Reference no: EM133276723

Case: Mental health agencies across the country have had to be creative to provide support and treatment during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, clinicians have received telehealth training and have offered telehealth options, including group counseling.

One agency that offered "zoom" group counseling was facilitated by two individuals including a masters level intern and a licensed clinical mental health counselor. The group members included women who had been victims of domestic violence. The group members offered support and the purpose of the group was to empower members to engage in healthier relationships. During one session, one member was having a conversation with someone outside the group. The camera was on, however, the sound was muted. The face on the screen depicted fear and possibly anger and what happened next shocked both the members and the facilitators of the group. A hand reached across the screen and started to choke the member, presumably the person who was both listening to the group and arguing with the female member in the room. This went on for less than 10 seconds and then the screen went blank.

The experienced facilitator left the group to attend to the member that was in crisis and left the intern to attend to the remaining members who witnessed the violence. Challenges included:

Finding the member's cell phone number
Verifying their actual location (which was not the address on file)
Following up after police dispatched
Debrief with both members and the member in crisis

Question 1: When forming this group using Zoom, what could you do to proactively establish rules for this group?

Question 2: What can you do at the beginning of each session to check in with members and check on wellness/safety?

Question 3: How can you establish group rules when establishing groups on platforms such as Zoom?