HIPPA is about medical records, only. There's no "record" involved here, no medical information. It was a question, not a giving of information; "Is that what Susie is trying to get you to do?" is about therapist Susie and Okie can answer, "None of your beeswax" if Okie doesn't want this idiot therapist to know Okie's opinion of whether it is what Susie is trying to do. No one except therapist Susie has a "right" to her first name. No mention (that I know of) was made of it being Okie's therapist or connecting it to Okie in that fashion. Who in group knows that Okie even sees an individual therapist?

No one but Okie (and the insensitive therapist dude) knows if "Susie" is the same Susie as the other group leader. Lots of people are/can be named "Susie". It's not like he said, "Susie LastName, Okie's therapist and the other cotherapist of this group who is out sick today and last Tuesday in Okie's individual session was trying to do. . ."

It's potentially insensitive but not a confidentiality violation. I say potentially because I think if a poll were taken of who would mind such a reference in a group setting, "Is that what Susie is trying to do?," wouldn't think anything of it and would say "yes, exactly" or "no, I don't think so" or "I have no idea, you'd have to ask Susie." Since group leader didn't know Okie or Okie him, there's more room for both to make mistakes in getting to know one another and this looks like one of them. But you can't learn about other people without questions and/or mistakes to see where people "are".