19 Types of Groups, Goals, Advantages of Group Counselling and Individual Counselling

M. Priya

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Introduction:

 

From birth to till late adolescence, children exhibit an increasing range of cognitive, emotional, psychological and social skills. As children master all these skills, their tactics to solving problems in their social and academic environments were also increasingly approaches to those of adults. Thus, as children work to endeavour these skills, groups must be designed to capitalize on the skills they have attained, and to correct serious emotional, developmental and adjustment problems and to meet those needs through interactions with others in the social environment with the help of group or individual counselling.

 

Group counselling refers to working with the individuals and groups with a professional counsellor to learn to resolve interpersonal and personal concerns of the client. It is not at all a simply individual counselling which can be applied to groups. Features of group counselling are quite unique and it focuses on assisting counselees to cope with their day-today adjustment and developmental concerns. This form of counselling became popular in 1960s, when counsellors began to realize that individuals who were having similar problems could profit from sharing in groups with the help of counsellor. Webster’s third new world international dictionary defines a group as “a number of individuals bound together by a community of interest, purpose or function”. During the past 15 years, group counselling with children have extended increasing acceptance as an intervention modality with children and adolescents in schools as well as in non-school settings.

 

What is a Group?

 

Group is a place where client can experiment with different ways of behaving. As client listen to other people experiences, they will have a chance to compare them with their problems and makes them that they are not the only person who have problems. Counsellors may view various group activities under three levels. These are

  • The Guidance level
  • The counselling level
  • The therapy level

  Group guidance refers to group activities which focus on providing information or giving guidance through proper plan and experiences. Eg: classroom guidance, career guidance, orientation groups.

 

Group guidance also include educational, vocational, personal or social information by providing accurate information to group members and should help them to make appropriate plans for their life decisions.

 

Group counselling focuses on assisting individuals to cope with their day today adjustment and development concerns. Eg: behaviour modification, improving personal relationships, career decision making.

 

Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which a small, carefully selected group of individuals meets regularly with a therapist. Group therapy gives extreme practices for people with serious adjustment, emotional and developmental needs. These groups are distinguished from counselling groups by length, time and depth of the counselling process. In therapy groups, individuals usually will be having chronic mental or emotional disorders which require major personality restoration. Group therapists sure require a higher level of training and experience to manage clients.

 

When it comes to child counselling there are 2 common types of counselling groups for children.

  • Therapy group
  • Psycho-educational groups

    Therapy groups aims to bring about changes through the use of group. Such groups facilitate the participants to work through difficult emotional issues by talking about them in the group setting and engaging in activities which permit them to express their feelings, emotions and then change their thinking and behaviour.

 

These are mainly useful for those children who have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder or from severe emotional distress and psychiatric disturbance.

 

eg: children suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia , anxiety disorder , depressive disorders , disruptive behaviour disorders , conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and specific developmental disorder .

 

Therapy groups will also be useful for those children who do not have severe emotional or psychiatric disturbance but experiencing some difficulty in coping with the stressors caused by change in lifestyle. In these types of groups counsellor gives primary focus on the exploration and resolution of problematic issues. With this children release disturbing emotions, modify their beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. They may get support, encouragement and feedback relating to their issues, behaviours, beliefs and attitudes as a result of which they may discover more about themselves and realize that they have more choice than they expected in regard to changing attitudes and behaviours.

 

Psycho-educational groups aims to bring about change primarily with the use of psycho-educational input. The purpose of these groups is to provide the children with information which will help them adjust their reactions to their life situations and to perform in a more adaptive ways.These groups are more structured than therapy groups. They may develop structured curriculum and the main focus is on learning, the process usually involves group interaction, with members of the group sharing and discussing of thoughts, feelings, experiences, attitudes, beliefs and values and other relevant topics. Counsellors in this group may also use extensive media to engage children and also to have more discussions on the problem.

 

To whom group counselling applicable?

  •  Group counselling can be helpful to those individuals who are very shy or aggressive in their interpersonal interactions, anxious persons or who are uncomfortable/resistant in groups, away from social expectations. These children may have difficulty in making friends or often experiencing friction with peers, parents, teachers, faculty, or any authority people. (Corey and Corey,1987)
  • Group counselling is not appropriate to those individuals who have high interpersonal or personal conflicts and also for a person with social phobia, or to those who have low anxiety tolerance and find group interaction as a traumatic situation. In such cases individual counselling can be suggested with group counselling after individual feel that they are confident.

  Goals of group counselling:

  • To enhance problem solving skills
  • To understand problems and explore possible solutions
  • Improve their comfort level in the group
  • To increase openness in the group
  • To increase observation and feedback skills
  • To develop self-awareness
  • To improve interpersonal relations
  • Obtaining employment
  • Personality reconstruction
  • To decrease social isolation(Jacobs, Masson & Harvill, 2012)

Group therapy is sometimes used alone, but it is also commonly combined into a wide-ranging treatment plan that also includes individual therapy and medication.

 

The Principles of Group Therapy

 

In The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, Irvin D. Yalom outlines some of the key therapeutic principles in the group therapy process:

 

1. The instillation of hope: Usually the group contains members at different stages of the treatment process. By looking at those who are in coping or recovering from the difficulty, gives hopes for those who are in the beginning stage of the process.

 

2.Universality: In group counselling client will be a part of people who also have similar issues or problems and help them to understand and see that what they are going through is universal and that they are not alone.

 

3.Imparting information: Group members are able to help each other by sharing information which makes them to be open.

 

4.Selflessness: Group members are able to share their strengths and help others in the group, which can boost their self-esteem and confidence.

 

5.Personality reconstruction: The therapy group is much like a family with different problems, within the group each member can explore how childhood experiences contributed to personality and behaviours. They can also learn to avoid destructive behaviours which make them to reconstruct their personality.

 

6.Socialization techniques: The group setting is a very good place to practice new behaviours with socialization. Group setting is the safe and supportive for all individuals who involved in this and can experiment without any fear.

 

7.Interpersonal learning: By interacting with other people who have different kind of problems and receiving feedback from the group and the therapist, each individual client can gain a greater understanding of himself or herself.

 

8.Group cohesiveness: Clients in the group will be united for common goal and can have a feeling of belongingness and acceptance.

 

9.Catharsis: Sharing feelings and experiences with a group of people can help relieve pain, guilt, or stress. It is also an extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration

 

10.Existential factors: While working within a group offers support and guidance, group therapy helps member realize that they are responsible for their own lives, action and choices.

 

Skills of the Group therapist

 

Group therapy helps the clients to learn and understand about themselves and also to gain confidence, skills, to get support from others. To manage group the therapist should possess following skills and role.

 

Group therapist must be well versed in the knowledge and skills of how to lead and effective group in an appropriate manner (Gladding, 2003). Some of the specific therapist skills are:

 

Ø  Facilitator

 

In groups, the therapist should facilitate and ensure that the group process is progressing in a systematic and smooth way with the interaction between group members.

 

Ø  Protector

 

Therapist should safeguard the group members from unnecessary arguments by others in group especially at the beginning stage.

    Ø  Diagnose

 

Group therapist should diagnose the problems and identify specific solutions which may fit. Diagnosis based on therapist observations and doesn’t require psychological instruments to check.

 

Ø  Assigning

 

In group counselling, the therapist assign task to one or more group members to share the responsibility for the group development.

 

Ø  Creativity

 

Group therapist always to be skilled in different ways of thinking and behaving. Therapist helps themselves and the group to become more productive through innovative ideas and approach in times of crisis.

 

What about confidentiality?

 

Groups are always private and confidential; whatever members disclose in sessions is not shared outside the group. The meaning and importance of confidentiality are reviewed with group members at the first meeting and also at every time a new member joins the group. When client feel safe enough to share what is troubling them, a group will likely be very helpful and sustaining. Mutual respect is essential to maintain the safety of the group.

 

If client decide to leave group, due to some reasons like they might have met the treatment or they feel the methods used by therapist is not appropriate treatment to them, they can exit the group.

 

How group counselling helps children and adolescents?

In many schools, group work has been treated as an integral part of the counselling curriculum for several years in various states. In mental health settings, group counselling has been a central component of children’s inpatient treatment within private and state psychiatric and residential facilities since the middle 1980s. Group counselling or group work has been somewhat slower to gain acceptance among outpatient providers but, again, practitioners are quickly coming to appreciate the value of group work in encouraging child development.

 

Group counselling is an effective intervention modality for children and adolescents that are specific to children’s’ levels of cognitive, emotional, behaviour, and social development. Some of these reasons include the following:

Ø  Group counselling help the children to form bonds with peers to discuss about their feelings, ideas, negative interactions among them

Ø  Group counselling enable to children to understand that their concerns are not unique to them, Group discussions may assist children in discussing and helps to share their problems, fears, worries, and the like

Ø  With use of developmentally appropriate structured activities, children and adolescents are often able to express personal feelings and interpersonal feedback to their peers that they would have difficulty in expressing to adults. Usually young people accept more readily constructive feedback from peers than from adults.

 

Advantages of Groups

 

1. Provides social atmosphere

 

Through group therapy, the clients may have the opportunity to share their feelings, thoughts, and ideas with the other client help the people to express his or her whole being. In group, the client can able to sense the freedom of expressing their feelings to the people and get suggestions. By participating in a group, we can get along with others.

 

2. Establishes social support

 

Group therapy will permit the client to meet new people and establish mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together. Social support is also an effective way to let the person heal from any negative thoughts and feelings. Client can also test out and practice new behaviours which enhance positive thoughts. The more we become involved, the more we are likely to benefit.

 

3. Cost effective

 

Group counselling is often the most effective method to treat the types of distresses that children are facing. Compared to individual counselling it’s cost effective and can treat the clients together who having similar issues.

 

4. Group interaction

 

Group counselling can empower the people to discuss the issues together. Giving each member to share some ideas and feelings about the certain topic will improve interaction with other people and experience a sense of relief.

 

5. Groups teach us about ourselves

 

Every person in the group holds up a mirror and client can get to see himself through their eyes. It’s a way of finding the blind spots that may be blocking the ability to overcome client issues. Groups help members see that they are not the only one who has that particular problem or issue.

 

Disadvantages of Group Counselling

 

1. Less attention

 

Group counselling will not give individual attention from the counsellor. Some clients might prefer to start seeing a counsellor individually as it gives them an opportunity to talk about their problems with a non-judgmental listener, and also to clear up what their issues might be.

 

2. Less confidentiality

 

Confidentiality of group member’s is more difficult to maintain.Some clients may not be able to trust each member of the group with their personal secrets and therefore may not share them.

 

3. Social phobia

 

Most of the individuals get nervous about being in social situations or talking in front of people about their personal issues. A group session requires individuals to come together, speak about themselves and often address the entire group on their own. Client may get fear to interact with other people or can make it difficult for individuals in the group to be approaching and create results.

 

4. Personality clashes

 

Usually in group counselling where there is more than one person, there are going to be sure with different personalities. Different personalities can obviously clash when they disagree; therefore fluctuates the outcome of the session.

 

Individual counselling

 

Counselling may come in several ways depending on the nature of the problem it is concerned with. Individual counselling is the counselling focused on the individual’s instant or immediate future concerns. Individual counselling may encompass career counselling, planning, dealing with problems and so on. Individual counselling is a one-on-one conversation between the counsellor and theclient, who is seeking treatment. The counsellor and the client relationship should enable trust and personal growth.

 

Advantages of individual counselling

  • 1Individual counselling facilitates an individual to resolve personal problems/ difficulties in their life
  • It helps to address the individual emotional needs
  • Helps to dislodge emotional baggage and makes them lighter by addressing such challenges
  • It helps individual to decide which goals are achievable and which are not according to their inner strength, support and resource available
  • Improves quality of relationship by developing more affirming behaviours
  • Creates self-awareness
  • Secrets of the client can be maintained confidential
  • Counsellor will have enough time to analyse and treat the specific problem of a client
  • It improves communication skills
  • It also provides parents or guardians suggestions for further help or analysis

Disadvantages of individual counselling

  1. It may be more expensive than group counselling
  2. Dealing with individual problem takes more time than dealing with a group of people who have similar problems
  3. Less motivation and emotional support in individual counselling

To whom individual counselling helpful?

 

Individual counselling is helpful for those children/individual having major challenges or difficulties in their personal or career life. This is helpful for those

  • Who are in depression or anxiety
  • Who are unable to handle major difficulties or challenges in childhood life
  • Who wants to investigate their behaviours, feelings and personality
  • Who want to improve their knowledge
  • Who want to understand themselves and others
  • Who want to create better relationships
  • Who wish to resolve career disagreements

Types of Individual counselling

 

1.      Telephonic individual counselling

2.      One session individual counselling

 

1. Telephonic individual counselling

 

In telephonic individual counselling the counsellor will have the discussion with the child or client who are very busy in their life to attend face to face sessions. And also it is helpful for those who need some privacy in their therapy. The client can express about himself to the deepest without any hesitation as there is no face to face involvement.

 

2.One session individual counselling

 

In this therapy counsellor and the client will have deep involvement in the session and it depends on the type of problem and clients involvement. It also deals with addictive behaviours such as substance abuse, eating disorders, relationship issues, study habits and attitudes, career issues. Finally it improves the quality of individual’s life and relationships by developing life affirming behaviours.

Conclusion:

 

Both individual and group counselling has benefits according to the type of problem and situations. Both the therapies will help the client/individual to become a kind of person they want to be. It can also help the client to enjoy most valuable relationships by resolving problems. In counselling the client has the power to change his life based on the choices he make after getting counselled. Counselling enables members to experiment and work towards improved attitudes and ways of coping with difficulties. The information gathered by client will be easier for the counsellor to figure out which type of counselling is needed for him to apply treatment for the betterment of his life.

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