Counselor and The Group

Integrating Theory, Training, and Practice

James P. Trotzer

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781134940172
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychologie
• Subtopic: Geschichte & Theorie in der Psychologie

The third edition of this text is expanded and embellished by the addition of chapters by noted group experts. It is logically organized into chapters that present the merits, rationale, dynamics, process and developmental tasks of group counseling. It discusses leader and member dynamics in depth, provides technical guidance for organizing and running groups, and gives special emphasis to the use of structured activities in groups and the relevance of family theory as a resource to group leaders.Readers will not only learn about groups but will learn how to lead groups. The group process model presented is explained clearly using language and diagrams that are easy to follow. The activities at the end of each chapter provide an experiential extension to the content so that readers can internalize and apply concepts. The book is intended to be a hands-on tool that will give credence to groups as a helping process in which clients learn to solve personal and interpersonal problems, learn and grow in personally meaningful ways.

1 CHAPTER

Introduction and Context

Our Changing World

The evidence is overwhelming that the world around us is changing at an ever increasing rate and that we as individuals are faced with an ever more complex environment. We are constantly forced to adapt if we want to achieve our potential, individually and collectively. Over a quarter century ago Gazda (1971a) pointed out that “the world each of us personally inhabits grows steadily and rapidly larger. No (person) today has any choice but to be part of a greater and more diverse community” (p. 6). That observation has not only been realized, but accelerated by the technological advancements of the computer age.

The primary indicator of our expanding world is that we are inundated with the exponential development of new information often referred to as the knowledge explosion. Access to that new knowledge is promulgated by the perpetual evolution of the information superhighway that gives us rapid retrieval through computer technology, the internet, email, fax machines, and cellular phones. So sophisticated is consumer access to information that Waitley’s (1978) observation that we are bombarded with eight times the amount of information that our grandparents were exposed to in a lifetime is archaic. Futurists drumming the perspective of space age technology indicate there is no possibility of human beings keeping up with the development of new knowledge in any discipline without the assistance or rather the necessity of computers. No wonder people who have not grown up with computers as their mode of communication feel completely over-whelmed. Even those with computer competence and allegiance have difficulty keeping pace with the rapid changes in the information industry.

Information overload that encourages and demands dependence on technology not only overwhelms individuals but produces a by-product of isolation (Klein, 1985). As individuals, our sense of identity is eroded as it becomes modified by and melded with the mechanics of knowledge rather than forged in the cauldron of human interaction. As this experience escalates, the seeds of dehumanization are planted and nurtured.

The problems of adjusting to such a world, however, are not the result of the essence or speed of change itself nor the nature or plethora of knowledge, but rather are the result of the conflict that is produced because individual adjustment to change is a slow process. C. Gilbert Wrenn (1962 & 1971) one of the forefathers of the counseling movement and a great humanitarian noted that the critical conflict of the human experience is associated with the discrepancy between what he called outer reality and inner reality. Outer reality—the world outside the boundaries of the individual person—changes very quickly. Inner reality—each person’s personality, identity, values, attitudes, and perceptions—changes very slowly. Consequently, all human problems are adjustment problems. The clash between these two realities sums up the basic stress we all experience and provides a context for the problems that confront us.

Since the pace of scientific and technological change far exceeds that of social change, each of us is confronted with the task of not only getting ourselves together but also developing the interpersonal skills necessary to meet our needs in a global, mobile, and changing society. This requires each individual to be strong, flexible, and able to act interdependently. Each of us must increase what Toffler (1970) called our “cope-ability” capacity defined as the speed and economy with which we adapt to change.

The personal consequences of change in our environment are readily evident. The individual is bombarded with the inconceivable nature of change, the futility of understanding or impeding it, and the inability to change quickly enough to adapt to it. “We have more knowledge than we know what to do with, more people than we know how to live with, more physical energy than we know how to cope with, and in all things a faster rate of change than we know how to keep up with” (Dyer, 1967, p. 4). The implications of these realizations on our existence has effected a massive shift in our patterns of life and our sense of security.

Life styles have paradoxically taken on characteristics of a global expansiveness communicationally while generating relational reclusiveness personally. A person can do business by fax, email, phone, or the internet all over the world but remain isolated relying on technology to stay in contact rather than making a connection personally. In addition, physical mobility has produced life styles of a nomadic nature as opposed to a stationery one associated with a community. Career experts Tiedeman and Tiedeman’s (1973) observation that “Today we move more, change jobs more and ourselves more and rely on faster and more elaborate technology and communication” (p. 336) is both prophetic and understated. Technology has affected the very nature of occupation by causing many jobs to become archaic, creating jobs requiring different skills and functions and making other jobs obsolete if not upgraded with computer capabilities and competencies. Without word processing skills and computer proficiency neither professors nor secretaries can function effectively in their respective capacities. Katz’s (1973) projection that the concept of “job” would be phased out in favor of a view of “occupation” as more of an attitude toward learning was short sighted. Now you do not necessarily have to know how to do things as long as you know how to outsource or access information and resources.

Expanded communication capabilities expose us to problems and social concerns that intrude upon our lives and demand our attention. Wars, racism, sexism, terrorism, ageism, poverty, inflation, overpopulation, ecology, global warming, corruption, crime, and disasters of human and natural causality, local or global, confront us each day. As a result, we can be assured that we will face the prospect of changing old relationships and beginning new relationships throughout our lives. We must learn the efficacy of saying goodbye to the old and hello to the new as part and parcel of daily life. But at the same time we must learn how to retain the positive and critical aspects of our past experience to assure our present and future growth. Change and retention are facets of life adjustment that must be balanced so that stability and progress are possible.

The Domain of Choice

What then are the implications for the child, the adolescent, and the adult whose personality and identity are constantly developing and emerging through the process of interaction between the self and the rapidly changing world they live in? Individuals must be prepared to engage in a continual process of decision making to maintain purposeful and responsible control over their own lives because of the ever increasing variety of attitudes, values and life styles that are becoming part of the domain of choice.

Children are more aware of the diverse elements of their environments than ever before. Mass media, computers, family mobility, and educational systems that stress exposure and experience all contribute to this awareness of an ever increasing range of possible behaviors and life styles. Preteenagers and adolescents are faced with choices earlier and in a more intense manner than ever before. Drugs, sex, morals, values, occupational choices, relationships, identity, and sexual orientation all must be grappled with. Neither is the adult freed from the necessity of choosing. Social awareness developed through education and the media impede acting in ignorance or irresponsibly. The economy, occupational evolution, increased leisure time and value changes continually force adults to reassess themselves and their life style. Even the aging process is complicated by issues of quality of life, health choices, living wills, and the prospect of living but being unable to care for oneself. Thus the domain of choice is not only larger but extends over a longer period of time as life span and life expectancy increases.

The common element needed for successful resolution in all these cases is the ability to make good decisions based on accurate self-knowledge and relevant knowledge of the environment. Victor Frankl once observed that “man ultimately decides for himself.” As such, education, counseling, therapy, or any learning experience must move human beings toward having the “ability to decide.”

The development of decision making skills including the processes of introspection, communication, and relationship formation are necessary because only through the process of self-exploration and feedback from others can a person become fully aware of those options and consequences that must be considered in making the best decisions possible. Through the process of effective decision making we as individuals, whatever our age or circumstance, can retain control over our lives and destinies in spite of pressures brought to bear on us by our changing world.

The Need for Group Counseling

Groups and group work are peculiarly and uniquely designed to address the problems of living in our contemporary society. Hulse (1985) stated that “against the backdrop of a complex and highly technological world and our own needs for connections and support, the group emerges as a potentially humanizing force” (p. 93). Dies (1985) elaborated noting that the

heightened individualization of learning and sense of isolation … threatens to undermine the sense of personal relatedness that provides the foundation of human interaction. The feeling of universality and cohesiveness and the quality of interpersonal learning … of group experiences promise to be effective antidotes to counteract these depersonalizing forces (p. 70).

He continued to state that groups “will be used to rehumanize the educational process for children … and revitalize adults who feel alienated in a technological society” (p. 71). Conyne, Dye, Gill, Leddick, Moran, and Ward (1985) concurred with this view and predicted that groups “will become major forces in combatting the increasing depersonalization and anomie that are likely to accompany the computer and ‘high tech’ revolution” (p. 114).

Dye (DeLucia, 1991) pointedly states that “counseling groups are places where people exchange ideas and teach each other and learn from each other” (p. 68). In a practical sense, the counseling group is also a valuable tool in helping people improve their ability to make decisions and act in a manner that is personally meaningful, constructive, and socially relevant. The positive aspects of the helping process are incorporated into the group setting and facilitate the transfer of learning more readily to the ongoing life of the participant. The group counseling process if properly constituted and led meets the demands of an effective learning environment because it is safe, understanding, participating, and approving (Ohlsen, 1977). In addition, the process is directed toward self exploration, encouraging introspection and feedback so that communication can occur and relationships can develop. Therefore, it establishes the fundamental basis needed to make good decisions. Consequently, “it is the content and process of group involvement that impacts the very essence of our lives and leads us to new possibilities” (Gladding, 1990, p. 130).

The group process is also a most appropriate means of meeting the personal needs of individuals who often feel isolated, alienated, confused, frustrated, or lost in a world characterized by change, bureaucracy, and bigness. The group supplies a personal touch to the individual’s life, serving as an oasis in the wasteland of an impersonal existence that is often a byproduct of scientific and technological advancement. It is a means whereby we as individuals can reconstitute and revitalize the type of personal experience that gives meaning to human existence and generates the impetus to incorporate those experiences into our daily lives.

Group counseling has broad applicability, encompassing the needs of persons from a wide variety of backgrounds and age groups. For individuals who have identifiable problems that interfere with their lives, group counseling can help them resolve their concerns in a personally responsible and realistic manner. For individuals who do not have specified concerns, the group process can help them improve themselves developmentally and serve as a preventative measure to ensure continued adjustment and personal satisfaction in their lives.

The flexibility of group counseling facilitates adaptability to a broad range of helping environments and programs. It is a relevant means of helping clientele in schools, mental health centers, correctional institutions, halfway houses, drug treatment programs, employment agencies, welfare programs, homeless shelters, and many other organizations whose purpose is to help people with their personal development and concerns. It is also an appropriate and effective modality in an organizational sense where the goals are improved productivity and more effective utilization of human resources. (See Association for Specialists in Group Work, 1982).

However, the need for group counseling extends beyond the persons and organizations served. A professional need exists to develop group counseling as a vehicle for providing helping services to the counselor’s clientele thereby expanding the counselor’s effectiveness. In this age of accountability the counselor must become a visible professional and be willing to demystify the nature of the helping process (Ivey & Alschuler, 1973). Groups can be used to increase client-counselor contact and to extend the role of the counselor by providing services to larger numbers of persons in the schools and in the community (Cottingham, 1973). The group process can be the key to providing the helping process in a manner that will best serve the interests of the clients, the educational or therapeutic staff and setting, the community, business and industry, and the counseling profession.

The Need for Training

The success and impact of group work is primarily dependent on the ability of a competent leader. Most counselor training programs recognize the need to train future counselors in group procedures and incorporate at least one course in group process into their requirements. Professional standards developed by relevant professional organizations and their derivatives (e.g., American Counseling Association and their credentialling counterparts, Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs [CACREP] and National Board of Certified Counselors [NBCC]) have all promoted the requirement of competency in group work. The Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) specifically emphasizes group work as a fundamental competency for all counselors (Conyne, 1996). State licensing boards and certification agencies have followed suit by incorporating professional credentialling requirements or specifying their own stipulations relative to group work. However, most counselors complete their training at the master’s degree level with only one or two group courses and possibly some supervised group experience during their practicum or internship (Huhn, Zimpfer, Waltman, & Williamson, 1985). This factor prompted Stockton (Morran, 1992) to state, “I am often impressed with the large number of counselors who have graduated from training programs with solid individual counseling skills and minimal group counseling skills” (p. 7). Thus they venture forth to their jobs with a minimum of training and a maximum of timidity with respect to implementing group work.

Counselors who were trained prior to the 70s and have not subsequently pursued specific additional training in group work also may lack the skill and possibly even the philosophical basis for group counseling. Group counseling demonstrations, continuing education presentations, and professional conference programs serve to promote the group modality as a viable procedure. At best the training value of these programs is questionable and the impact sporadic. Counselors often come away from these programs with enthusiasm and some new techniques but without the depth necessary to develop functional and comprehensive group programs.

Katz (1973) pointed out that an abundance of persons want to participate in experiential groups, but few persons are qualified to organize and lead them. Aubrey (1973), in discussing models to expand the effectiveness and role of the counselor, identified the group as the primary means of doing so. Carroll (1973) in her discussion of the “supracounselor” (a counselor who is expert as a helper and in training others to be helpers) also affirmed that need. Conyne et al. (1985) flatly stated that in spite of the growing need for groups in our society there is “a disappointingly insufficient supply of well trained group workers.” They also cited poor leadership training as the “single weakest area in the group work field today” (p. 113).

As a result, a great need exists for the development of training programs at graduate, postgraduate, continuing education, and inservice levels to prepare competent group leaders. Lifton (Christensen, 1990) opined, “We need trained group counselors to be counselor trainers, because counselors will find themselves in many settings where group skills will be needed, and the people won’t know how to apply them or how to use them” (p. 138). Conyne, Harvill, Morganette, Moran, and Hulse-Killacky (1990) have observed,

In general, counseling graduates are moving into work sites with some knowledge of group counseling, a lesser amount of competency training in group membership and leadership and with severely limited supervised experience in actually leading groups. Group leadership effectiveness cannot be accomplished under these training conditions (p. 31).

Recently, professional development workshops sponsored by the American Counseling Association and the Association for Specialists in Group Work have begun to make ...