Ethical Issues in Group Work

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Group therapy has become a popular form of therapy lately; it used to be used more as a last option, but now group therapy is often the first or better choice for some clients. Group therapy can be helpful in an assortment of ways. Group counseling has provided constructive results, Corey, Corey, & Callanan (2011) explain some factors that have helped “such as skilled leaders, appropriately referred group members, and defined goals” (p.480). There are many different types of group therapy. I think practitioners should know not only how too effectively handle group therapy if they are doing group work, but if group is the right choice for everyone involved. As with other forms of therapy there are ethical concerns when it comes to group work as well, but there are distinctive ethical issues when it comes to group. There are ethical issues in training and supervision of group leaders, in most programs only one class is offered in group work, others have two or three, but more classes would be further effective for future group work. Even in predoctoral psychology internships there seems to be not enough clinical training. I find it slightly disconcerting that programs don’t offer more courses in group work, because I think it is something that as a future counselor you should be at least basically efficient in. As with most other counseling, a practitioner should be competent in their work and should not work with clients who need specific help in areas they are not experienced in. Practitioners should have focused training in group work to be more proficient group workers. Group workers should also stay current on all new treatments and the like, by taking continued education courses, activities, etc. just like other types of pra... ... middle of paper ... ...e issues with endings, so I would benefit from personal therapy in this instance. It is also good to have follow-ups after therapy is over and can be beneficial to members and clients. In conclusion, I have once again learned new information pertaining to issues and ethics in therapy, but more specifically group work, which prior to reading this chapter I really didn’t know too much about. I really found the idea of co-leadership interesting and all of the various issues when it comes to confidentiality. I had also never thought about the effect of termination without discussion within a group and how this could hurt other group members. I moreover liked the idea of the screening process and ideas to prepare for participants of group. Reference List Corey, G., Corey, M., Callanan, P. (2011).Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole

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