WORKING PAPER 1

Submitted to:

Prof. Evelyn Alobba

University of the Philippines Visayas

EDCO 235 (GROUP GUIDANCE)

Submitted by:

Meryl C. Sasana

Student No.: 201852084

01February 2020
 DEFINITIONS OF GROUP COUNSELING

● Group counseling is growth engendering and prevention and remediation oriented.

Group counseling is prevention oriented in the sense that the counselees or clients
are capable of functioning in society but may be experiencing some “rough spots” in
their lives. If counseling is successful, the rough spots may be successfully smoothed
with no serious personality defects incurred. Group counseling, is growth engendering
insofar as it provides the participants incentive and motivation to make changes that
are in their best interest (that is, the participants are motivated to take actions that
maximize their potential through self-actualizing behaviors). Group counseling is
remedial for those individuals who have entered into a spiral of self-defeating behavior
but who are nevertheless capable of reversing the spiral without counseling
intervention. However, with counseling intervention, the counselee is likely to recover,
and recover more quickly and with fewer emotional scars. (Gazda, et al., 1967).
● Group counseling is an important practice modality that includes a broad range of
specific arenas, including career, educational, college, school, guidance, community,
marital, family, health, mental health, substance abuse, behavioral disorders, and
gerontological counseling. Graduates of accredited counseling programs pursue
careers in community mental health and human services agencies, educational
institutions, private practice, government, business, hospitals, and industrial settings.
Group counselors also lead different types of groups, such as educational,
psychoeducational, task, support, single session, open-ended, activity, substance
abuse prevention, and recovery groups (Shulman, 2011).
● Group counseling offers real promise in meeting today’s challenges. Group counseling
enables practitioners to work with more clients, a decided advantage in these
managed care times. In addition, the group process has unique learning advantages.
Group counseling may well be the treatment of choice for many populations (Corey,
G., 2016).
● Group counseling has preventive as well as remedial aims. Generally, the counseling
group has a specific focus, which may be educational, career, social, or personal.
Group work emphasizes interpersonal communication of conscious thoughts,
feelings, and behavior within a here-and-now time frame. Counseling groups are often
 problem oriented, and the members largely determine their content and aims. Group
members typically do not require extensive personality reconstruction, and their
concerns generally relate to the developmental tasks of the life span. Group
counseling tends to be growth oriented in that the emphasis is on discovering internal
resources of strength. The participants may be facing situational crises and temporary
conflicts, struggling with personal or interpersonal problems of living, experiencing
difficulties with life transitions, or trying to change self-defeating behaviors. The group
provides the empathy and support necessary to create the atmosphere of trust that
leads to sharing and exploring these concerns. Group members are assisted in
developing their existing skills in dealing with interpersonal problems so that they will
be better able to handle future problems of a similar nature. The group counselor uses
verbal and nonverbal techniques as well as structured exercises. The role of the group
counselor is to facilitate interaction among the members, help them learn from one
another, assist them in establishing personal goals, and encourage them to translate
their insights into concrete plans that involve taking action outside of the group. Group
counselors perform their role largely by teaching members to focus on the here-and-
now and to identify the concerns they wish to explore in the group. Group counseling
can be designed to meet the needs of specific populations such as children,
adolescents, college students, or the elderly (Corey, G., 2016).
● Group counseling programs can provide individuals with the kinds of group
experiences that help them learn to function effectively, to develop tolerance to stress
and anxiety, and to find satisfaction in working and living with others (Gazda et al.,
2001).
● Although the content of group counseling is very similar to group guidance—including
educational, vocational, personal, and social concerns—a number of other factors are
quite different. First group guidance was recommended for everyone on a regularly
scheduled basis. Group counseling is generally recommended only for those
experiencing continuing or temporary problems that information alone will not resolve.
However, in order to remove the stigma sometimes attached to counseling, it is
recommended that group counseling also be made available to everyone. Another
 reason to include everyone in group counseling is the need to form heterogeneous
groups and in this manner provide healthy models in every counseling group.
Second, traditional group guidance made an indirect attempt to change attitudes and
behaviors through accurate information or an emphasis on cognitive or intellectual
functioning; group counseling makes a direct attempt to modify attitudes and
behaviors by emphasizing total involvement. Finally, traditional group guidance was
applicable to groups of Fifteen to thirty, whereas group counseling is dependent on
the development of strong group cohesiveness and the sharing of personal concerns,
which are most applicable to small, intimate groups of three or four (children) or eight
to twelve (adolescents and adults) (Gazda, 1931).

DEFINITIONS OF GROUP GUIDANCE

● Group guidance was organized to prevent the development of problems. The goal of
traditional/group guidance was to provide students with accurate information that
would help them make more appropriate plans and life decisions and in this sense is
prevention-oriented. The content included educational-vocational-personal-social
information not otherwise systematically taught in academic courses. The typical
setting was the classroom. Typical class size ranged from approximately twenty to
thirty-five. Providing accurate information for use in improved understanding of self
and others was the direct emphasis in group guidance; attitude change frequently was
an indirect outcome or goal. The leadership was provided by a classroom teacher or
a counselor who utilized a variety of instructional media and group dynamics concepts
in motivating students and in obtaining group interaction. Instructional media included
unfinished stories, puppet plays, movies, films, filmstrips, guest speakers, audio and
videotaped interviews, student reports, and the like.
In addition to the classroom-size unit in which group guidance was provided by either
the teacher or counselor, group guidance was also implemented in junior and senior
high schools through units taught in courses such as social studies, language arts,
and home economics. A third means of implementing group guidance was through
credit courses (for example, psychology, senior problems, and occupations).
 With the increasing interest and need for direct teaching/training in life skills, one can
predict an increase in courses that are guidance in nature (courses in psychological
education, consumer skills, family management, interpersonal relationships).
These courses can also be expected to be included in the community college
curriculum. Certain four-year colleges will also add them. Universities can be expected
to continue to present guidance-type content through their health and counseling
centers and student union functions. Other adults will be able to obtain a type of group
guidance through the mass media and adult education courses.
At the early elementary and middle school levels, group guidance still exists and is a
part of the interest in affective education that includes units taught through the use of
the magic circle, kits such as “class meetings,” “developmental guidance units,” and
similar approaches. (Gazda,1931).
● “Guidance in group situations usually is thought of as referring to those guidance
services that are made available by school personnel to large or small groups of
pupils.” (Crow and Crow, 1960)
● “Group guidance is any group enterprise or activity in which the primary purpose is to
assist each individual in the group to solve his problems and to make his adjustments.”
(Jone)

● The characteristics of group guidance are as follows:

(i) Group guidance is a relationship in which the guidance personnel attempt to help a
number of students to overcome their personal problems and difficulties.

(ii) Group guidance is a group activity process.

(iii) It provides chance to explore a problem, its causes and solution to it as a result of
which the individual student gains the ways and knowledge to overcome the difficulty.

(iv) The students gain a lot of experiences related to the problem of life in a group
situation. (Priyansh Thakur)

● The following are some of the principal objectives which are to be achieved by group
guidance program:

(i) The group guidance is useful for guidance personnel to assist the members of the
group to attain increased maturity in relation to realistic goals and adjustment.
(ii) It enables the members of group to manifest their individual problem before group and
find out the ways for its solution from the group discussion and group judgement.

(iii) It helps the members of group to understand and ascertain themselves as a result of
which they may be able to achieve broader prospective of themselves and develop
insight in relation to others.

(iv) It helps the individual to be aware of their personal needs, demands, strength,
weaknesses and problems.

v) It is used to release, painful feelings, frustration and anxiety of the individual member
of the group.

(vi) It helps individual to explore the unknown problems of the members of the group with
typical progress (Priyansh Thakur).

● The group guidance is based on following principles:

(i) The group meant for the group guidance should be homogeneous in nature.

(ii) The group guidance should be helpful and essential for everybody of the group.

(iii) Individual problems should not be neglected in case of a group guidance problem.
They are to be emphasized, discussed and found out certain solutions.

(iv) Almost all members of the group should be initiated and encouraged to solve their
individual problems with friendly climate and good relationship.

(v) The members involved in the group guidance should not be selfish and in-
humanitarian in nature.

(vi) The group and the group guidance should be well managed by the needful action of
the teachers and guidance workers.

(vii) The members of the group should not hide the personal problems before group.

● The scope of group guidance includes the following issues and problems which are to
be explored and solved:

(i) Problems in regards to educational courses, educational plans and programmes.

(ii) Various curricular issues and topics.

(iii) Problems of career choices in the context of facilities gained.

(iv) Various occupational issues and problems.

(v) Personality problems and issues.

(vi) Social problems and related situations.

(vii) Job placement and adjustment in job and previous preparations for it.

(viii) Economic set-up and problems.

(ix) Problems of group life and group adjustment.

(x) Solution to various life problems and success. (Priyansh Thakur)

DEFINITIONS OF GROUP DYNAMICS

● Group dynamics is a set of behavioral and psychological processes that occur within
a social group or between groups. It refers to the "nature of groups, the laws of their
development, and their interrelations with individuals, other groups, and larger
institutions" (Cartwright and Zander, 1968).
● Group dynamics refers to forces that result from the interaction of group members.
(Toseland, R. W. and Rivas, Robert, 2001).
● Group dynamics is a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring
within a social group (intragroup dynamics), or between social groups (intergroup
dynamics). The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision-
making behaviour, tracking the spread of diseases in society, creating effective
therapy techniques, and following the emergence and popularity of new ideas and
technologies.[1] Group dynamics are at the core of understanding racism, sexism, and
other forms of social prejudice and discrimination. These applications of the field are
studied in psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, epidemiology,
education, social work, business, and communication studies (Backstrom, L.;
Huttenlocher, D.; Kleinberg, J.; Lan, X., 2006).
● Group dynamics concepts referred to the process employed in group guidance, such
as socio-dramas, buzz groups, panels, and other related techniques. Gazda, G.M.
(1931).
● The processes, operations, and changes that occur within social groups, which affect
patterns of affiliation, communication, conflict, conformity, decision making, influence,
leadership, norm formation, and power. (APA dictionary of Psychology)
● The term ‘group dynamics’ means the study of forces within a group. Since human
beings have an innate desire for belonging to a group, group dynamism is bound to
occur. In an organization or in a society, we can see groups, small or large, working
for the well-being. The social process by which people interact with one another in
small groups can be called group dynamism. A group has certain common objectives
& goals. Because of which members are bound together with certain values and
culture. https://www.toppr.com/guides/fundamentals-of-economics-and-
management/group-dynamics/meaning-and-definitions-of-group-dynamics/
● In the ‘80s, the term group dynamics was commonly applied to practical attempts to
reduce intragroup and intergroup tension. In industrial setting in the ’70s, it is referred
to the study of individual interaction in small groups. Sharing makes it possible for
people to get to know one another in a friendly and open atmosphere. Through group
dynamics, people learn about themselves and others. When people see how similar
they are in their weaknesses, it becomes easy for them to trust and therefore to
communicate. Group Dynamics then is the fastest and least painful way of bringing
about real changes in a community.
Bonner (1959) has outlined the development of the group dynamics movement as
beginning in the late 1800s, notably in Europe, and including contributions from
sociology, psychology, philosophy, and education—but primarily contributions came
from sociology and psychology (Gazda, G.M., 1931).

DEFINITIONS OF GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY

● Group psychotherapy is a process of reeducation that includes both conscious and

unconscious awareness and both the present and the past. Some therapy groups are
primarily designed to correct emotional and behavioral disorders that impede one’s
 functioning or to remediate in-depth psychological problems. The goal may be either
a minor or a major transformation of personality structure, depending on the
theoretical orientation of the group therapist. Because of this goal, therapy groups
tend to be longer term than other kinds of groups. The people who make up the group
may be suffering from severe emotional problems, deep personal conflicts, effects of
trauma, or psychotic states. Many of these individuals are in need of remedial
treatment rather than developmental and preventive work. A major difference between
group therapy and group counseling lies in the group’s goals. Counseling groups focus
on growth, development, enhancement, prevention, self-awareness, and releasing
blocks to growth, whereas therapy groups focus on issues such as remediation,
treatment, and personality reconstruction. Group therapists are typically clinical or
counseling psychologists, licensed professional counselors, licensed marriage and
family therapists, and clinical social workers. They use a wide range of verbal
modalities (which group counselors also use), and some employ techniques to induce
regression to earlier experiences, to tap unconscious dynamics, and to help members
re-experience traumatic situations so that catharsis can occur. As these experiences
are relived in the group, members become aware of and gain insight into past
decisions that interfere with current functioning. The group therapist assists members
in developing a corrective emotional experience and in making new decisions about
the world, others, and themselves (Corey, G., 2016).
● Group therapy is a powerful tool for growth and change. The power in group therapy
lies in the unique opportunity to receive multiple perspectives, support,
encouragement, and feedback from other individuals in safe and confidential
environment. These interpersonal interactions can provide group members an
opportunity to deepen their level of self-awareness and to learn how they relate to
others. Group therapy can be a safe and supportive place to experiment with new
ideas and ways of being (Gazda, G.M., 1931).
Group therapy can help you:
o Discover that you're not alone in your struggles, thoughts, and feelings
o Learn from other students facing similar problems
o Gain multiple perspectives on your concerns
o Feel more connected to others as group cohesion develops
o Become more aware of yourself through genuine feedback from others
o Pick up new interpersonal skills that you can use in your daily life
o Internalize the lessons you've learned by helping others in the group
o Develop effective ways of building and maintaining relationships
● Group psychotherapy, the third part of the guidance, counseling, therapy continuum,
was coined by J.L. Moreno )in 1936 (Corsini, 1957). Moreno’s definition is a general
one: “Group psychotherapy means simply to treat people in groups’’ (1962, p. 263). It
is generally accepted that there is a difference in group counseling and group
psychotherapy although there is overlap between them. Brammer and Shostrom have
characterized these differences by the following series of adjectives in which
counseling is described as educational, supportive, situational, problem-solving,
conscious awareness, emphasis on “normals,” and short-term. Psychotherapy is
characterized by supportive (in a more particular sense), reconstructive, depth
analysis, analytical, focus on the unconscious, emphasis on “neurotics” or other
severe emotional problems, and long-term. (1960, p. 6). Although these
differentiations were applied to individual counseling and psychotherapy, they are
equally applicable to group counseling and group psychotherapy. (Group counseling
: a developmental approachGazda, George Michael, 1931)
● Group psychotherapy in a larger concept is any helping process that takes place in a
group, including support groups, skills training groups (such as anger management,
mindfulness, relaxation training or social skills training), and psychoeducation groups
(Wikipedia.org, 2019).
● Group therapy provides psychotherapy treatment in a format where there is typically
one therapist and six to twelve participants with related problems. Sometimes a
therapist may recommend group therapy over individual psychotherapy for a variety
of reasons. It may be that the group format is better suited for the person or the
concern they are dealing with, or that the specific type of treatment has a group
therapy component (Herkov, 2020).
REFERENCES:
Backstrom, L.; Huttenlocher, D.; Kleinberg, J.; Lan, X. (2006). "Group formation in large
social networks". Proceedings of the 12th ACM SIGKDD international conference on
Knowledge discovery and data mining - KDD '06. p. 44.
doi:10.1145/1150402.1150412. ISBN 978-1595933393.

Corey, G. (2016). Theory and practice of group counseling (9th ed.). Singapore: Cengage
Learning Asia Pte Ltd.

Introduction to education; fundamental principles and modern practices

Lester Crow-Alice Crow - American Book Co. - 1960

Gazda, G.M. (1931). Group counseling : a developmental approach.

Group psychotherapy. (2019, December 16). Retrieved January 31, 2020, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_psychotherapy

Herkov, M. (2020). About Group Therapy. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 30, 2020,
from https://psychcentral.com/lib/about-group-therapy

Shulman, L. (2011). Dynamics and skills of group counseling. Australia: Brooks/Cole

Cengage Learning.

Thakur, P. (2016, August 30). Group Guidance for Students: Education. Retrieved from
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/educational-planning/group-guidance-for-
students-education/90056

Zander, A. F., & Cartwright, D. (1968). Group dynamics: research and theory. London:
Tavistock.