Group Counseling
Ms. Suzy Milano-Berrios, Director
Ms. Isabel Rodriguez-Duncan, Chairperson
Mental Health and Crisis Management Services
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History: Did you Know?
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.
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Origins in Social Work
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.
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Why Choose Group Counseling?
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.
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Why Choose Group Counseling?
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
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process.
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
Group Counseling in Schools
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.
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Rationale for Group Counseling:
What to Avoid
“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.”
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Group Membership
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,
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Group Membership
Not Recommended
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.
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Group Membership
Not Recommended
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
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Forming the Group
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.
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Group Construction
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.
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Group Basics
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
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Prevention Groups
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.
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FRIENDSHIP
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
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DRUG AND ALCOHOL
PREVENTION
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
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Intervention Groups
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
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Grief / Loss
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
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Family Groups (Divorce/Separation)
OBJECTIVES
Express feelings about changing family
Understand that divorce/separation is not
child‟s fault
Identify common problems associated with
divorce/separation
Understand positive ways family and group
members can help in adjustment
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Anger
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
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Managing Conflicts
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
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Getting Started
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)
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Role of the Facilitator
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.
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Role of the Facilitator
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.
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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 it’s
involvement, responsibility and obligation
to one another.
Group Resistance and Drop-Out
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,
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Termination
Groups terminate for various reasons
brief therapy - preset termination dates
Counselor‟s 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
Termination
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.
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