JERIA

COUNCIL GRU
PAL
PS. MARI EL RUIZ B
ALVIN

-add
to
Introduction
People exist, develop and project themselves within groups or
collectives.
In this social interaction, people share their lives and develop their
paradigms about life and the world. These shared experiences along
with the other conditions of the socio-cultural environment directly
influence the construction of who we are and where we are headed
as people.
The cognitive structures of the group, the behaviors of the group,
the strategies used to find existential meaning, the belief systems
of the group and the relating styles typical of these groups largely
define not only our personality but also constitute the source of
meaning. and existential meaning.
Therefore, if you want to understand the reality of a person, it is
essential that you consider the individual in relation to his or her
collective group.
 Group Counseling
A number of people (two or more) united by a shared experience and
the willingness or purpose to interact within a common social
structure is what is generally understood as a group.
Group counseling's central purpose is to assist participants in the
process of searching for existential meaning and achieving
comprehensive well-being through the use of their internal and
external resources.
This well-being is possible thanks to the different theories and
techniques present in the group dynamics and process.
Group Counseling

It is a collaborative process that facilitates the person's psycho-

educational progress towards common goals and objectives among
the peer group.
Thoughts, feelings and behaviors are shared about a particular topic
or situation. The members support and learn from each other.
Its purpose is for group members to discover and strengthen their
skills.
from
problems.

'28:
I
• All group counseling is intended to alleviate illness or worry/distress with the help of
a qualified leader/guide. What distinguishes group treatment from other methods is
the use of interaction with the group as an agent for change.
 How did group work begin?
In 1905, Dr. Joseph Pratt, a Boston physician, brought all of his
tuberculosis patients together for weekly group discussions and
found that these sessions seemed to promote mutual support,
alleviate depression, and decrease feelings of sadness. isolation.
Group treatments were considered ineffective until World War II.
The numerous neuropsychiatric casualties as a result of the war
forced the governments of the USA and England to find the most
efficient and economical way to treat these veterans.
b
Since then, the field of group work has grown dramatically and is
currently applied in different clinical settings for various types of
problems.
 Advantages of Group Counseling
Lizardi and Molina (2003) stated that one of the benefits of the
counseling process is that the group intervention can be offered
to a greater number of people.
They highlight the fact that group members serve as support
networks for each other.
All group participants have the opportunity to present their points
of view or lived experiences, which strengthens the
► professional's intervention.
The group counseling model gives participants the possibility
of learning different strategies and de-dramatizing their own
situation, helping them understand that it is not an individual
problem and that they can be overcome.
 Advantages of group counseling
►The patient recreates the characteristic difficulties in the group. Interactions with
the group quickly allow behavioral patterns to be exposed.
►The 'hallway of mirrors' technique refers to the group's ability to confront an
individual with behavior that they had previously been unable to recognize.
►Each individual in the group more easily accepts behavioral reactions if observations
about them come from a group of observers.
►The fact that multiple individuals who feel identified with the patient's struggle can
make coping with the problem more tolerable and be able to better deal with the
intensity with which the problem affects them.
► Revealing secrets can provide intense relief.
►Interactions between the group favor socially acceptable responses and exchanges.
► The group offers alternative models of behavior.
►Group counseling is often considered less regressive than individual counseling.
 Disadvantages
Patients have less exclusive time and less attention than in individual
counseling.
Groups can create the feeling of being lost in the crowd and not being
appreciated for one's own uniqueness.
Confidentiality has limitations. The group guide can ensure that all group
members are discreet and keep confidences secret.
Completion of counseling is more complicated than individual counseling as it
is less flexible.

What has to be done first?

For group counseling to be successful, very studied and thoughtful prior planning
is required.
► Clarify one's own assessments of why a group is valuable.
► Assess perception as you value group treatment. Do you intend to start
group counseling? Do you value or devalue groups? How would you choose
group members?
► Consider the type of group you are offering, such as the type of group that allows
discussion or the central topic of discussion or the need for support or education to
be able to guide. It is essential to be very clear about the type of group in order to
explain the purpose of the group and enhance patients and referral sources as well
as define your role as group guide. For example, in a social skills group, the
primary role of the guide is that of a teacher/professor, unlike in a vocational
group where the role of the group guide is to guide the process.
How are members of a group selected?
Different criteria have been proposed to select patients. In general, most patients can
work effectively in some type of group therapy. Patients are candidates for group
therapy if they are willing to listen to others and talk about themselves.
The exclusion criteria are: refusal to enter a group, abide by group agreements
and serious problems relating interpersonally.
Contrary to popular opinion, people who do not do well in groups are NOT prime
candidates for group counseling. We must also be cautious when including very
impulsive, intensely stressed, anxious, depressed patients in the group.
How are members of a group selected? V
► Groups are not collections of random strangers brought together because a clinic has
too few psychologists and too many patients. It is not only very important to select
patients who can benefit from group counseling, but also to place them in a group that
is particularly appropriate for them.
► Traditionally, groups are made up of individuals who are developmentally similar but
different in their interpersonal style. The most important thing is that no member of
the group sees themselves as the only one of their kind in the group because then there
was a lot of risk of withdrawing from the group. For example the only elderly patient, a
widower, in a group of young patients. In this case the widower will find very little
common ground with the other members and will quickly leave the group.
Three reasons for patients to leave the group
► The right group at a bad time for the patient (the patient is not ready for the group)
► The wrong group at a good time (for example the widower in the group of young
mothers)
The patient does not adapt to group treatment. TO
Screenig's interview
Ideally, there should be at least one individual interview before the patient is accepted to
enter the group. Some patients may require more, especially if they are unfamiliar with
counseling or are ambivalent about entering the group. Assessing a patient for group
counseling, and particularly for your group, requires face-to-face contact. The interview can
also help create an alliance between the group leader and the member, establish objectives,
answer questions, and direct potential problems. Finally, the interview allows the patient to
make the decision to enter the group, being informed
THE SCREENING INTERVIEW: THE MOST COMMON QUESTIONS

► What do you want to get out of this group? x

► Why do you want to join this group now?
► What is your experience with the groups? (previous treatments with group counseling A but
also includes school, family, work, and social groups)
► How do you imagine the group will be?
► What do you think you will contribute to the group?
► What may be the most difficult aspect of this group for you?
Can we review the group agreements? TO
 Establishment of group agreements
All groups need operational guidelines that provide a structure and baseline to direct any type of
behavior that endangers the group. Traditionally, the following baselines have been used by
group counselors. They can be modified in the case of groups with limited time and groups with
a great variety of patients in different situations.
The members agree to:
► Go to each session, be punctual and stay throughout the session.
► Work on the problems they bring to the group.
► Protect the names and identity of other group members. \
► Use relationships therapeutically and not socially.
A11
TO
► Stay in the group until the problems that brought you to it are solved, A I
► Give yourself and the group appropriate time to understand the reasons for leaving the
group. In this case, they should decide to leave and say goodbye to their colleagues.
► Give the session guide (counselor) permission to speak with your individual counselor (if you
have one) at any time the guide deems necessary.
 Time, group size and location
► Most groups meet weekly, although some groups meet twice a week and others meet twice a
month. The most important point for the benefit of help is that patients do not lose contact
with the affect and process of the previous session.
► The usual duration of the session is about 90 minutes, with a range between 75-120 minutes.
Less than 75 minutes is not enough for members to share their problems equally, and sessions
of more than 120 minutes can be exhausting for both group members and the guide.
► The group size is between 4 and 10 members. Less than 4 members provides the temptation
to focus on individual processes and not group processes. A group of more than 10 members
seems to be unmanageable and less productive. The
AI
Most group experts recommend 7 members as the ideal number of
A■
patients so that the group works better. They also recommend starting at
TO
less with this number of patients or more to compensate for recent dropouts
potentials.
TO
► It is the counselor's responsibility to find a comfortable, private room with enough chairs for
everyone. Most guides prefer to place chairs in a circle so that members are not physically
harmed by others with tables or other furniture.
What is the role of the counselor?
► Help group members understand themselves, understanding their behavior in the group. The
guide has the challenge of deciding how the group can best be helped. Several decisions are
involved in it:
► What to say, how much to say and when to say it.
► How much attention to pay to present experience versus past events or future hopes.
► How much attention to give to individuals while also observing interactions between group
members. How much to value giving to emotional sensations and experiences without ignoring
reasoning and intellectual understanding.
► How to integrate dialogue about group members with discussions about people outside the group.
► How to mix the understanding of the content (the obvious meaning) with the process (the
symbolic meaning).
► How much to respond to the demands or desires of the group.
► How much personal information to share.
All these command decisions are influenced by theoretical orientations, by the
personality and by the context of the group
10 useful rules for the group counselor
1. Each session is in a context (time, place, purpose).
2. Each member of the group has a context. Try to keep their history and present problems
in your mind.
3. Pay attention to what is happening in the group in the true moment, the center 'here and
now'. Ask yourself: What is happening? Why is it happening now?
4. Remember that everything that happens in the group has something to do with the group.
5. Each group session has a theme or common thread.
6. Pay special attention to words and behaviors at the beginning that could predict the topic.
7. Think in terms of metaphors or analogies as keys to the group's topic.
8. Pay attention to your own emotional response to the group as a barometer of what is
happening in the session.
9. Don't worry if you don't always know what's going on in the group. It is a very common
experience. Remember the previous points mentioned above and try to formulate hypotheses
that can help you ask educational questions about the topic.
10. Prepare a summary of statements, whether you currently affirm them or not, as a way
to organize the group's topic.
Steps in developing group counseling

It is valuable for the group leader to have a development framework for understanding
the group's issues and the process of multiple interactions between the group. Yalom
proposes a useful development framework for thinking about these four phases of
development.
First phase- Inside or outside
► Search for proposals, try to get to know the other members, find similarities and
learn the basic rules.
► Primarily, group members are concerned with acceptance or non-acceptance. Will
others like me? We are similar? Normally in this phase the communication is
superficial, polite and focused on giving or requesting advice and obtaining the
leader's approval. The counselor's primary role is to promote truth and security and
to help members find common ground.
Second phase- Up or down
► Maneuver to achieve positions of control, domination and power among the members, but
especially between the members and the leader.
► The grace period/honeymoon comes to an end as well as the truth and security that were
established.
► Now members want to know how different they are, how much autonomy the counselor will
allow, and how much they can challenge each other and the leader. How can they mistreat,
bend and break the group's guide lines? Who are the strongest?
► Considering that in the first phase the members were mainly \
interested in being seen as equals, they are now primarily interested in themselves.
AI
accepted as different. In this phase, criticism of others, hostility
TO
towards the counselor and disenchantment with the group.
TO '
► The group has high hopes for the counselor and it is not surprising if they are disappointed by
the counselor's failure to realize their dreams. It is essential that the counselor tolerate your
disappointment, encourage your confrontation, and not respond with harm.
► We must remember that this rebellion, this emotionally stormy phase is a sign that the group
is moving forward.
Third phase- Near or far
► The group's main interest is intimacy and proximity. How to approach
others? How many secrets do you have to share?
► Compared to the previous phase of the conflict, in this one there is more
truthfulness, cooperation, openness to communication and group spirit. The
counselor tries to progress the phase, being sure that the group does not
repress all the negative affect for the cohesion of the group... At this
moment, the group is prepared to become a mature work group, with great
focus, flexibility, compassion. tolerance for affection, a realistic
consideration of the counselor, and a recognition of the value of other
members.
Fourth phase- Completion
► It is the counselor's job to get group members to pay attention to the loss.
Typically, the end of counseling revives feelings around three themes:
mortality and death, separation, and hope.
These phases are present in all groups, but the depth and breathing of
expressing them varies depending on the objectives, time and style of the
counselor. There are partial coincidences with unclear boundaries between
phases or consistency between groups. Groups never ultimately resolve
these previously developed issues, but periodically cycle around them as
deep, progressive levels of stress and emerging conflict.
 How to handle difficult patients?
► Difficult patients, often focused or demanding, may create a difficult group or
the departure of group members, but there is more value in mentioning a
particular constructive approach in groups.
► It is based on the premise that difficult patients play an important role in the
group and that they represent aspects of everyone else in the group. The best
response is to focus on the reaction of the other members of the group rather
than on the pathology of the individual patient. This approach prevents later
attacks from the patient and encourages others to take responsibility for the part
of the interaction they share.
 When to end counseling?

end because
► The group time limit is given by a previously ordered end. Other groups
the counselor decides that the counseling should end. Patients leave the
group because they have satisfactorily completed treatment or because they
leave prematurely for various personal, group or circumstantial reasons. The
termination process is more complicated than in individual counseling because it
affects a number of people. The counselor should attempt to prevent premature
termination by paying attention to the patients' feelings surrounding completion
and

of the intervention. t
h
Two questions that are very useful are:
1-Has the patient who leaves gotten the most out of the group?
2-Why is the patient leaving the group at this precise moment?
► The decision can also be examined on the basis of whether the original
objective of joining the group has been met. It is interesting to know that
groups often value constructive changes and continue with the conflicts exposed
by the member who leaves the group.
Is brief group counseling possible?
Time-limited treatment is becoming more common because it ensures that the
cost is limited.
Time-limited groups often form around specific symptoms, crises, or common
issues (e.g. illness, divorce, or adolescence) with goals limited to symptom relief,
crisis management, or support and psychoeducation. Group relief counseling is
designed for more aggressive interpersonal intervention and more ambitious
psychological change.
They have in common a careful selection of patients, specific objectives, very
► well-defined work focuses, rapid application of what has been learned, active
leaders, the use of interpersonal resources and the use of limited time to
accelerate the change of behavior.
Unlike long-term groups, patients may return for several treatment regimens. In
both, success is due to prior preparation thorough group.
Time-limited groups can also be conceptualized as having developmental phases.
The progression through the phases intensified because of the time
limitation.
could be