Group counseling has been shown to be effective therapy for children, adolescent
Group counseling has been shown to be effective therapy for children, adolescents and adults. Further, group counseling is as effective as individual counseling with certain groups (Erford, 2016 as cited in Erford, 2018). According to Erford (2018), for adults with mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder, group treatment is effective in that it allows an avenue for them to receive “interpersonal support, learn effective coping skills and understand the nature and course of the conditions” (p. 537). This may or may not be possible in an individual counseling session where the counselor is the only support giver. Ideally, members of a group will receive support, feedback and connection from each other instead of only from the counselor (Tartakovsky, 2018).
With this in mind, you are to find one research article (must be a report of a research study) that examined some aspect of a group counseling intervention. You will read the article and then write an essay wherein you detail the following:
1. Describe the group participants (Age group, gender, presenting issues).
2. Where did the group sessions take place? Setting?
3. How many group leaders were there?
4. How often did the group meet?
5. Where any issues discussed?
6. Do you think group counseling was the ideal or would individual counseling been better?
The purpose of this assignment is to enable you to further focus your mind on the content of the first module and that we will cover during the remainder of the semester. You will be immersed in the broad tenets of counseling and the specifics of group counseling.