Group Counseling

Credit :
Suzy Milano-Berrios, Director
sabel Rodriguez-Duncan, Chairperson
Mental Health and Crisis Management Services
1
Group counseling in the United States can be traced
back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, when millions of immigrants moved to
American shores.
Most of these immigrants settled in large cities, and
organizations such as Hull House in Chicago were
founded to assist them adjust to life in the United
States. Known as settlement houses, these agencies
helped immigrant groups lobby for better housing,
working conditions, and recreational facilities.
These early social work groups valued group
participation, the democratic process, and personal
growth.




History: Did you Know?
2
Some early psychoanalysts, especially
Alfred Adler, a student of Sigmund Freud,
believed that many individual problems
were social in origin. In the 1930s Adler
encouraged his patients to meet in groups
to provide mutual support.
At around the same time, social work
groups began forming in mental hospitals,
child guidance clinics, prisons, and public
assistance agencies.



Origins in Social Work
3
Group counseling offers multiple
relationships to assist an individual in
growth and problem solving. In group
counseling sessions, members are
encouraged to discuss the issues that
brought them into counseling openly and
honestly. The facilitator works to create an
atmosphere of trust and acceptance that
encourages members to support one
another.



Why Choose Group
Counseling?
4
Unlike the simple two-person relationship
found in individual counseling, group
counseling offers multiple relationships to
assist the individual in growth and problem
solving.
Counseling groups exist to help individuals
grow emotionally and solve personal
problems. All utilize the power of the
group, as well as the facilitator who leads
it, in this process.





Why Choose Group
Counseling?
5
Therapeutic Change
Dr. Irvin D. Yalom, Psychiatrist,
identified 11 "curative factors" that are
the "primary agents of change" in group
therapy.


Curative Factors: Benefits
1. Instillation of hope
2. Universality
3. Imparting of information
4. Altruism
5. Corrective Recapitulation of
Primary Family
6. Improved Social Skills
7. Imitative Behavior
8. Interpersonal learning
9. Group Cohesiveness
10. Catharsis
11. Existential Factors
Conduct a needs assessment.
Tell students about the group. One way to do
this is to mention the group(s) in classrooms.
Inform Administrators and Teachers
Obtain Parent /Guardian consent. (Passive
Consent)
Screen potential group members.
Select group members.
Use an evaluation procedure that will
demonstrate the effectiveness of the group.
Group Counseling in Schools
8
I need to facilitate a group for my
IPEGS Goal
If I facilitate a group, I can see more
students at one time with the same
problem.
Rationale for Group Counseling:
What to Avoid
9
Individuals that share a common problem
or concern are often good candidates for
group counseling, where they can share
their mutual struggles and feelings.
In schools, groups for students who have
or are currently experiencing their parents
divorce, grief/loss, social skills deficiencies
Consider the age, grade level, gender,




Group Membership
10
Children who are suicidal or who have a
psychiatric diagnosis that indicates a need for
therapy, or are in the midst of a major life
crisis are not typically placed in group
counseling until their behavior and emotional
states have stabilized.
People with severe cognitive impairments
may also be poor candidates for group
counseling, as are patients with sociopathic
traits, who show little ability to empathize with
others.

Group Membership
Not Recommended
11
Siblings or relatives should not be in the
same group.
Children who habitually lie or steal
Children who are victims of abuse
Children who are so different from the others
that they may not be accepted
Children who are extremely aggressive
Group Membership
Not Recommended
12
Some students may participate in both
individual counseling and group counseling
Before a student begins group counseling,
the facilitator should interview them to
ensure a good fit between their needs and
the group's.
The student should be given preliminary
information before sessions begin, such as
guidelines and ground rules, and
information about the problem on which the
group is focused.



Forming the Group
13
Therapy groups may be homogeneous or
heterogeneous.
Homogeneous groups have members with
similar presenting issues (for example, they
may all have parents who are divorced).
Heterogeneous groups contain a mix of
individuals with different presenting issues
The number of group members typically
ranges from five to 10.



Group Construction
14
15
The number of group counseling sessions
depends upon the group's makeup, goals, and
setting.
Some are time limited, with a predetermined
number of sessions known to all members at the
beginning.
Others are indeterminate, and the group and/or
counselor determines when the group is ready to
disband.
Membership may be closed or open to new
members.
Plan for the group: one fun exercise and one
structured activity




Group Basics
16
Groups for prevention may be strictly
informational, concerned with providing
information on subjects timely to adolescents
such as peer pressure or decision-making.
Or, they may be designed to help students
improve their coping skills though such
techniques as problem-solving or the
reframing of situations.

Prevention Groups
17
OBJECTIVES
Analyze how to make new friends
Identify important qualities of a friend
Understand common friendship problems
Learn how to manage conflicts
Develop a plan to improve friendships

FRIENDSHIP

18

OBJECTIVES
Learn dangers of drugs and alcohol
Understand and utilize the problem solving
model
Learn refusal skills
Identify ways to have fun and keep friends
while staying out of trouble
Develop a plan to handle peer pressure
DRUG AND ALCOHOL
PREVENTION
19
Groups concerned with specific problems and their
resolution.
Grief / Loss
Parental Divorce / Separation
Social Skills
Anger (selectively)
Attendance (selectively)
LGBT Support (selectively)
NOT Appropriate: Eating Disorders, Self Injury,
Bullying, and others that require the behavior for
group membership

Intervention Groups
20
OBJECTIVES
Express feelings about loss
Learn five stages of grief (denial, anger,
bargaining, depression, acceptance)
Discuss happy memories
Identify ways to handle stress and loss

Grief / Loss

21
OBJECTIVES
Express feelings about changing family
Understand that divorce/separation is not
childs fault
Identify common problems associated with
divorce/separation
Understand positive ways family and
group members can help in adjustment

Family Groups
(Divorce/Separation)

22
OBJECTIVES
Identify factors that cause anger
Understand the consequences of irrational
behavior when angry
Examine why some situations make
everyone mad and others do not
Identify different anger reduction
techniques
Anger
23
OBJECTIVES
Identify feelings and appropriately express
them
Learn Win/Win resolutions
Speak clearly
Understand others point of view (be
empathic)
Learn how to talk out conflicts

Managing Conflicts

24
Students are encouraged to discuss the
issues that brought them into the group
openly and honestly. Physical and Emotional
Safety
The Counselor / Facilitator works to create an
atmosphere of trust and acceptance that
encourages members to support one another.
Ground rules must be set at the beginning,
such as maintaining confidentiality of group
discussions, showing respect for each other,
taking turns talking, etc. (Students assist in
creating rules)




Getting Started
25
26
The Counselor facilitates the group process;
the effective functioning of the group, and
guides individuals in self-discovery.
Depending upon the group's goals, sessions
may be either highly structured or fluid and
relatively undirected.
Typically, the facilitator steers a middle
course, providing direction when the group
gets off track, yet letting members set their
own agenda.
Role of the Facilitator
27
The facilitator should guide the group by
reinforcing the positive behaviors they
engage in. For example, if one student
shows empathy and supportive listening to
another, the facilitator should compliment
them and explain the value of that
behavior to the group.
The facilitator should emphasize the
commonalities among members during
each session to instill a sense of group
identity.



Role of the Facilitator
28
Facilitator Tasks and
Techniques
Careful Planning
Selection
Group Composition
Creation of Group
Careful Observation of Group Process
Formative Stages
Subgrouping
Conflict
Self-disclosure
Termination
Problem Behaviors

Formative Group Stages
I. The Initial Stage:
Orientation, Hesitant Participation, Search for
Meaning, Dependency
II. The Second Stage:
Conflict, Dominance, Rebellion
III. The Third Stage:
Development of Cohesion
IV. The Fourth Stage:
Termination/Transparency
Subgrouping
Fractionalization - splitting off of smaller
units
extra group socialization - cliques of 3-4;
two become sexually involved;
coalitions form within the group
Inevitable often disruptive event in life of
group
If used properly may further work of group
conspiracy of silence
Conflict
Inevitable; absence suggests impairment of
developmental sequence
Two step process includes:
1) experience (affect expression);
2) understanding of that experience


Can control conflict by having members switch
from 1 to 2 - request group discuss their
experience and understand it can learn to
express anger more directly
Self-Disclosure
Involves some risk on part of discloser
As disclosure proceeds in a group, entire
membership gradually increase its
involvement, responsibility and obligation
to one another.
Facilitator must check-in with students
individually to assess the value of group
participation (difficulty communicating in a
group setting, unable to handle aggressive
/ hostile comments from other members,
On-going assessment of group
participation during the group
Recognize the role of each group member:
leader,
Group Resistance and Drop-Out
34
Termination
Groups terminate for various reasons
brief therapy - preset termination dates
Counselors role is to:
A. keep task in focus for members
B. remind group regularly of the approaching
termination
C. ensure focus on goal attainment prior to
termination
D. share own feelings about separation; real
loss for all
The termination of a group may cause
feelings of grief, loss, abandonment, anger,
or rejection in some members.
The facilitator should attempt to deal with
these feelings and foster a sense of closure
by encouraging the exploration of feelings
and the use of newly acquired coping
techniques for handling them.
Working through this termination phase is an
important part of the process.




Termination
36
37