...Running Head: ETHICAL CONCIDERATIONS FOR GROUP LEADERSHIP Ethical Considerations for Group leadership in Counseling David Cook Liberty University HSER 511-04 Dr. Pinkston July 4, 2014 Abstract Ethics has been in the forefront in the counseling field, especially in the recent cases of PTSD and military and family counseling. This type of family and group counseling presents new ethical considerations for professionals. Group leaders have to be aware of new updates in the code of ethics and legal responsibilities while showing empathy and leadership in the group. The viewpoints in this paper will consider those codes from the perspective of a professional Christian leader. Viewpoints will include techniques for group participation, professional training for the leader, confidentiality considerations, ethnic and cultural awareness and ethical financial practices. There will be a focus on the personal relationships within the group setting and how the leader can effectively control the ethical relationships. This paper will present a personal testimony on Christian qualities that direct leadership and ethical considerations in treatment in family healing. Ethical Considerations for Group leadership in Counseling Professional counseling and group therapy has received more recognition in the past few years and the subject of ethical practices, as a result, has become more important and relevant. Codes for ethical practices have...
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...Group therapy has gained popularity in a gradual but steady way in the contemporary society. The main feature of group therapy is group counseling, which involves people forming support groups for self-help and support about a common problem. A therapist engages a group in planned counseling sessions by using a custom made programmed for them. The group’s proper existence, progress and ethics are of great importance for it is a reflection of the groups conduct in their relation. Basically, ethics give a definition of the agreed upon do’s and don’ts in the group activity .It therefore stands that, group’s discipline is a great determiner for group success or failure. Of worth importance is group trust among the members of group members of the therapy for maintenance of credibility in their activities. Without maintaining trust within a group, it is not possible to achieve cohesion (Baum, 2005). Trust is essential in group therapy because it will enhance openness and the members will be able to share freely. Indeed, this is an essential ethical issue that should be considered in group therapy. Respect and professionalism are key elements that a therapist should possess in handling group members while maintaining a firm leadership of the group. Therapists are the chief custodians of the group; hence, they need to cultivate a culture of ensuring that every member is treated with respect and honor. This is feasible in ensuring that the rights and liberties of every person are observed...
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...Ethical Issues in Group Counseling COUN 612: Mental Health Ethics, Law and Practice April 28, 2011 Introduction Group counseling offers multiple relationships to assist an individual in growth and problem solving. Groups are an excellent treatment choice for numerous intrapersonal and interpersonal issues, and in helping people to change. Groups provide a sense of community to its members allowing them to see that they are not alone. In group therapy sessions, members are encouraged to discuss the issues that brought them to therapy openly and honestly. It is the responsibility of the counselor to work to create an atmosphere of trust and acceptance that encourages members to support one another. This atmosphere is developed and maintained from the initial intake of a client to the close of group. Many ethical dilemmas and questions arise for group therapists, a few of which will be addressed here: group work with diverse populations; rights of clients, informed consent and confidentiality; and involuntary clients. Description of Topic More recently group therapy has been widely used in the mental health field. There is a natural power in a therapeutic group that helps to bring about personal change for group members (Corey, Corey & Corey, 2010). Groups are designed to remediate specific problems or even prevent problems. It is the responsibility of the group leader, or counselor, to consciously acknowledge human diversity in society and the group setting. If...
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...through Ethical Codes, Informed Consent and Confidentiality Cydne-Ann A. Grobri Liberty University Abstract One of the primary reasons for the creation and use of ethical codes within helping professions is to educate the professional about acceptable ethical behavior and to protect the well-being of clients. The Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers (2008) illuminates that the code “sets forth values, ethical principles, and ethical standards to which professionals are to aspire and by which their actions can be judged.” (Purpose of the NASW Code of Ethics). A helping professional is required to be ethically, clinically and legally-minded to safeguard the client and/or public during all interactions within the client/counselor relationship, arguably at the point of advertisement about the availability of service. This paper will examine the actions of a community college counselor and how her neglect to utilize codes of ethics and sound judgment put her in a predicament where she may have caused harm to the participants in her group. We will also explore a practical decision making model that will demonstrate that the helping profession has to begin applying principle and virtue ethics from the outset of the client/counselor relationship opposed to the initial meeting. Keywords: group session, confidentiality, ethics, disclosure, legal, ACA Protecting Clients from Harm through Ethical Codes, Informed Consent and Confidentiality ...
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...Assessment Task 2 Research and ethical application (Case Vignettes) Case 1: Kevin 1. The ethical standard or principle, legislation and provide reference/s Australian Counselling Association - Code of Ethics and Practice 3.4 Confidentiality (a) Confidentiality is a means 3.6 Exceptional Circumstances (a) Exceptional circumstances may arise which give the counsellor goof grounds for believing that serious harm may occur to the client or to other people. In such circumstance the client’s consent to change in the agreement about confidentiality should be sought whenever possible unless there are also goof grounds for believing the client is no longer willing or able to take responsibility for his actions. Normally, the decision to break confidentiality should be discussed with the client and should be mad eonly after consultation with the counselling supervisor or if he/she not available, an experienced counsellor. (b) Any disclosure of confidential information should be restricted to relevant information, conveyed only to appropriate people and for appropriate reasons likely to alleviate the exceptional circumstances. The ethical considerations include achieving a balance between acting in the best interests of the client and the counsellor’s responsibilities under the law and to the wider community. (c) While counsellors hold different views about grounds for breaking confidentiality, such as potential self-harm, suicide, and harm to others they must also consider...
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...Abstract Introduction Ethics in therapy is currently a hot topic in the counseling realm. Especially ethics as they relate to group therapy. Group therapy is a common form of therapy utilized by many counselors. This type of therapy encompasses an entirely different set of ethics than that of individual counseling. There are numerous reasons for why a counselor may elect to use group therapy rather than individual therapy. The American Counseling Association (ACA) has developed a code of ethics for the counseling professional in order to provided a universal guideline for all counselor to abide by. Within the code of ethics provided by the ACA are codes that cover areas of the counseling relationship, confidentiality and privacy, professional responsibility, relationships with other professionals, evaluation, assessment, and interpretation, supervision, training, and teaching, research and publication, distance counseling, technology, and social media. All of these areas are further divided into subcategories in order to include all aspects ethics in the counseling relationship. Each of these sections provided by the ACA are important to a counselor practicing in a group setting, however, not all of these areas are applicable to the group counselor. Ethical Issues Unique to Group Therapy Group counseling offers many relationships, in order to assist an individual in growth and problem-solving. During a group therapy session members are encouraged to discuss...
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...involve aspects of social control and change vis-a-vis less powerful clients (Osmo & Landau, 2006). Ethics deals with the rightness or wrongness of human actions (Dolgoff, Harrington & Loewenberg, 2012) and ethical complications occur when we consider the general societal context and that of the agency as well as social workers professional and personal values (Osmo & Landau, 2006). Ethical complications become ethical dilemmas for social workers when a predicament occurs in situations in which the social worker must choose between two or more relevant, but contradictory ethical directives or when every alternative result in an undesirable outcome for one or more persons (Dolgoff et al, 2012)....
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...“Ethical dilemmas, also known as a moral dilemmas, are situations in which there is a choice to be made between two options, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable fashion” (Your Dictionary, 2001). The ethical dilemma I’m choosing is breach of client confidentiality in terms of child abuse. Dilemmas around child abuse arise when the principle of confidentiality is in conflict with other ethical principles. The confidentiality principle may be in conflict when a client (child) is being harmed and neglected. The assumption is that social workers should always protect client confidentiality, unless there is a reason to do otherwise. However, in many cases social workers are likely to disagree if the circumstances rise to the level required for disclosure of confidential information without client consent or if they don’t. Social workers need to remember three specific conditions when dealing with an ethical dilemma and deciding what course of action to take: • “The first condition occurs in situations when an individual must make a decision about which course of action is best” (The New Social Worker (2014)). In the case of child abuse the social worker must consider all of the factors in the case to determine which course of action is best for the client in a particular situation. The social worker need to know the type of abuse, how severe the situation is, and requirements under law to follow. • “The second condition for ethical dilemma is that there...
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...address the topic of ethics in group counseling. This author will define what group ethics is according to the psychological organizations such as the American Counseling Association (ACA), and the Association of Specialist in Group Work (ASGW). This author will also address what the American Association of Christian Counselor (AACC) has to say about the ethical standards for Christian Counseling. To effectively practice ethically group therapy a counselor needs to internalize the morals, values, and behavioral makeup of each individual within the group. This paper will also look at the comparison between group and individual psychotherapy and why a counselor will choose between the two. The group processes in both individual and group psychotherapy are a positive catalyst for personal growth within the individual psyche. Whereas group therapy tends to address interactional and interpersonal, individual therapy usually looks at the intra-psychic. Group therapy has been proven to have effective treatment benefits in the treatment with various psychological and personal problems. The final section will address the ethical challenges this author may face and her biblical perspective in counseling, her personal leadership qualities and her personal approach to group counseling. Counseling in our society has gone through multiple changes in the recent years. More individuals are looking into receiving support and guidance in the way of group counseling. Due to the increase...
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...Approaches to Ethical Dilemmas Chad Culhane BSHS 335 November 17, 2014 Erick Shear Approaches to Ethical Dilemmas The human service field encompasses a variety of societal issues, where the professionals are educated and trained to treat their clients with respect. They conduct their work according to the ethical standards suited for their accompanying agency, which is necessary due to the sensitive nature of social work. The majority of the cases social workers handle stem from individuals who have trouble caring for themselves and or the loved ones around them, so they seek assistance to deal with the specific issues they face. Going forward, we will examine the case of Shandra, a senior in her final semester of the Health Information Management (HIM) program. She has accepted a position as part of her Professional Practice Experience at St. James Medical Center in the HIM department, where her fiancé is the Assistant Director of Respiratory Therapy at the same hospital. The conflict of interest this situation imposes on the professionals is the first red flag of this case study. We later learn that there was a rumor going around the medical center that the Director of Respiratory Therapy had developed a malignant condition in the brain. Shandra’s fiancé is next in line for this position so she took it upon herself to pull up the director’s health chart and found out that the rumors were true, a blatant violation of the ethical standards set by the American...
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...Ethics is the moral principle that governs an individual’s or group's behavior. Everyday nurses encounter challenging ethical dilemmas in providing care for their patients. Some of the challenging dilemmas include providing care that will prolong life but decrease quality of life, euthanasia, whether to break confidentiality to provide care for a patient, stem cell research, etc. Currently, ethical decisions in the nursing profession and health care are becoming more complex. Due to this change nurses today require advanced problem solving ability and critical thinking skills to deal with ethical issues. Patient’s lives can be greatly affected by the decisions healthcare members make pertaining to their care. Decisions involving ethics can create situations in which parties disagree with one another on the plan of care. Emotions and interpersonal relationships are factors that interfere with a nurses’ ability to make clear decision related to their patients during these difficult situations. Developing an advanced nursing problem solving skills and critical thinking skills will allow nurses to be the best patient advocate. (Hodgson, Mendenhall, & Lamson, 2013) In this paper I will discuss a situation that reveals how the different types of healthcare ethics could change the overall outcome of the situation. Importance of Ethical Theory to Nursing Utilitarianism/Consequentialism: In ethics utilitarianism is a theory that states the rightness or wrongness of a decision or...
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...Ethics Paper Abstract In today’s society there are many health care professionals who have to conduct group sessions. It is imperative that for the safety of every client and therapist that a thorough training in ethical standards are established. In laying the foundation for ethical standards it is essential to establish boundaries for what exactly constitutes group work. Many people within group therapies will have different ideas and opinions based upon their own interpretation, morals, beliefs, cultural influences, and personal experiences. Within a group session there is a high standard of ethical behavior to protect the members of the group, the facilitators and anyone else involved in the group dynamics. This essay will provide information about how group sessions are conducted, common ethical issues within group therapy and how these issues compare to those from individual counseling. Ethics in Groups Introduction According to Kemp (2010) therapeutic communities consist of having qualities of belonging, governance, communication, interdependence and participation and are known as groups or group counseling. Within group sessions there is a common issue that each individual are coping with. The group is encouraged by the leader to express themselves and give feedback. Each person in the group, including the leader, are to provide new ways of behaving and to tackle issues that an individual presents in a session and provide one another with an opportunity...
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...Ethical Issues in Group Counseling Introduction Group counseling offers multiple relationships to assist an individual in growth and problem solving. Groups are an excellent treatment choice for numerous intrapersonal and interpersonal issues, and in helping people to change. Groups provide a sense of community to its members allowing them to see that they are not alone. In group therapy sessions, members are encouraged to discuss the issues that brought them to therapy openly and honestly. It is the responsibility of the counselor to work to create an atmosphere of trust and acceptance that encourages members to support one another. This atmosphere is developed and maintained from the initial intake of a client to the close of group. Many ethical dilemmas and questions arise for group therapists, a few of which will be addressed here: group work with diverse populations; rights of clients, informed consent and confidentiality; and involuntary clients. Description of Topic More recently group therapy has been widely used in the mental health field. There is a natural power in a therapeutic group that helps to bring about personal change for group members (Corey, Corey & Corey, 2010). Groups are designed to remediate specific problems or even prevent problems. It is the responsibility of the group leader, or counselor, to consciously acknowledge human diversity in society and the group setting. If a therapist ignores basic differences in people, they are not doing...
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...Ethical dilemmas that pull us in different and often irreconcilable directions are a part of professional life as therapists. With a true dilemma there is probably no right answer, yet we still need to decide what to do or not do and commit ourselves to the decision bearing in mind our ethical and professional responsibilities. The following vignette shows how I responded to an ethical dilemma in my clinical practice as a trainee person centred psychotherapist. I chose this dilemma as it highlights the issue of boundary lines as a crucial aspect of effective and safe client-counsellor relationships. I run as a regular pastime with my local running club which is held on a mid week evening. My partner and I arrived at the club and bumbped into one of my clients, whom I had been counselling for two months. He had come to counselling as he had difficulty in forming personal relationships and was feeling lonely and depressed. The following day my client sent an email inviting my partner and I for dinner, suggesting we became friends. I considered the overlapping therapy and non-therapy contact to be problematic as it would involve entering a dual relationship with my client. Gabriel (2001) offers a definition which distinguishes between non-therapy and therapy contact by suggesting that a dual relationship occurs when: “a one-to-one contracted therapy relationship between an individual in the role of ‘client’ and one in the role of ‘therapist’ overlaps into a non-therapy...
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...in Group and Individual Sessions Liberty University Abstract In today’s culture more individuals are beginning to look for leadership and/or help with individual problems or concerns from therapists. This paper will compare therapy with a group vs. therapy in an individual session. Looking at the possible barriers and or challenges being therapists may possibly experience throughout the sessions they are facilitating. The paper will discuss the efficiency as well as the inefficiency of both group and individual therapy. It is very imperative for therapists to apply moral ethics in their practice. Study from several academic periodicals, trainings and textbook understandings are noted features for this paper. Groups The implementations of ethics in counseling is not to micromanage and/or try to inform someone of how to do their job, it is provided in order to help counselors and other professionals maintain standards within the profession one is in and it is the standard of behavior or action in relation to others. “A code of ethics for most professional organizations or associations is designed to articulate the standards of practice for a group of people.” (Kocet, 2006). Although ethics have many definitions, they are all intertwined to state the same meaning. According to Jacobs (2012), “Most ethical problems and situations deal with therapy and growth groups, although...
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