Group counseling strategies and skills chapter 4

Copyright © 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

Planning

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Chapter 4


– How many sessions will the group meet?
– When will the group meet?
– Who should the members be?
This should be carefully thought out

Copyright © 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

Many groups are not successful due to too
little emphasis on pre-group planning
Pre-group planning:

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Pre-group Planning


Copyright © 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

The Personal Interview
Written Screening
Screening By Referral Sources
Screening By Using a Comprehensive

Group Program
Screening After The Group Has Begun
Screening is essential because not
everyone is appropriate for every group .

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How Will the Members Be
Screened?


Copyright © 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

Big picture planning entails considering all
possible topics that need to be covered
and all possible topics that could be
covered.
By doing this, the leader thinks through
the purpose and the topics to be covered
and how the group may evolve over the
life of the group.

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Big Picture Planning


Plan the Format For the Session
–
–

Some groups have the same format each session
Some groups have a varied format

Anticipate Problems When Planning
– Members not following through on outside activities
– Members being absent
– Unanticipated issues arising in the group

Copyright © 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

When planning a session, the leader should
always consider the stage of the group.

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Session Planning


The Beginning or Warm-up Phase
Middle or Working Phase
Closing Phase

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Every group has 3 phases:

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Phases of the Session

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– Always have a warm-up phase.
– Make sure it is not too long
– Make it relevant
– Let members check-in; give progress reports.
– Check to see if any member has something
they want to bring up.
– Be aware of unanticipated issues distractions
among members

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The Beginning or Warm-up
Phase


– For open groups, the leader needs to plan for
introducing a new member
Don’t let this dominate--let the new member come
up to speed
Focus mainly on the old members

– The leader should give thought to whether the
warm-up is high energy to get members
excited, or medium energy.

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continued

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The Beginning or Warm-up
Phase


Copyright © 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

Planning the middle phase is important since
this is when groups do meaningful and lasting
work. Planning this phase depends on the
kind of group and the makeup of members.
counseling or therapy
education
support
task exploration and resolution
values exploration/personal growth

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The Middle or Working Phase


Copyright © 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

A common mistake is to not plan the closing
of a session. A closing should:

highlight or summarize issues or
information
allow leader to check for confusion or
unfinished business
enhance members’ commitment to the
purpose of the group

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The Closing Phase


When closing a first session-watch for:
commitment of members
comfort and trust issues
negative energy
emerging member issues

Copyright © 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

Give extra thought to the closing phase of the
first and last session, especially with
counseling/therapy groups, personal growth
groups, and support groups.

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Closing Phase of the First and
Last Sessions

2.
3.
4.

regarding the overall group experience
Strengthening decisions, commitments,
and/or behavior changes
Feedback of members to the leader
Feedback of members to each other

Copyright © 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

1. Hearing from individual members

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Goals of closing final session:


Develop enough detail so that you can see
the flow of the session

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Estimate the time for each phase of the
group

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Session Plans


3 min. (7:00) Introductions—round (name,
age of children, why they came to the group).
5 min. Discuss the group—format, purpose
(stress that it is mainly an educational and
support group and not a therapy group). Have
members share their needs and any fears or
questions about the group. Have them share
cultural differences. (Sandwich in the group
rules of confidentiality, attendance, no attacking
of others.)

Copyright © 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

The first session of a parenting group consisting of
ten members:

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Sample Plan


1. I get most upset as a parent when
_______________________
2. The thing I like most about being a parent
is__________________________
3. The hardest thing about parenting
is__________________________

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This activity provides material with which to
begin a discussion:

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Brief Sentence completion


10 min. Have members share their
answers in large group (use their
examples in discussion below).
15 min. Discuss Adlerian principles of
child behavior (use charts and handouts)
All behavior is purposeful.
Children are not bad—they are
discouraged.
Four goals of misbehavior.

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continued

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Sample Plan

5 min. (7:35) Have members share in
groups of three their thoughts about the
Adlerian principles.
10 min. Discuss in large group, then
continue overview of principles: Parent’s
reaction to each of the four goals of
misbehavior.

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continued

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Sample Plan


20 min. Focus on the first goal of misbehavior--attention
getting.
Use short role-plays to demonstrate
Discuss ways to deal with situations
5 min. Dyads—discuss this goal in relation to their
children and how parents may handle situations
differently.
5 min. Process dyads
10 min. Summarize—what stood out, feelings about the
group, one thing they plan to do differently.
Hand out reading material
Remind them of next meeting time

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continued

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Sample Plan


Copyright © 2012 Brooks/Cole, a division of Cengage Learning, Inc.

Not Planning
Planning Too Much
Irrelevant or Meaningless Content
Not Allowing Enough Time For the Group
to Have Any Significant Meaning

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Frequent Mistakes in Planning


Inappropriate Exercises
Too Many Exercises
Poor Planning of Time
Poor Planning of Order
Not Planning an Interesting Beginning

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continued

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Frequent Mistakes in Planning


Allowing Too Much Time for Warm-Up
Not Allowing Enough Time for Warm-Up
Vague Plans
Lack of Flexibility

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continued

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Frequent Mistakes in Planning


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Always plan
Have a back-up plan in mind in case
things don’t go as expected.
Be flexible during a session--Do not
become a slave to the plan.
Stick to the plan unless something comes
up that is equal to or better than what you

had planned.

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Key Points About Planning