Chapter 9 - Counseling Applications

Chapter 9

Counseling Applications

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Groups

• List as many as you can the types of groups we formally or informally engage in.

• Some may be permanent; others temporary


Group Goals/Approaches

• Psychoanalytic Adlerian • Psychodrama Existential • Person-centered • Gestalt • Transactional • Behavioral Cognitive • Reality – What might be the goal of a group for each?


Psychoeducation Groups

• Growth groups • Offered in schools or other settings, group

leaders attempt to provide relevant information on careers, sex, parenting skills, job possibilities, colleges, and other topics that might be of interest.

• Focus on preventing problems in the future by encouraging developmental growth, aiding the decision-making process, teaching valuable life skills, and providing useful information.


Psychoeducation Groups

• Psychoeducational groups are particularly well-suited for many structured interpretations that facilitate self-awareness and values clarification.

• School, rehabilitation, and substance abuse specialists, in particular, will be called on to lead these types of groups.

• Social issues that may actually help prevent oppression of marginalized individuals within a group, as well as the larger community.


Task Groups

• The exact same skills that make you well prepared to lead therapeutic groups also equip you with the ability to lead any group more effectively.

• Examples: A meeting, town hall discussion, teach in a classroom, consulting or coaching capacity.


Group Basics

• Group counseling is the modality most similar in its goals to those of individual counseling.

• The techniques and strategies are all designed to help resolve interpersonal conflict, promote greater self-awareness and insight, and help individual members work to eliminate their self-defeating behaviors.


Group Basics

• Most often, the clientele have few manifestations of psychopathology; they simply wish to work on personal concerns in daily living.

• Also designed to be rather brief treatments, often focusing on resolving specific problems within a time-limited format.


More Basics

• Group counseling is usually focused in the present rather than on the past. It is relatively short term, spanning a period of weeks or months, and stresses relationship support factors for resolving stated conflicts.


Therapy Groups

• Usually long term in duration. • Supportive themes• Identification of behaviors, challenges,

struggles• Goal is to minimize symptoms• Understand past actions• Support


Self-Help Groups

• Self-help groups often do not have a professionally trained leader.

• use a more experienced member who has hopefully resolved the issues with which others are struggling.


Self-Help Groups

• The purpose of self-help groups is to provide emotional and social support, to develop new ideas about coping with a common issue, and to provide constructive direction for members.

• The membership of self-help groups is open and fluctuates from meeting to meeting.


Self-Help Groups

• Examples of self-help groups might include Alcoholics Anonymous, an eating disorders group, a Heart-Smart group for individuals with cardiac problems, a group for people diagnosed with HIV, and many others on almost any conceivable topic or issue.


Support Groups

• Support groups are closely related to self-help groups; in fact, the terms are sometimes used interchangeably.

• Support groups are often developed and sponsored by professional organizations or professional individuals, and they rely on the resources of the sponsoring organization or individual to a greater extent than self-help groups.


Support Groups

• Examples of support groups might include breast cancer survivors, Parents Anonymous, Parents of Children with Attention Deficit Disorders, and spouse loss/grief groups.


Being A Group Leader

• It is very difficult to learn to be a group leader without logging considerable experience as a member.

• Moreover, it is somewhat hypocritical to expect clients to take risks and share personal concerns when the counselor has been unwilling to do so.

• That is one reason that many training programs provide structured experiences for students to experience the power of groups firsthand, as well as to learn appropriate group behavior.


Advantages of Using Groups

• Cost-Effectiveness• Spectator Effects• Stimulation Value• Opportunity for Feedback• Support• Structured Practice


What To Remember About Groups

• The group leader must understand dynamics and assumptions as they are applied to group behavior.

• Each client comes to the group with different expectations, interests, and goals.



• The most basic assumption about groups, therefore, is that there are often discrepancies among the participants’ hopes and expectations and even between those of the leaders and the members.

• Coalitions are formed on the basis of these common interests and backgrounds and often on the basis of perceived similarities in attitudes, abilities, or attractiveness.



• The leader may be viewed as the “outsider,” as a function of his or her expert role, or possibly as the only “insider,” because the counselor alone really knows what is going on during the beginning sessions.


Stages of A Group

• Forming Stage– Just thinking about the group before it begins– Expectations of group and leader– Screening process


Initial Stage

• Introductions• Purpose of group• Ground rules established• Trust is explored• One-three sessions


Transition Stage

• long silences• demands for leader structure• expressions of discomfort or anxiety• someone acting out as a distraction• prolonged conflict, or even attacks on the

leader (Gladding, 2012).


Transition Stage

• express, and deal with fears• mood of the group changes from one in which

people only pat one another on the back to one in which it is safer to disagree respectfully, confront constructively

• experiment with more freedom and flexibility—that is, all the behaviors needed for the real work to take place.


Working Stage

• When there is good movement from one member to another with almost everyone participating

• When there is less reliance on the leader(s) to direct and structure things

• When individuals are accomplishing their stated goals


Working Stage

• When cohesion, intimacy, and trust are operating at consistently high levels

• When game playing, conflicts, and acting-out behaviors are labeled, confronted, and worked through successfully

• When self-disclosure, constructive risk taking, and sharing are high


Working Stage

• When it appears as if people are making consistent progress in their sensitivity and responsiveness to one another


Closing Stage

• group members assess what they have learned

• discuss plans for change• explore their feelings about the experience• members attempt to resolve unfinished issues

within the group• evaluate the performance of the group• say good-bye and deal with ending issues


How To Know If A Group Is Functioning

• Do members feel safe? Are people supported? Has trust been established to the point where people are willing to take constructive risks?

• To what extent are differences respected and honored? Each group will include a great variety of cultural, value, gender, political, and personal beliefs. Yet there is often pressure to conform to the majority. Are people’s different worldviews respected?



• Have constructive norms been established and clear boundaries enforced? Good groups need rules around appropriate behavior (coming late, missing sessions, interrupting, etc.). People have to know what is expected and they have to count on that the rules will be enforced consistently.



• How is conflict acknowledged and worked through? High-functioning groups do not avoid conflict but seek to deal with the underlying issues. Such disagreements can be helpful if dealt with in therapeutic ways.


More On Functioning Groups

• How are resources shared? Is there reasonable distribution of contributions or are sessions dominated by only a few members? The best groups are those in which everyone feels a part of what is going on.

• How are distractions, digressions, and acting out handled? It is a certainty that some members will say and do things that may not fit with what is going on.



• Chaos will ensue if these behaviors are not redirected. Good leaders know how to redirect the focus in such a way that things remain on task—yet without humiliating the person(s) who need feedback.



• Is there follow-up and follow-through? It is not nearly enough to have a high-functioning session unless it results in some sort of action. It is crucial to follow up on every participant to make sure they are doing what they say they will do, and what they need to do.


Intervention Cues

• Counselor relies heavily on “gut wisdom” but also knows that, when a client becomes self-deprecating or self-deceptive or drifts from reality.

• Group situations contain a virtual overload of stimuli to attend to. The most difficult task is to describe not just how and when to intervene but with whom.

• A leader’s behavior can be at best distracting or at worst destructive if ill timed or inappropriately directed.


Other Issues to Attend To

• Abusive behavior/dialogue• Rambling & digressions• Withdrawal and passivity• Lethargy and Boredom • Sensitivity to language used “I” word


Leadership Skills

• Supporting• Facilitating• Initiating• Setting goals• Giving feedback• Linking • Blocking


Education

Chapter 9 - Counseling Applications