Group counseling strategies and skills chapter 4

Screening By Referral SourcesScreening By Using a Comprehensive Group Program Screening After The Group Has Begun Screening is essential because not... By doing this, the leader thinks t

This should be carefully thought out

Screening By Referral Sources

Screening By Using a Comprehensive

Group Program

Screening After The Group Has Begun

Screening is essential because not

Big Picture Planning

Big picture planning entails considering all

possible topics that need to be covered

and all possible topics that could be

covered

By doing this, the leader thinks through

the purpose and the topics to be covered

and how the group may evolve over the

life of the group

When planning a session, the leader should

always consider the stage of the group.

Plan the Format For the Session

– Some groups have the same format each session

– Some groups have a varied format

Anticipate Problems When Planning

– Members not following through on outside activities

– Members being absent

– Unanticipated issues arising in the group

Phases of the Session

Every group has 3 phases:

The Beginning or Warm-up Phase

Middle or Working Phase

– Make sure it is not too long

they want to bring up.

introducing a new member

Don’t let this dominate let the new member come

up to speed

Focus mainly on the old members

warm-up is high energy to get members

excited, or medium energy.

The Middle or Working Phase

Planning the middle phase is important since

this is when groups do meaningful and lasting work Planning this phase depends on the

kind of group and the makeup of members.

counseling or therapy

education

support

task exploration and resolution

values exploration/personal growth

The Closing Phase

A common mistake is to not plan the closing

of a session A closing should:

highlight or summarize issues or

information

allow leader to check for confusion or

unfinished business

enhance members’ commitment to the

purpose of the group

Give extra thought to the closing phase of the

first and last session, especially with

counseling/therapy groups, personal growth

groups, and support groups.

When closing a first session-watch for:

Goals of closing final session:

1. Hearing from individual members

regarding the overall group experience

2. Strengthening decisions, commitments,

and/or behavior changes

3. Feedback of members to the leader

4. Feedback of members to each other

age of children, why they came to the group).

(stress that it is mainly an educational and

support group and not a therapy group) Have

members share their needs and any fears or

questions about the group Have them share

cultural differences (Sandwich in the group

rules of confidentiality, attendance, no attacking

Brief Sentence completion

This activity provides material with which to

answers in large group (use their

examples in discussion below).

child behavior (use charts and handouts)

All behavior is purposeful.

Children are not bad—they are discouraged.

Four goals of misbehavior.

groups of three their thoughts about the

Adlerian principles

continue overview of principles: Parent’s

reaction to each of the four goals of

children and how parents may handle situations

differently.

group, one thing they plan to do differently.

Hand out reading material Remind them of next meeting time

Planning Too Much

Irrelevant or Meaningless Content

Not Allowing Enough Time For the Group

to Have Any Significant Meaning

Too Many Exercises

Poor Planning of Time

Poor Planning of Order

Not Planning an Interesting Beginning

Allowing Too Much Time for Warm-Up

Not Allowing Enough Time for Warm-Up

Have a back-up plan in mind in case

things don’t go as expected

Be flexible during a session Do not

become a slave to the plan

Stick to the plan unless something comes

up that is equal to or better than what you