Group a counseling specialty 7e pearson by t gladding chapter 16

Practice of Existential Theory in Group  Usually conducted with an emphasis on psychotherapy, counseling, and psychoeducation  During the group process, it is crucial that group member

Chapter 16

Existential, Gestalt, Emotive Behavior Therapy, and Psychodrama GroupsPrepared by: Nathaniel N Ivers, Wake Forest

 Addresses what it means to be human

 Stresses the importance of beliefs, such as values, freedom, and responsibility

 Emphasis placed on discovering meaning

in the midst of everyday life as well as in absurd and tragic events

 Highlights the paradox of living fully in life and increasing awareness of death

Premises of Existential Groups

 People form their lives by their choices

 Human beings are aware of their existence and their own mortality

 Human beings have freedom to make

choices and the freedom of responsibility for what they do (Frankl, 1997)

 People are the authors of their lives and

make their own lives meaningful

Premises of Existential Groups

 People make meaning in their lives in

 Suffering, by finding a proper attitude

toward unalterable fate (Frankl, 2000)

Premises of Existential Groups

 People who do not actively seek meaning

in life choose despair or psychopathology

 Existentialism is the process of evaluating and simultaneously releasing and

incorporating objects and events in life’s quest for meaning

Practice of Existential Theory in

Group

 Usually conducted with an emphasis on

psychotherapy, counseling, and

psychoeducation

 During the group process, it is crucial that group members come to realize their

potential and their responsibilities for

making healthy and self-directed choices

(May, 1983)

Practice of Existential Theory in Group

 Goals of Existential Theory in a Group

 Increase self-awareness

 Increase personal responsibility

 Enhance ability to handle anxiety

 Increase ability to search for meaning

Role of the Existential Group

 Use themselves in as a source of knowledge and a model in regard to human experience

 Are calm in the presence of turmoil

 Discuss the meaning they have experienced

Desired Outcomes of Existential

 Find new meaning in all aspects of their lives

 Become more authentic

 Increase interpersonal responsibility (Yalom &

Josselson, 2011)

Strengths of Existential Groups

 Deal with ultimate issues in life and present their members with opportunities to explore values and lifestyles

 Provide a framework for other forms of group work

 Deal with group members holistically (Lowenstein, 1993)

 Are versatile

 Are applicable to individuals from a wide

range of cultures

Limitations of Existential Groups

 Limited to members who are verbal,

communicative, and unafraid to confront painful issues (Lowenstein, 1993)

 Theory supporting existential groups has limited applicability outside of counseling and psychotherapy settings

 Broadly based and do not generally deal with specific behaviors or concerns

Gestalt Therapy

 Experiential and humanistic approach to change founded by Fritz Perls, along with Laura Perls and Paul Goodman

 Emphasis of theory placed on teaching awareness skills

 Evolved into Gestalt group process

Premises of Gestalt Groups

 Four basic assumptions of Gestalt groups:

 Principle of holism (integration)

Premises of Gestalt Groups

Practice of Gestalt Theory in a

Group

 Function in several ways:

 Focus on one person in the presence of

other members (West Coast practice)

 Emphasis is more interactive, involving

direct, here-and-now group member communities (East Coast style) (Early, 2000)

 Balance between interaction and one focus

one-on- Dual-focused Gestalt Group Work (Harman, 1988)

 Floating Hot Seat (Yontef & Jacobs, 2014)

Practice of Gestalt Theory in a

Group

 Gestalt group practitioners share many common beliefs and practices:

 They stay centered on the here and now

 They ask group members to work on a specific problem to help foster greater awareness

 They emphasize behavioral processes

 Experiments

 Exercises

Practice of Gestalt Theory in a

Practice of Gestalt Theory in a Group

 Some of the better known exercises:

 Making the rounds

Practice of Gestalt Theory in Groups

 Some of the better known exercises:

 Empty chair technique

 Top dog/underdog dialogue

 Fantasy exercises

 Dream work

 Energy field

 Homework

Role of the Gestalt Group Leader

 Help group members locate their

impasses and work through tem to

awareness and growth

 Create an atmosphere that promotes growth within the group

Role of the Gestalt Group Leader

Desired Outcome of Gestalt

Groups

 As a result of Gestalt group, members should

 Be more aware of themselves in the here and now and change (Flores, 1988)

 Will shed layers of neurosis

 Come to realize self-growth through

implosiveness and explosiveness (Perls, 1970)

 Be more congruent on personal and

interpersonal levels and are less likely to mired down in the past

Strengths of Gestalt Groups

 Suitable to group leaders with a existential philosophy of helping (Vander Kolk, 1985)

humanistic- Focus on working through impasses and

becoming integrated

 Foster a variety of exercises and

experiences

 Work with a variety of difficulties, from

addiction to couple communication (Browne-Miller, 1993; Curman & Curman, 1994)

Limitations of Gestalt Groups

 Gestalt approach may eschew the

cognitive side of human nature

 Gestalt groups may not be able to help the group work through impasses

 Gestalt approach may create potential

danger of abusing techniques and people

 Gestalt groups are difficult to research

Rational-Emotive Behavior

Therapy

 Founded by Albert Ellis

 Focuses on behaviors as well as cognitions

 REBT groups have varied in size openness, and type

 Usually the groups are limited to 12

Premises of REBT Groups

 Underlying premises are stoic and

humanistic

 Based on the idea that thinking about events, not external circumstances,

produces feelings and behaviors (Fehr, 2013)

 Process of change is built on an A-B-C

model of human interaction

Premises of REBT Groups

 A – Activating event (Event)

 B – Belief (Thought process)

 C – Consequences (Feeling state resulting from thoughts)

 Negative

 Positive

 Neutral

Premises of REBT Groups

 REBT stresses the dual nature of human beings

 Individuals have rational and irrational beliefs that can be modified through

disputation (Ellis, 1976)

 REBT is a philosophy of life as well as a treatment for changing behaviors (Weinrach, 1996)

Practice of REBT in a Group

 Three types of REBT groups:

 Open-ended problem-solving group

 Topic-specific group

 Preventative

 REBT groups tend to be didactic,

philosophical, and skills-oriented

 Group member situations are analyzed using the A-B-C approach

 Little attention is given to past events in

REBT groups The focus in on the here and

Practice of REBT in a Group

 Group members and leaders provide feedback and suggestions

 Disputations “D” take three forms

 Cognitive disputation

 Imaginal disputation

 Behavioral disputation

Role of REBT Group Leader

Role of REBT Group Leader

 Encourages rational thinking in a number of ways

 Teaching group members about the origins of

 Allowing the expression of feelings previously

hidden by group members that are dealt with in a

Desired Outcome of REBT Groups

 To learn how to think rationally

 To achieve particular goals in their own lives connected with using REBT to overcome an irrational belief such as anxiety (Cowan & Brunero,

1997)

 To have a better knowledge of how REBT can

be employed in situations in which they have

no firsthand experience

 To gain the experience of personally

understanding the process of change

Strengths of REBT Groups

 REBT groups focus on the importance of cognition in influencing people’s emotions and actions (Weinrach, 1996)

 REBT essentials can be taught quickly

 REBT groups are excellent environments for clients who are phasing out of individual therapeutic

counseling (Wessler & Hankin, 1988)

 REBT groups are versatile; the theory is geared to working with large segments of the population

 REBT groups provide opportunities for members to

do homework, take verbal and nonverbal risks, and

Limitations of REBT Groups

 Its traditional focus on the individual, not the group

 Its confrontive and directive stance

 It may not be appropriate with individuals who are borderline-disturbed

 Its lack of rigorous research specifically

focused on REBT

 One of the oldest and most dynamic

theories devised for working with groups

(Fox, 2008)

 Founded by Jacob L Moreno

 Applicable in a number of settings and

practiced worldwide

 Explores the human psyche through

dramatic action (D’Amato & Dean, 1988; Goldman & Morrison, 1984)

Premises of Psychodrama Groups

 Encounter

 Existential concept that involves total

physical and psychological contact among persons on an intense, concrete, and

complete basis in the here and now

 Can relate to past events, anticipated ones, and present circumstances

 Always involves taking a moment or a

particular situation in one’s life and expanding it in various dimensions (Leveton, 2001)

Premises of Psychodrama Groups

 Surplus reality

 One particular dimension that the

encounter deals with

 “Psychological experience that transcends the boundaries of physical reality” (Blatner,

2005, p 429)

 These experiences may include

relationships with those who have died or were never born, or with God

Premises of Psychodrama Groups

 Spontaneity

 Response people make that contains “some degree of adequacy to a new situation or a degree of novelty to an old situation” (Moreno,

1945, p xii)

 The purpose is to liberate oneself from

scripts and stereotypes and gain new perspectives on life.

 Responding in new creative ways is part of this process

Premises of Psychodrama Groups

16- Under these circumstances, clients are

able to work on past problems, future fears, and current difficulties in the here- and-now atmosphere.

Premises of Psychodrama Groups

 Tele

 Total communication f feelings between people

 Occurs most often when it is between two people

 Can involve complete interpersonal and

reciprocal empathy

 Catharsis and insight

 End products of spontaneity and tele (Greenberg, 1974)

 Catharsis is an emotional purging

 Insight is immediate new perception and

understanding about one’s problem

Practice of Psychodrama in a

Group

1. Physical and personal factors must be

considered (e.g., stage, actors,

protagonist)

2. Techniques must be employed in a

methodical manner (Holmes & Karp, 1991; Moreno & Moreno, 1959)

Practice of Psychodrama in a

Group

 Stage

 Area where the action takes place

 May be a platform or simply part of a room

 Protagonist

 Person who is the subject of the

psychodrama enactment (Blatner, 2005)

 Actors

 those who play the parts of other

important people or objects in the play

Practice of Psychodrama in a

Group

 Director – person who guides the

protagonist in the use of psychodramatic methods to help that person explore his or her problem (Blatner, 1996)

 Audience

 Others who may be present during the

psychodrama

 May involve both verbal and nonverbal activities designed to put everyone in the right frame of mind to conduct the psychodrama and to

establish trust and an atmosphere of spontaneity

(Blatner, 2005; Moreno, 1940)

 Include the engagement of action exercises

 Allows members to process some of the

Practice of Psychodrama in a

Group

 Action phase

 Involves the enactment of protagonists’ concerns

 The director helps each protagonist “set the stage” for a specific scene in the here and now

 Group participants are assigned auxiliary ego roles

of significant others or things in the protagonist’s life.

 After the opening scene is portrayed, the

protagonist and auxiliary egos are given an opportunity to refine their roles and gear their interaction from the surface to significant events

 The protagonist is helped to work through the

Practice of Psychodrama in Groups

 Integration phase

 Director encourages the group to give the

protagonist as much personal, supportive, and constructive feedback as possible during this time

 Feedback focuses initially on the affective,

rather than the intellectual aspects of the enactment

 At the completion of this phase, emphasis is placed on understanding and integration

Role of the Psychodrama Group

Leader

 The director of a psychodrama

 The director wears many hats (Moreno, 1953, 1964)

Role of the Psychodrama Leader

 The director builds his or her skills in 3

Desired Outcome of Psychodrama

Groups

 Creation of catharsis, insight, and emotional

resolution (Horvatin & Screiber, 1996; Moreno, 1964)

 Development of “a ‘theatrical cathedral’ for the

release of the natural human spontaneity and

creativity that he [Moreno] believed existed

naturally in everyone” (Yablonsky, 1976, p 274)

 Experiencing and working through past,

present, or anticipated events

 Emotional and cognitive insight

 Renewed self-awareness, readjustment,

Strengths of Psychodrama Groups

 Its diversity of use

 Its teaching potential

 Its fostering of creativity and spontaneity within leaders and members (Coven et al., 1997)

 Its integrative and vicarious effect

 The input and feedback it provides the

protagonist and others through the actors and audience (Moreno, 1964)

Limitations of Psychodrama

Groups

 The danger of overexposing the

protagonist to him- or herself as well as to the audience

 The quantity and quality of research

underlying psychodrama

 Availability of training

 Its potential overemphasis on expression

of feelings rather than change in behavior