Ethics and Group Counseling

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A group can be characterized as two or more people who interact and share some common attribute or purpose. For instance, Yakonina, Weigold, & McCarthy. (2011) suggest that group counseling may offer several advantages over individual counseling for an international student. Counseling must be thoughtful and considerate from both an ethical and legal perspective when counseling with a militiaperson group. Washington and Moxley (2003) suggest that the first step in counselor preparation programs should reflect core principles of group counseling (e.g., trust, empathy, and confidence-building). Next, the group therapist should exhibit a range of skills, rationales and ethics.

Patten, Barnett, and Houlihan (1991) note that the American Psychological Association (APA, 1973 as cited in Patten et al., 1991) proposed several supplemental guidelines for marital therapy. While the guidelines are not aimed specifically at family therapy; the guidelines are focused on a different level of intimacy and intensity expressed in relationship among family members (p. 172). In addition, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapist (AAMFT, 2005) set forth ethical guidelines that include: responsibility to clients, competence, integrity, confidentiality, professional responsibility, professional development, research responsibility and social responsibility. According to Latkin (1994), confidentiality is essential is essential to useful exchanges and progress within the therapeutic process. However, Latkin agrees that trust ...