Group counseling offers multiple relationships to help clients grow and solve their problems. Members are encouraged to discuss their issues openly and honestly since such sessions consist of clients with almost similar problems. The group counselor’s work is to create an atmosphere of trust and acceptance so that members can support one another (Hartman & Zimberoff, 2012). However, ethical situations with legal implications may arise if such an atmosphere does not exist; and this forms the basis of this paper.
Three ethical situations with legal implications in Group Therapy
One of the ethical situations of this kind is conflict of interest in the group therapy. Conflict of interest ranges from too much self-disclosure by the therapist to existence of dual relationships with clients outside the group sessions. These ethical dilemmas may seem unavoidable and innocent but violate professional as well as legal obligations of the therapist (Jacobs et al., 2012). Therefore, when the therapist and client know each other’s lives outside the group setting, certain rules and ethical considerations must be observed. Second situation arises from informed consent from the client when sharing their experiences. The client must accept to share whatever their experience as long as it is relevant to the group’s discuss, goals and objectives. Informed consent also implies that therapists must disclose their personal experience and training in an honesty way. They should not falsify this critical piece of information since such is not only an ethical but also a legal violation and infringement. The third ethical issue with legal implications is confidentiality in the group sessions (Romaioli & Faccio, 2012).
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Confidentiality is central to the success of the sessions, not just for the therapist and leader but also group members or clients. Therapists and group members must keep personal information shared during the sessions confidential. These members have a right to privacy and if that right is violated, they may seek legal redress which may be costly to the group and the therapist (Scher & Koziowska, 2012). Imperatively, a professional needs to avoid these ethical and legal violations by ensuring that they do not have conflict of interests, disclose critical personal information and moderate group sharing sessions following guidelines given by professional bodies like the American Counseling Association and American Psychological Association. Further, therapists must practice confidentiality and let all group members understand that any violations are liable to legal redresses from the affected members. Members and the therapist must set clear boundaries on issues to discuss during their early stages of the formation of the group.
Issues & Strategies
Group therapy sessions may discuss an array of issues that are common to all members in a bid to get viable solutions to such problems. Group therapy sessions can address issues ranging from substance abuse, domestic violence and identity disorders among other issues. Imperatively, the therapists and the clients in such sessions must agree on the type of strategies that they should incorporate for effective individual outcomes (Kelly, 2013). One of the strategies is to have storming sessions to bring all members together. Conversely, individual therapies can be done in the event that group members start scapegoating or when members start apportioning blame to individual members.
Importance of Understanding Ethical and Legal Issues to Clients and Counselors
It suffices to note that understanding the ethical and legal violations is beneficial to both clients and the counselor. The client would avoid potential conflict that may hinder effective outcome of the sessions. Further, the client will avoid possible litigations that may arise in the event that right to privacy is violated. For a counselor, the understanding is essential because of the need to observe professional ethics and avoid possible legal implications. Further, it improves the confidence of the clients and better outcomes of the process (Hartman & Zimberoff, 2012).
Conclusion
It follows that ethical and legal situation in group therapies must be addressed by both therapists and clients because of the repercussions that they may face in the event that they violate them.
References
Hartman, D., & Zimberoff, D. (2012). Ethics in heart-centered therapies. Journal of Heart
Centered Therapies , 15 (1), 3.
Jacobs, E. E., Masson, R. L., Harvill, R. L., & Schimmel, C. J. (2012). Group Counseling:
Strategies and Skills (7th ed.). [Kindle]. Retrieved from http://www.Bookshelf.com
Kelly, T.F. (2013). “Effective leaders are ethical leaders”. Journal of Leadership, Accountability
and Ethics, vol.10, no.4, pp.90-93
Romaioli, D., & Faccio, E. (2012). When therapists do not know what to do: informal types of
eclecticism in psychotherapy. Res. Psychother. Psychopathol. Process Outcome , 15 , 10-21.
Scher, S., & Koziowska, K. (2012). Thinking, doing, and the Ethics of Family Therapy. The
American Journal of Family Therapy , 40(2) , 97-114. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2011.633851
