharing his or her problem with the people facing the same problem. The counseling of a group may be highly organized with the special environment for the people sharing similar activities and then sharing their results.

From, the other sides of the spectrum, counselors also have to determine when confidentiality is superseded by the interest of the group and the public. In such instances, the ethical issue is whether or not to divulge information because of confidentiality. In the guidelines set by Remley & Hermann (2003), though privacy remains a priority, if information can save a person from harm or protects the interest of the public, then disclosure is not only acceptable, but it is the ethical thing to do (p. 78). However, in criminal justice and ...