Group counseling and group work Flashcards
Where did most counseling take place prior to the 1960s?
In a dyadic relationship. The popularity of family therapy and behavior therapy did not start until the 1950s.
What is pairing?
This is when group leaders put group members in smaller groups during experiential experiences. This happens often.
What are some qualities of a group?
- A membership which can be defined
- Some degree of unity and interaction
- A shared purpose
A group is really a cluster of people in a recognizable purpose or 3 or more people who meet with the conscious cause or purpose.
Which is more beneficial - group counseling or individual counseling?
Though group counseling is very beneficial, preliminary meta-analysis research shows that individual counseling still generally produces better responses for depressed clients – but the data isn’t totally convincing. In general, group therapy is see as effective as individual therapy…but 1:1 therapy is probably better.
Who coined the term group therapy?
Jacob Moreno, the father of psychodrama.
What is psychodrama (Joseph Moreno) and how does it relate to group therapy?
Moreno noted that people in Vienna involved in theatrical productions without scripts experienced a cathartic reaction which seemed to be curative. In psychodrama, the client expresses spontaneous feelings via role-play. Literature talks about Moreno’s theater of spontaneity in the 20s that relied on improve and drama as healing forces. Psychodramatic techniques are appropriate for family and group therapy
How did Fritz Perls (gestalt) impact group work?
He is considered a major figure in group therapy, particularly his work at Esalen Institute in Big Sur.
How did Frank Parsons impact group therapy?
Parsons, the father of guidance (vocational guidance), did work that set the stage for group therapy since he relied on groups to conduct group work related to career and vocational choice.
Who is Joseph A. Pratt?
Pratt, a top Boston physician, formed what may have been the first counseling/therapy groups from 1905-1923. The groups dealt with tuberculosis.
What did Freud think about groups?
Freud’s Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego was published in 1921, but his focus on individual treatment seemingly kept him from becoming a major player in the history of groups or creating a comprehensive model of group therapy.
What two 1940s organizations made group work into a legitimate specialty?
The American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama (ASGPP) spawned by the work of Jacob Moreno in 1942 and the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) which resulted from the effort of Samuel Richard Slavson.
How did Alfred Adler and Jesse B. Davis’s work preface the group movement?
Jesse B. Davis (a hs princple) is cited as a pioneer in school guidance counseling and often as America’s first school guidance counselor. In 1912, Davis had each high school student attend a class each week where he relied on groups to explore careers and values. His systematic work resulted in the National Vocational Guidance Association.
Adler, known for individual psychology, was engaging in group treatment during the early 1920s at his child guidance facilities in Vienna. his rationale for group work was simply that “man’s problems and conflicts are recognized in their social nature”.
What are the 3 classifications of groups (a model popularized by Caplan)?
- Primary group - stresses a healthy lifestyle or coping strategies to stop a problem before it starts. These are often labeled “prevention groups”
- Secondary group - a problem or disturbance is present but not usually severe. The secondary group works to reduce the severity of length of a problem and generally includes aspects of prevention. I.e. a group dealing with grief of shyness.
- Tertiary group - deals more with individual difficulties that are more serious and longstanding. (I.e. long term psychotherapy, focus on childhood, etc). Focuses more on the individual than other types of group.
What is coleadership or cofacilitation?
This is when two counselors are used in a group setting.
What is immediacy?
This is a skill that takes place in a group or individual session when the counselor explores the client-counselor relationship as it is transpiring right at that moment. Immediacy relates to the counselor’s ability to convey what is happening between the counselor and the client.
Why did groups initially flourish in the US?
Because there was a shortage of therapists during WWII and many soldiers were plagued with severe psychological problems. Jacob Moreno had brought the idea of group therapy to the US in 1925 but the post-war era catalyst the growth.
What is the difference between process and content in groups?
Group content refers to what the group is discussing. Group process refers to analyzing the communications, interactions and transaction.
What is a T-group?
This is a training group. Also referred to sometimes as “laboratory training groups” or even “Sensitivity groups”. Originally, T-groups were used in industrial and organizational settings to process personal interactions and improve efficiency. Now they primarily focus not on mental health issues but on human relations processes between personnel in a business setting. Shared leadership is a common area of concern.
The first T group was conducted in 1946.
What is group cohesiveness?
Cohesiveness refers to the focus that tend to bind group members together. It’s a sense of caring for the group and other group members. The term cohesiveness is associated with Kurt Lewin’s field theory in which cohesiveness was seen as a binding force between group members positive valence. When cohesiveness goes out, absenteeism and other factors go down. High cohesiveness leads to high group productivity and commitment. When there is no cohesiveness, the group will be viewed as fragmented.
Who is Kurt Lewin?
He was the creator of “Field theory” which focused on how cohesiveness is the binding force between group members. He was also a key player in the T-group movement in the US.
How does group therapy differ from group counseling (which is also called an interpersonal problem solving group)?
Group therapy, also dubbed a personality reconstruction group, would be of a longer duration.
In the context of group work, “therapy” is implied when the problem is more severe and more individual work is needed for a longer duration. Psychotherapy groups are common in inpatient and residential treatment. The psychotherapy group is tertiary and may emphasize the role of the unconscious and childhood more than a counseling group.
Counseling groups do not tend to be psychodynamic and so focus on conscious concerns. There is generally less structure in a counseling group than a guidance group.
What are the 3 different type of group?
- Guidance group - a primary group in the sense that it is preventative. Also called affective education group, psychological education group, or psychoeducation group. Guidance groups, which originated in the public school system, do not deal with remediation of severe pathology. Instead, they are preventative and try to provide instruction about a potential problem (I.e. substances, skills). In most cases, they are time limited. Recently, the term “guidance group” has been less popular than “psychoeducational group” because “guidance group” is associated with negative practices like excessive advice giving.
- psychotherapy group - groups for more severe problems and for individual work over a longer duration. Based on psychodynamic therapy, often used in inpatient facilities.
- counseling group - less severe issues, less structured, focus on conscious concerns. Not psychodynamic.
It is assumed that the leader of a counseling group needs more training than someone running a guidance group. But sometimes, experts say the group therapy leader of a psychoeducation/guidance group must have the most training because they need to treat people who are not functioning normally.
Do experts find structured or unstructured exercises to be more effective in groups?
Structured exercises are less effective than unstructured techniques.
A structured group exercise is like an assignment for the members. The benefit is that this can help the group all focus on one thing. Although these exercises are popular and helpful, they’re generally not as effective as an unstructured method.
Yalom pointed out that structured exercises can create a pattern in which group stage are passed over and the exercise may purge feelings before the members are ready to handle them – or could cause the group to rely on the leader too much for support. Research found that leaders who used structured exercises were better liked than leaders who didn’t – but the group outcomes were lower!
Group exercises must correspond to the level of group development. In a beginning group, exercises to build openness and trust are useful and then can evolve to be more open ended, critical feedback, etc
What is one disadvantage of group work?
though groups can allow a counselor to see multiple people at a time, one disadvantage is that individual issues are not always properly examined. This is particularly likely to happen if the leader is process-oriented.