Question 2
Discuss the major tasks of the group counsellor during the early stages of group
development.
Group counselling is popular and it became common nowadays. In Group counselling, one
counsellor is in charged in a relationship with a group of people at the same time. Group
counselling normally focused with developmental problems and situational concerns of the
group members. The main purpose and focused is to help to settle or improve the conflict and
encourage greater self-awareness and understanding. A counsellor in this context provides
leadership. According to Corey and Corey (1997), there are different stages of group
counselling for example, the initial stage, the transition stage, the working stage and the final
stage. Before a start of any group counselling sessions, a group counsellor will have to meet
with their clients separately to conduct a pre-group evaluation and by collecting information
about the different issues faced by them. When the different parties agreed to have the group
counselling, the group counsellor will arrange and provide the different timing, date and
locations of the sessions. It is important and crucial for group counsellor to know the strength
and weaknesses of the group in order to be helpful and effective. An effective group
counsellor will plan ahead of time and constantly aware and be sensitive towards their latest
level of development. According to Gladding, 1994, with the collective information, group
counsellor will be able to apply effective techniques to help their groups in completely
developing.
During the early stage, group counsellor has various tasks to do in order to continue the
session and be effective:
a) Dealing with apprehension
The meaning of apprehension means unease or anxiety. Many people are affected by anxiety
and no doubts too much or too little of anxiety will somehow affect the performance of the
group as well as the members. Facing the apprehension especially at the beginning of the
group is acceptable and is common as it will help group members to concentrate on what they
are going through as well as the task at hand. It is also important for the group counsellor to
handle whatever misunderstandings that might be caused by anxiety. A clear and close
observation will be able to give the client an opportunity to deal with their feelings especially
their anxiety about sharing it openly with the group members.
b) Reviewing member’s goals and contracts
It is important for the group counsellor to know by heart the objectives and specific
goals for the members of the group and ultimately at the end for the group to strive
and to achieve their goals. The goals for the group counselling should make clear to
all members of the group. Furthermore, it is crucial for the group counsellors to
clarify individual goals and to ensure is in line with the goals of the group by reemphasize the purpose of the group counselling at the start of every session and have
everyone to explain and elaborate their goals. According to Gladding, 2003, some group
counselling practicing a written contract where every member get to specify how and
when the clients would like to target to make the necessary changes that in line with their
goals.
c) Specifying group rules
Even though most human being does not like rules but it is a good practice for the
Group counsellor to set the guidelines clear to the group, once this is established
before and after the group counselling, it will be beneficial for everyone including the
group counsellor. This will help to encourage group togetherness and compliance to
the rules and guidelines set by the group counsellor. A positive rules and guidelines
will indeed help the session rather than setting a negative rules and guidelines that
might create fear before any group session. One important rule but is the most
difficult to achieve is confidentiality. Whether or not confidentiality is violated
intentionally or unintentionally, group counsellor should encourage a mutual
discussion among the group members on the ways that confidentiality could be
violated and everyone in the group should agree at the start of the group session and
make known the consequences for breaking such confidentiality. Group counsellor
also have the responsibilities to protect the information or the member’s data on paper
or digitally. It is importance to have all the procedures and rules in place before have
to deal with confidentiality issues in the future.
d) Settling limits
It is important for the group counsellor to set the limits and boundaries around and
focus on the behaviours for example on issue
e) Promoting a positive interchange among members
Setting Limits: Limits are the boundaries the group sets around behaviours of group members.
They determine what will be accepted and what will not be accepted in the group. Such limits are
set both explicitly and implicitly in group settings. Explicitly, these limits take the form of rules
regarding acceptable behaviours and procedures.