Confidentiality For Groups
Submitted by Icarus Project on Sun, 05/14/2006 - 1:46am
Revealing intimate information makes people vulnerable. Groups build trust when this vulnerability is respected and cared for. Your group should agree to a confidentiality policy and make sure to practice it.
Some options for confidentiality policies are:
General Experience Only: Members may discuss what they and others say and do with people outside the group, but only generally, without any names, details, or clues about the specific people or events. A common policy, used in the NYC Icarus group and Freedom Center: it supports discussion of sensitive topics such as abuse, criminal behavior, and suicide, while allowing participants to take what they learn to the rest of the world.
Personal Experience Only: "What's said here stays here." Participants may discuss what they themselves say and do with people outside the group, but may not talk about, or even allude generally, to what others say or do. This is a more restrictive policy used for groups, such as 12-step groups, that focus specifically on difficult topics such as abuse and addiction.
Full Disclosure: Group participants are free to talk about anything that happened in the group. While common for activist organizations that want to get the word out freely, this approach should be weighed carefully for groups providing mutual emotional support.
Total Non-Disclosure: Anything said or done is not repeated, or even alluded to generally, to anyone outside the group. This can be useful for a closed group focused on a very sensitive topic, where participants want to go very deeply into personal issues over time.
Every group has different needs, so while General Experience Only is the most common support group policy, the group should set its own policy. Make sure to explain the confidentiality policy at the beginning of meetings, perhaps as part of the preamble.
Some options for confidentiality policies are:
General Experience Only: Members may discuss what they and others say and do with people outside the group, but only generally, without any names, details, or clues about the specific people or events. A common policy, used in the NYC Icarus group and Freedom Center: it supports discussion of sensitive topics such as abuse, criminal behavior, and suicide, while allowing participants to take what they learn to the rest of the world.
Personal Experience Only: "What's said here stays here." Participants may discuss what they themselves say and do with people outside the group, but may not talk about, or even allude generally, to what others say or do. This is a more restrictive policy used for groups, such as 12-step groups, that focus specifically on difficult topics such as abuse and addiction.
Full Disclosure: Group participants are free to talk about anything that happened in the group. While common for activist organizations that want to get the word out freely, this approach should be weighed carefully for groups providing mutual emotional support.
Total Non-Disclosure: Anything said or done is not repeated, or even alluded to generally, to anyone outside the group. This can be useful for a closed group focused on a very sensitive topic, where participants want to go very deeply into personal issues over time.
Every group has different needs, so while General Experience Only is the most common support group policy, the group should set its own policy. Make sure to explain the confidentiality policy at the beginning of meetings, perhaps as part of the preamble.
Confidentiality in a Group environment
Even if the policy is confidentiality, what are the percentage odds that someone will break the confidentiality code and talk outside the group with full names included?
Is it ethical for a marriage counselor to disclose last names in a group environment?