Counseling Skills and Interventions Flashcards
Group Counseling: laissez-faire style
Lewin found that children under delegative leadership, also known as laissez-faire leadership, were the least productive of all three groups.1 The children in this group also made more demands on the leader, showed little cooperation, and were unable to work independently.
Group Counseling: democratic style
is typically the most effective leadership style. Democratic leaders offer guidance to group members, but they also participate in the group and allow input from other group members. In Lewin’s study, children in this group were less productive than the members of the authoritarian group, but their contributions were of a higher quality
Group Counseling: autocratic style
Authoritarian leaders, also known as autocratic leaders, provide clear expectations for what needs to be done, when it should be done, and how it should be done.
Gestalt therapy:
is based on existential principles, and the goal of individuals in therapy is to integrate all of their needs to become a whole person. Clients are encouraged to attend to their emotions and to relive experiences. Counselors working from a gestalt approach often use the two-chair technique, role playing, and dream work.
Irvin Yalom is known for:
his contributions to group counseling theory. He identified four stages: orientation, conflict, cohesion, and termination.
The social constructionist perspective:
operates from the viewpoint that we use language to construct a common realitywith others, and that there are no objective “functional” family dynamics that apply to all family systems.
Steve de Shazer’s philosophy:
is one that focuses on solutions rather than problems and underlying causes of those problems.
Social constructionists assume :
that clients know how to solve their own problems but need help in constructing a new way to use the knowledge they already have.
De Shazer also introduced :
the concept of therapists equipping clients with “skeleton keys,” interventions that can be used to solve many problems.
Risky shift phenomenon occurs when:
a group makes decisions that are riskier and less conservative due to group discussions. This is a common occurrence in groups, as shared risk makes the individual risk less. Studies also show that extensive discussion about a particularly risky course of action tends to lessenperceived risk.
Irvin Yalom:
a well-known figure in the field of group counseling, believed that certain leadership functions were present in the field of group counseling. These leader functions include emotional stimulation, in which counselors encourage healthy expression of emotions; caring, which is characterized by warmth, acceptance, genuineness, and concern; meaning attribution, in which the group leader provides a cognitive perspective to group members’ experiences; and executive leadership, which is characterized by the group leader structuring the group and ensures that the group is moving in a specific direction. During the executive leadership stage, the emphasis is placed on managing the group as a social system.
Linking:
is the process of relating group members’ thoughts, comments, and feelings to each other to increase cohesion and (at times) interaction.
Family Counseling:
can include nuclear family units, extended family, and anyone who impacts the family unit. Family counseling goals typically include increased communication, improved dysfunctional patterns, and the use of relationships to heal and stabilize the family
Mediation:
is one intervention that is often recommended for couples going through a divorce in order to avoid court involvement.
Primary groups:
emphasize preventing problems and developing healthy behaviors, for example, educational groups about the causes and symptoms of depression.
Secondary groups:
focus on reducing the severity of a specific problem and include preventative and remedial elements, such as adjusting to a loss.
Tertiary groups:
involve rehabilitation and focus on returning individuals to healthy functioning.
Group Stages:
forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning
Forming Stage:
membersestablish goals for the group but continue to focus on themselves.
Storming Stage:
is typically marked by conflict as members work out personality differences.
Norming Stage
members accept differences between each other and begin to work together.
Performing Stage:
iswhen members trust each other and often achieve success.
Adjourning Stage:
is when group members celebrate their successes and assess their work.
Group Counselor Skills:
Among other skills, they should be able to manage and direct the group within certain time constraints, prevent members from blocking discussion, and help the group set goals. It is more important for counselors to have an attitude of openness to learning about each individual’s values and beliefs.