PCN 501 Grand Canyon Week 6 Discussion 1

What is the importance of confidentiality in a group? How can a counselor ensure confidentiality within and outside of the group format?

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

Importance of confidentiality in a group

Introduction

Confidentiality is an important aspect of a support group. It allows members to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences without judgement or prejudice. When you confide in a support group, you know that the people listening won’t judge or treat you differently because they won’t know what’s going on in your life outside of AA. You also don’t have to worry about sharing personal details with other members because this would only create confusion for everyone involved!

Confidentiality is an important aspect of an addiction support group.

Confidentiality is an important aspect of an addiction support group. It’s important for the group as a whole, and it’s even more important for the individual who is struggling with addiction. Confidentiality also impacts families, communities and society at large; if you or someone you know has been affected by drug or alcohol abuse or addiction, confidentiality can help keep your privacy safe while giving those around you support in their own struggles.

In general terms:

• Confidentiality means keeping secrets from other people (so no one else knows what’s going on). This includes both verbal and nonverbal communication with others in your life (for example: saying “I’m not feeling well” instead of telling everyone about how sick you really are), as well as keeping personal information about yourself (like mental health diagnoses) private from other members in the group itself.*

Confidentiality provides a safe space for you to share your thoughts, feelings and experiences

Confidentiality is important for the group as a whole, and it’s also important to you. This means that you need to be able to trust your peers with your thoughts, feelings and experiences.

You may have been told that confidentiality is something only facilitators should worry about; however, confidentiality isn’t just limited to the person in charge of facilitating their own groups—it’s also important for everyone else involved in the process. For example:

• An individual may feel comfortable sharing certain information with another individual but not with another person who works at the same company (for fear of losing their job).

• A sponsor might know how much money is needed for an upcoming event but not be able to share this information with other sponsors who are helping pay for it (because they’ll lose business from being associated with less-than-stellar events).

When you confide in a support group, you know that the people listening won’t judge or treat you differently.

Confiding in a support group can be difficult, but it’s important for the people listening. You want to know that they will be supportive, and not judge or treat you differently because of what you say. You also want them to respect your privacy—for example, when someone confides their deepest fears about having a child with a disability to the group, it is common for them not only to have their own experience validated by others’ stories but also for this person’s fear of such an event being shared further around so that eventually everyone knows about it.

You don’t have to worry about sharing personal details

You don’t have to worry about sharing personal details

You can talk about things you wouldn’t tell your friends or family. You can talk about things you wouldn’t tell your therapist or doctor, either. And if all else fails, there’s always the option of talking yourself into it: “Oh, what do I care? My therapist has no idea who I am!”

This is good news for everyone—especially those who struggle with their mental health issues. It means that they don’t have to worry about being judged by others (or even themselves) when they share their struggles with others in a group setting; instead of feeling ashamed or anxious, members will feel safe and supported!

Members of support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous rely on confidentiality to create a safe space for sharing their thoughts and experiences.

Support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous rely on confidentiality to create a safe space for sharing their thoughts and experiences. They do this because it is important that members feel safe and comfortable discussing sensitive issues within the group. The facilitator needs to make sure that all members understand what is expected of them when confidentiality is at stake, as well as how they should behave in situations where confidentiality may be compromised (e.g., an outside person walks into the meeting).

The rules for each support group depend on its purpose, membership size and structure; however, there are some commonalities across all settings:

• Members should not talk about anything that happened outside the meeting room while they were not present at the meeting or during any other time when they weren’t fully aware of what was going on around them (e.g., conversations overheard by others in passing conversations). If someone has been drinking alcohol before attending a meeting but does not show signs until after leaving then it would be inappropriate for them discuss those events with anyone else including staff members who might need information from other sources such as police reports etcetera.”

Conclusion

We hope that this article has given you a better understanding of the importance of confidentiality in addiction support groups. We also want to thank you for reading our article and we look forward to hearing from you.