Group CLS 6805.01 Dr. Hollingshead

Week One

Agenda

• Introductions– Expectations & Goals Questionnaire

• Syllabus• Chapters 1- 3• Create Experiential Groups• Group Discussion

Course Competencies

• Defining the origins of group guidance, group counseling, and psychotherapy, including the leaders and time frames

• Applying appropriate clinical interventions with selected clinical, educational, business, and/or community populations

• Applying selected models of consultation to help groups or organizations to change

• Evaluating ethical and professional guidelines for professional group leaders

• Selecting therapeutic responses when working with cultural diversity among group members

Course Competencies

• Applying group dynamics and processes• Selecting appropriate interventions for members who

present common patterns such as fear, anger, and/or violence

• Demonstrating leadership skills in both group maintenance and group facilitation

• Reviewing the nature and scope of research about group counseling and therapy

Introduction• The author’s perspective:

– No single model can provide a comprehensive framework for practice• Eleven approaches to group counseling are

discussed• Each theory has something of unique value to offer

• The book assumes:– Students can begin to acquire a counseling style

tailored to their own personality• The process will take years of reading and practice• Different theories are not “right” or “wrong”• Challenge is to have a basis for integrating aspects

of each of the theories into one’s own personal perspective

Types of Groups

• Counseling Groups• Psychotherapy Groups• Psychoeducational Groups• Task/Work Groups

Counseling Groups

• Preventive and Remedial aims:– Focus may be educational, personal, social,

vocational– Members largely determine content & aims– Involves interpersonal process stressing conscious

thoughts, feelings, & behaviors– Members don’t require extensive personality

reconstruction; tends to be growth orientation– Group leaders facilitate interaction among members;

assist members to establish personal goals

Advantages of Counseling Groups

• Members may achieve personal goals• Provides a natural laboratory in a safe environment• Benefits for specific populations

• Groups for children

• Groups for adolescents

• Groups for college students

• Groups for older people

Psychotherapy Groups

• Focus on remediation, treatment, and personality reconstruction

• Awareness in both past and present• Designed to correct emotional and

behavioral problems• Techniques include inducing regression

to earlier experiences• Tend to be long-term• Clinical or counseling psychologists,

licensed mental health counselors

Psychoeducational Groups

• Contain content themes that provide structure for sessions

• Aim to help members develop specific skills and gain information; short term.

• Examples: social skills training; assertiveness training; stress management; cognitive therapy– Divorce & anger management in schools– HIV/AIDS support group– Domestic violence group

Task/Work Groups

• Center around decision-making and problem-solving– Assist task forces, committees

• Leaders focus on principles of group process to foster reaching work goals– If interpersonal issues within the group are

ignored, cooperation and collaboration will not develop

– guiding principles of warm-up, action, & closure

Diversity Competence

– Entails appreciating and understanding diversity in

culture, ethnicity, race, gender, class, religion, sexual

identity, age, & physical characteristics or limitations

and conceptualizing theories and techniques in a

multicultural context

– Three areas involved in diversity competence:

• Beliefs and attitudes of the group leader

• Knowledge to become an effective leader

• Skills and intervention strategies

Key Characteristics

• Key personal characteristics of the effective group leader– Presence– Personal power– Courage– Willingness to challenge oneself– Authenticity– Sense of identity– Inventiveness and creativity– What other characteristics do you deem

essential?

Issues For Beginning Group Leaders

• Anxiety– Self awareness

• Self-disclosure– Too little– Too much

• Challenges of working in a system– Institutional demands and policies– Cost– Inadequate training

Group Leadership Skills

• Active listening, restating, and clarifying

• Summarizing• Questioning• Interpreting• Confronting• Reflecting feelings• Empathizing and

supporting• Facilitating• Linking

• Initiating• Setting goals• Evaluating• Giving feedback• Suggesting• Protecting• Disclosing• Modeling• Linking• Blocking• Terminating

Skills for Opening & Closing Groups

• Procedures for opening a group session– Have members briefly check in– Link sessions– Be attentive to unresolved issues from prior sessions– Create an agenda

• Procedures for closing a group session– Encourage members to identify what they learned,

how they perceived the session, summarize the group process & progress toward their goals

– Members may want to identify topics for next session– Group leaders may express their own reactions to

session

Multicultural Counseling

• Become aware of your biases and values• Attempt to understand the world from the member’s

vantage point• Gain knowledge about the dynamics of oppression,

racism, discrimination, and stereotyping• Study the traditions and values of the members of your

group• Learn general knowledge, but avoid stereotyping• Be open to learning from your members• Recognize that diversity can enhance the group process

Ethical Issues in Group Work

• Rights of group participants• Psychological risks in groups• Socializing among group members• Ethics of group leader’s actions• Impact of leader’s values on the group• Issues in multicultural group counseling• Uses and misuses of group techniques• Group leader competence• Liability and malpractice

Rights of Group Members

• Informed consent– Pregroup disclosures – appropriateness, information, purpose,

ground rules, psychological risks, rights and responsibilities– Rights during group – expectations, assistance, reasonable

safeguards to minimize risks, confidentiality, dignity, respect

• Involuntary groups – Informed consent– Enlist cooperation

• Freedom to leave a group• Freedom from coercion• Right to confidentiality

– Exceptions – harm to self or others, issue in a court action– With minors – in schools

Psychological Risks in Groups

• Types of risks– Life changes that cause disruptions– Hostile and destructive confrontations– Scapegoating– Harmful socializing among members

• Ways of reducing risks– Know members’ limits– Respect their requests– Invitational style vs. dictatorial style– Describe behavior rather than judging

Other Ethical Issues

• Group leader’s actions– Awareness of and conformity to ethical standards

• Group leader’s values– Imposing vs. exposing values

• Socializing among group members– Positive or negative

• Multicultural ethics– Awareness of cultural values and how they can

influence group processes and dynamics– Transcend cultural encapsulation– Avoid imposing worldview on members

Using Group Techniques

• Principles for using group techniques effectively– Have a rationale for technique– Avoid misusing techniques to influence members in

a direction– Techniques are best used to highlight material

members bring up– Techniques are for helping members acquire self-

understanding– Modify certain techniques based on cultural

background of a member– Techniques are invitational—they can be a

collaborative effort between leader and member

Group Leader Competence

• Determine level of competence– Training in use of technique– Theoretical and therapeutic rationale– Experience technique as member of group– Continuing education

• Professional training standards– Core knowledge & skill competencies– Specialized training

• Adjuncts to training of group counselors– Participation in personal counseling– Participation in group– Participation in experiential training workshops

Liability and Malpractice

• Be aware of local, state laws & institutional policies• Screen & prepare group members• Develop written informed consent procedures –

confidentiality, etc.• Have adequate training • Consult with colleagues when warranted• P. 68 for other guidelines• Become familiar with the Professional Standards for

Training of Group Workers (Association for Specialists in Group Work) (ASGW, 2000) http://www.asgw.org/training_standards.htm