Ethics Paper: Ethical Issues Unique to Group Therapy, Managing Complex Personal Behaviors - Alcoholism, Managing Group Social Power, Transference (Research Paper Sample)

Ethics Paper
Name
Institutional Affiliation Introduction
Ethics is a cross-cutting issue that touches human life in all aspects. In the field of counseling, psychiatrists are expected to adhere to stipulated codes of ethics while offering therapeutic services to their clients. It is notable that there are two modes of counseling procedures: individual therapy and group therapy. In individual therapy, a counselor serves a single client per session. However, in group therapy, one or more therapists attend to several patients in a single set up and at the same time to offer psychiatric care services. The rationale behind this approach is that despite a possibility that patients involved might have varying topics, they have the same reason for joining the therapy group (Klontz, 2004). The primary objective for any patient is to enhance their personal growth. Group therapy is also observed to be more flexible as practitioners involved can provide services to a higher number of patients while the subjects enjoy a distinct learning advantage.
However, the different traits that make group therapy a dynamic medium for addressing patients personal need also create a higher ethical risk concerning this mode. A general dissatisfaction is observed regarding setbacks in ethical standards arising from group therapy. Due to various ethical dilemmas experienced in group therapy, resulting issues are more complex compared to individual therapy (Travaglini, Treadwell, & Reisch, 2012). As a result, identifying and addressing potential areas of concern is paramount to all therapist bodies. This requires a close examination of all the unique factors and dynamics that are prevalent in group therapies. This paper examines ethical issues unique to group therapy before comparing them with those prevailing in individual counseling. Also, the paper provides reasons supported with facts on why a therapist would prefer group therapy to individual counseling.
Ethical Issues Unique to Group Therapy
Compromise of Personal Interest
Individual patients who form a group therapy usually have different problems that require psychiatric care. However, to ensure that the primary objectives of a group are achieved, therapists often find themselves in a situation whereby individual interests must be compromised. In this regard, evaluating issues related to beneficence and nonmalfeasance that touches individual and the entire group usually lead to ethical dilemmas. The psychiatrist has to establish a fragile balance of help and dissatisfaction among people and other group members (Doughtery, 1992). For instance, a therapist may find him/herself in a scenario where the response to the emotional demands of an individual member is postponed to serve other members. A rule of thumb is to assess the benefits and liabilities regarding the decision in hand from both individual and group perspectives. Managing the pace and intensity related to emotional issues to ensure uniform positive results remain an ethical issue unique to group therapy.
Confidentiality
Maintaining confidentiality in group therapy is always prone to jeopardy (Mangione, Licsw, & Iacuzzi, 2007). Since group therapy is social in nature, there is always a higher risk of private information to leak. The situation is worsened in case every group member has an individual session to attend which is headed by the same therapist. In the counseling field, confidentiality refers to a legal obligation of revealing private information regarding patient’s treatment. As a result, there is an urge to stipulate roles and duties of every party involved in a group therapy as well as confidentiality limits. Moreover, it is also important to educate group members on the possible dilemma regarding confidentiality and how to safeguard personal and other members’ privacy. Rules to guard privacy in group therapy also need to be set up with sanctions and punishments for perpetrators elaborated.
Managing Complex Personal Behaviors: Alcoholism
Some of the conditions that require psychiatric care are so complicated, especially in a group therapy setting. They hinder a meaningful interaction among group members making hard to a have a serene environment. A good example of a complex patient’s condition is alcoholism. Clients suffering from alcohol problems are observed to be reluctant to deal with while they are in a group therapy (Michael, 1989). The tendency to uptake alcohol encourages individuals to disregard the honest problem-solving approaches. Having a meaningful communication with group members who are alcoholic is also a challenging as the majority of them tends to be skeptical. Based on expectancy theory, alcoholics tend to have fake positive expectations regarding alcohol such as more confidence, optimism among others (Crespi, 2009). Changing such perspectives in an individual therapy is easier compared to a group therapy. Since it is easier for alcoholics to influence their peers, alcoholism remains an ethical issue in a group therapy setting.
Dependence
Dependence is one of the controversial ethical issues in the field of psychotherapy. Patients tend to develop a notion of having a parent/child relationship with the therapists rather a helper guide/helper relationship. Development of a dependence tendency is preferred by some psychiatrists as it strengthens the therapeutic bond and makes transference easy where necessary. In a group therapy set up, a sense of dependency can be lethal as it derails a sense of direction among the members (Haen & Weil, 2010). The group cohesiveness and interpersonal interactions might also be at stake. In this regard, it is important to have an open discussion with all members involved in a group concerning shortcomings of dependence traits in a group. The group leader should address the issue both in an individual and collective manner to ensure that members understand the seriousness of the subject.
Managing Group Social Power
The aspect of social power prevalent in the group therapy makes it more efficient compared to individual counseling. However, social power has been observed to be detrimental towards some individual members if it’s not well monitored. Extreme social pressure is considered harmful, especially where members are forced to conform to the established norms of a group. Such pressures negatively affect individuals in the group to make sound and rational decisions. In this regards, it is group leaders’ obligation to ensure there is a moderate group pressure towards members, thus enhancing the effectiveness of therapeutic care while diluting potential harms (Childs, 2001). It is notable that some member's potential increases while subjected to pressure. However, it is advisable for the therapist to ensure that members are not overwhelmed. Open communication should be encouraged where clients are free to ask for help in a scenario where group pressures appear threatening.
Transference
The process of transference can complicate therapeutic group treatment. Since transference is a vital process in psychotherapy field, it is advisable for the group therapists to ensure that the whole exercise is done in a careful manner. As an ethical issue, the resulting concepts highly determine the success of the entire therapy process. From a group perspective, transference may alter the relationship between the clients and the treatment at an individual level. A rule of thumb is to ensure that all clients in group therapy are treated equally while personal objectives are still taken care of (Gershon & Rodriguez, 2013). Treating some members as special creates a competitive environment within the group. As a result, the approach taken by the therapist to address the issue highly manifests his/her competency.
Possessing Traits of an Ethical Leader
In individual therapy, only a single therapist is involved who assumes all leadership the roles. However, in group therapy, numerous therapists may be involved, thus, there must be a leader who oversees the entire process. While it is possible for any person to be a leader in a group therapy, the selected individual must possess unique ethical traits to lead the group in an efficient manner. According to Corey, Corey & Callan (2007), a moral leader in group therapy must possess the characters of agreeableness and conscientiousness. This trait enables the administrator to assess risk and benefit regarding compromises to ensure that the primary objectives of a group are attained. Apart from the usual prerequisite leadership qualities, the group leader must also have empathy for the clients.
A Comparison of Ethical Issues Unique to Individual and Group Studies
Offering therapeutic care in an individual makes it easy for the psychotherapist to understand the requirements and personal objectives of a client. The sense of mutual understanding between the client and the therapist makes it easy to alter personal interests of the patients without detailed consultation. On the other hand, group therapy involves individuals who seek objectives that are related. However, there is a higher chance member’s whose personal goals do not match. In this context, compromising private interests becomes the only option for the group to realize the projected outcomes. To achieve uniform positive results for every group, the group leader must strike a balance between benefits and possible risks before altering interests of individual members (Gershon & Rodriguez, 2013). In other words, the procedure for compromising individual members’ interests in individual therapy is easy compared to group therapy.
Maintaining confidentiality is paramount either to the person or group therapy. From personal therapy perspectives, information regarding the clients' condition and his/her progress is shared only between the therapist and the...