Humanities Homework Help
Post University Self and Group Member Evaluations Responses
Sarah Puddy
RE: DB Q1: Self and Group Member Evaluations
Professor and class,
This writer would feel as if the evaluation process would just be another chance to enhance the quality of care for each of the members of the group as a whole as well as a great learning experience and growth opportunity for the leader of the group. Overall, this writer would feel very comfortable with the concept of evaluating the group as a whole, doing a self evaluation after the last session of the group, and getting feedback from co-counselors and/or clients within the group.
Being a counselor of any kind, one has to have a genuine concern and be very open to understanding and learning about one’s self and how they will approach counseling others, mostly in a group setting (Berg, Fall, & Landreth, 2013). This is because not only does the counselor need to have a good base of knowledge about their own biases, but they also need to know what their personal limits of knowledge and comfort levels are. They also need feedback on any projected attitudes that were presented during therapy, they will need to know if there were any blind spots present and if there were any missed opportunities that may have benefited the group as a whole as well as the counselor themselves (Berg, Fall, & Landreth, 2013). This will set them up correctly for the next group opportunity.
Another concept that this writer would find very beneficial about the evaluation process is that by asking the clients to give an evaluation at the end of the group session, this brings a level playing field to those who may have felt as if the counselor lead was over them in some way, maybe because they have an education or so be it. This gives the clients an opportunity to spread their mind about the sessions as a whole as well as give specific advice to help others in the future with a similar group. While criticism is expected, for this writer, that would only fuel her need to succeed better in the next group session. The evaluation process is needed in many different ways in this writers opinion and she would not feel uncomfortable with this process in the least.
Berg, R.C., Fall, K.A., & Landreth, G.L. (2013). Group Counseling: Concepts and Procedures: Vol 5th Ed. Routledge.
Josseline R
RE: DB Q1: Self and Group Member Evaluations
Evaluation of the group as a whole, the role of the group leader, and feedback from group members are important for group therapy. A leader should have a genuine concern and openness to learn about themselves, their approach, what they excelled in, and what they can improve (Berg, Fall, and Landreth, 2013). Receiving feedback from the co-leader and group members can help a group leader improve on projected attitudes, blind spots, missed opportunities, and general facilitative approaches (Berg et al., 2013).
Berg et al. (2013) proposes that group leaders should consider some questions after each group session. Some of the questions that this writer would ask herself are, how did the group experience me? What did I communicate to each member? How much time did I spend focused on the content of the discussion rather than on the interactions taking place or feelings and needs subtly expressed? And did I dominate? (Berg et al., 2013). All of these questions would allow this writer to think deeply on the type of space that this writer is allowing as well as how this writer interacts with the group and vice versa.
This writer would be comfortable receiving feedback and evaluating this writer’s own work as well as the group as a whole. This writer believes that there is always something to learn and always something that one can work on to improve. Evaluations can contribute to continued growth for the counselor and group members, so the group leader should assess and evaluate the effectiveness of themselves as well as the group (Berg et al., 2013). During this writer’s supervision, she talks to her supervisor about what she did with clients and asks her supervisor how she can improve. This writer finds feedback and evaluations helpful because other people can point out stuff that we didn’t see in ourselves.
References
Berg, R. C., Fall, K. A., & Landreth, G. L. (2013). Group Counseling : Concepts and Procedures: Vol. 5th ed. Routledge.
Lekeitha S
RE: DB Q2: Course Reflection
This writer found the three most important topics interesting are 1) challenging group members, 2) groups with children and 3) specialty groups. It is essential to understand how and why individuals respond to others in specific ways in the human service field. This writer has learned more about behaviors as they can become identified by recognizing the individual’s actions, which will allow this writer to assist clients with addressing them correctly. According to Berg et al. (2013), an individual may choose avoidance as a coping mechanism. For example, examining the nature of avoidance can conflict with mental health issues and affects the interactions amongst others. Counselors are always going to have a least one challenging client.
Berg, Fall, and Landreth (2013) state that although the basic principle of group counseling is working with children in groups, serious considerations are needed regarding the structure of sessions. A basic rule of thumb is that the younger the children, the shorter the tension spand, so
the group’s shorter should be. According to Hansen, (2016) states that group with children is different from group with adults. Children are not as capable of expressing themselves as adults are. Their natural means of interaction are to play and be activity-oriented. For children younger than nine or ten, the natural means of communication are to play. Counselors for children groups must have had supervised training with children to know how to utilize this medium effectively to facilitate children’s communication with each other and the counselor.
Specialty groups focus on a particular population or problem in the provision of counseling services. The importance of specialty groups is to offer an opportunity for a group therapist to provide advanced and targeted interventions specifically for the symptoms being manifested. Ethically, therapists do need specialized training when facilitating groups with specific populations. Ethically, group counselors should not, and do not, attempt any techniques unless trained or under supervision (Berg et al., 2013). According to the ACA Code of Ethics, counselors should only practice within their competency. For example, a properly educated, trained, experienced, and supervised counselor in helping those with schizophrenia could facilitate a group with individuals with schizophrenia. This writer finds this concept important because counselors should be able to work with any group.
References:
American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA Code of Ethics.
Berg, R., Landreth, G. L., & Fall, K. A. (2013). Group counseling: Concepts and procedures. New York: Routledge.
Hansen, S. (2016). Kids Together: A group therapy program for children using cognitive-behavioral play therapy interventions. In
A. A. Drewes, C. E. Schaefer, A. A. Drewes, C. E. Schaefer (Eds.), Play therapy in middle childhood (pp. 153-169). Washington,
DC, US: American Psychological Association.
Sarah P
RE: DB Q2: Course Reflection
Professor and class,
The first concept that this writer found very helpful was diving deeper into the concept of a counselors own personal standards. A counselor needs to not only demonstrate, but actually have the natural characteristics of being self confident as well as having a deep understanding for how and why behavior change happens (Berg, Fall, & Landreth, 2013). This is not only critical for success of guiding others to their happy and healthy places when they are struggling, but these concepts are really important to maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle for the counselor themselves. Also checking in with yourself, taking refresher courses and seeking counselor yourself can all create a great foundation to success.
The second concept that this writer will take away about group counseling has to do with co-counseling. At first, this writer thought that co-counseling wasn’t the best option because this writer has found that when she works with others, she manages to fall behind and take the back seat instead of being equal. This cannot be the case in counseling a single person or a group, the co-leaders need to be a united front. The concept of ‘2 heads are better than one’ in group counseling to make sure their is an extra set of eyes and ears to take in the whole group experience is really beneficial to the other counselor (Berg, Fall, & Landreth, 2013). The other great need for a co-counselor is to create a model for the clients for how to interact with another person in a stable and kind relationship and this can also show that people can have differences in opinions but still be respectful and kind to each other (Berg, Fall, & Landreth, 2013).
The third concept that this writer will take away is about counseling in a group with children. While this writer knows that socially, being around other children is critical but what group therapy does is it give each child the knowledge that other children have problems too and that they are not alone in what they are dealing with (Berg, Fall, & Landreth, 2013). Group counseling allows them to see that what they are going through might be universal and this can create lasting friendships with the group. Helping other children could take on a new role for a struggling child because they will feel as if they are really needed and wanted in those moments (Berg, Fall, & Landreth, 2013).
Berg, R.C., Fall, K.A., & Landreth, G.L. (2013). Group Counseling: Concepts and Procedures: Vol 5th Ed. Routledge.
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