Question

Barbara is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) working for a nonprofit social service agency. Many of the clients in the agency are female domestic violence victims. The director of the agency has asked Barbara to develop a counseling group to serve the needs of these individuals.

Question One: What ethical matters should Barbara consider as she plans this group?

Question Two: What methods should Barbara use to ensure confidentiality in the context of group counseling?

Question Three: If breaches of confidentiality occur, how should Barbara manage them?

Answer 1

Barbara should make sure the group is specifically for the particular problem,confidentiality has to be maintained among the members.In a group discussion sometimes there is breach of confidentiality as there are more than one member and it is difficult to maintain it.Barbara has to make sure and explain to the group that confidentiality is important and if there is breach of confidentiality they should be spoken to and if it is still not followed they can be eliminated from the group as it may harm the others.In a group discussion there are often conflicts of ideas and suggestions between the group members that has to be managed.