GROUPS PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY, FUNCTION, AND ETHICS Research Paper

GROUPS PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY, FUNCTION, AND ETHICS - Research Paper Example Most importantly, the identity, function, and ethical requirements in group work as a professional and Christian counselor will be given emphasis including Biblical value reviews in ministering small groups which explores God’s truth and how client needs can be met by participating in an intimate group setting. Keywords: group counseling, counseling, group therapy, Christian counselor Introduction Professional group counseling covers multi-faceted perspectives in the psyche life of different types of people. This is considered part of psychology â€Å"in action†. Although group counseling has the guidelines and parameters to follow as provided by a number of books on Group Counseling authored by experts on the fields like G. Corey , S. Venkates, Jacobs, et.al, Corey and Callahan, the code of ethics from the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC), among others, that can guide group counselors or facilitators in t heir conduct of their group counseling, this field of group counseling, is still faced with a number of challenges and issues like multicultural diversity, ethical issues covering confidentiality and dual practice (group and individual counseling) , ACA vs AACC code of ethics, Christian vs secular counseling, etc. These challenges and issues must be addressed accordingly for the practice to proceed and develop in the way it should be. Perhaps, this overview of professional group counseling would provide some enlightenment on gray areas understudy. Thesis Statement This paper seeks to bring herein some evidence or facts regarding selected issues about group counseling like the misinformation and interchanging use of such concepts as guidance, counseling and therapy; the issue on having a secular and a Christian group counselor, â€Å"dual relationship† counseling practice, and how to select a group leader or counselor. These are some areas that this paper will present in the h ope that further enlightenment can be achieved or better conclusions can be derived for future academic research undertakings. An Overview of Group Professional Counseling Early Beginnings Joseph Pratt (1905, applied first formal therapeutic group experience), Alfred Adler (1922, pro-runner of group counseling), and Jacob Moreno (1922, pioneer for group and psycho therapy), Trigant Burrow (1935, psychoanalytic group analysis) and Kurt Lewin (1940, founder of theory based on Gestalt principle) were noted to be the first to use group counseling† (Berg, et.al, 2002). During this stage of counseling field development, clients were seeking social interaction which was often found within groups. Several early counseling groups that you even see today developed through time. Jacobs et.al described these groups based on their own group categories by functionality, as follows: â€Å"a)Education group – provides clients with various information; b) Discussion group– focus es on issues or topics and not on the members personal concern; c)Task group- that which needs to accomplish a task or task-oriented activity ; d) Growth and Experiential group is a group wherein a member wants to be in a group and is motivated to learn more about themselves in a group like T-groups; e) Counseling and Therapy group differs from the growth groups because members come to the group for certain problems; f) Support group- enables members to learn other people’