Group Counseling
Group Counseling is a form of treatment that focuses on the interpersonal relationships and social interactions that are a fundamental part of a group experience. Groups meet at regularly scheduled times and typically consist of 6 to 8 members.
The process of "counseling" takes place as group members interact with one another and explore problems with everyone in the group; members gain insight into their own patterns of behaviors while still offering support to others.
The Counseling Center strives to provide a safe and comfortable place on campus where students can work through their problems. An added benefit of group counseling is that it inherently helps students who struggle with social interactions. Most groups are comprised of students from different majors, backgrounds, and life experiences but all of this adds to the wealth of insight that can be gleaned when group members come together to share and focus on problem resolution.
Benefits of Group Counseling
- Groups are a powerful means of growth and change because students who face similar issues not only provide support and insight for their peers in the group, but they also benefit from the tremendous understanding and encouragement they receive from others.
- Group members are privy to different perspectives and viewpoints that they may not have considered.
- Many students tend to shy away from groups, preferring individual counseling, thinking that that's the quickest and safest way to resolve their issues, but the opposite is true for most students. Those who have pushed past their apprehension have reported the group experience to be beyond their expectations.
- While individual counseling sessions tend to be short-term, there is no limit to the number of group sessions a student can have
Introduction to Group Therapy by Darius Campinha-Bacote
Spring 2020 Therapy Groups
FAQs
What are the goals of group counseling?
The goals of group counseling are grounded in the basis that it is a group and there are more individuals with different levels of experience in attendance to share in the process. The Counseling Center believes that groups provide a unique means of resolving conflict and problems because group members:
- Both provide and receive support
- Gain understanding and explore possible outcomes
- Practice interpersonal skills in a safe setting
- Receive feedback on how they are perceived by others
- Enhance their problem-solving skills
- Decrease social isolation
- Develop better communication skills
- Improve their emotional expressiveness
Why Group Counseling?
Many personal problems are interpersonal in nature. Typically, personal problems stem from past and current relationships or from the patterns of relating to one another that are unique to the individual. Group counseling offers the rare opportunity to better understand how people relate to one another and provides an opportunity to receive specific feedback in a supportive setting.
Many students report effective and quick results as a result of being a group member. The group leader(s) also set the stage for trust and safety in the group. Once an individual experiences that safety in that setting, it is easier to recreate it in other aspects of one's life, such as in classes, in work, in one's living situation, with family members, with friends and with an intimate partner.