Screening, informed consent, confidentiality and ethics in groups
Last reviewed September 2026 by Dr. Andrew Wichterman · Aligned to the current NCE blueprint. Valid for exams through June 30, 2027.
AI-narrated overview made with Google NotebookLM. The written lesson below is by Dr. Andrew Wichterman.
The ACA Code has specific standards for group work, and ASGW publishes its own. The exam tests screening, consent, confidentiality, and the leader's duty to protect members.
Try to answer each from memory first, even if you have to guess. Guessing before reading makes the answer stick; reveal only after you have tried.
Screening and selection
The ACA Code, A.9.a, requires counselors to screen prospective group members to the extent possible and to select those whose needs and goals are compatible with the group, who will not impede the process, and whose well-being will not be jeopardized. Screening is usually an individual pre-group interview that also begins informed consent and preparation. Exclusion criteria commonly include acute crisis, active psychosis, severe paranoia, inability to tolerate feedback and, for some groups, active substance intoxication. Preparing members for what to expect improves attendance and outcomes.
Informed consent in groups
Members are told the group's purpose, goals and procedures; the leader's qualifications; the risks, including emotional intensity and the limits of confidentiality; expectations for participation; policies on attendance, fees and outside contact; and their right to leave, with an expectation that leaving is discussed with the group when possible. Members should know that confidentiality cannot be guaranteed because other members are not bound by the Code, and that in many states privilege does not extend to statements made in front of other members.
Confidentiality and its limits
The leader keeps confidentiality and must explain that members are asked but cannot be compelled to. The leader sets norms, revisits confidentiality, and addresses breaches when they occur. Mandated reporting and duty-to-protect obligations apply in groups as elsewhere. In school groups, parents may have legal access to information and minors are told this in advance. Records for group sessions typically note attendance and themes without attributing statements to individuals when possible.
Protecting members from harm
Standard A.9.b: counselors take reasonable precautions to protect members from physical, emotional or psychological trauma. This includes screening, managing problem behaviors, blocking scapegoating and coercion, avoiding pressure to disclose, and monitoring exercises that may overwhelm. Leaders avoid dual relationships with members, do not use groups to meet their own needs, and do not conduct groups beyond their competence. Members who leave early are followed up and referred if needed.
ASGW standards and diversity
ASGW publishes Professional Standards for the Training of Group Workers, which set core knowledge and skills for all group types plus specialization training, with minimum hours of supervised group experience; Best Practice Guidelines organized as planning, performing and processing; and Multicultural and Social Justice Competence Principles for Group Workers. Leaders assess cultural norms around self-disclosure, eye contact, authority and emotional expression, normalize varied participation, and do not read silence or deference as resistance. Structured exercises are most useful early and in psychoeducational groups; overuse can substitute for real process.
Without scrolling up, write everything you remember from this lesson. Then check yourself against the key terms. Recalling the whole lesson once, right after reading it, does more than reading it twice.
Ten more questions from the whole domain, with an explanation after each answer.
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