Ethical Aspects of the Group Therapy of Alcoholics

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Abstract
The noting of ethical components in the empathic process at work in the group therapy of alcoholics, described in a previous paper, Empathy in the Group Therapy of alcoholics (Quart. Jour. Stud. Alcohol 15(1): 74-110. 1954) led to this further study. From Jellinek''s Phases of Alcohol Addiction (Quart. Jour. Stud. Alcohol 13: 673-684. 1952) ten phases were adapted to provide a framework within which to interpret the ethical aspects of the group therapy. The sobriety goal is served by the technique of respecting the patient. To respect him is to foster his sobriety, and the therapist''s sobriety as well, if he is also a patient. Similarly, the ethical ideal of respect for the other is served by the technique of sobriety, i.e., the sober person, by his example, can show that he is able to respect the other better as a sober man than as an active alcoholic. The two processes appear to work circularly in the empathic act. Either sobriety or respect for the other is means or end, technique or goal. It is this interplay of the ethical problem with group techniques[long dash]their fusion in the empathic process[long dash]that the present communication as well as the preceding one has tried to some extent to demonstrate. It is thought, also, that this study reveals the . play of ethical problems[long dash]the need to choose, to value, and to act deliberately[long dash]in the recovery process of alcoholics in group therapy. But the value component is noticed not only in the patient''s growing recovery. It is also present in the therapist''s activity and in his classifications.

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