Group Counselling Reflection Essay

The text book, The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy by Irvin D. Yalom with Molyn Leszcz begins with the preface of the fifth edition. In the preface, Irvin D. Yalom introduced Molyn Leszcz as his collaborator and how they met at Stanford University in 1980. He then discussed how they both worked hard collaboratively to combine old and new material to make this edition. Their goals for this edition were to prepare student therapists for the present-day workplace and to keep the current methods from decaying, so that students can gather wisdom and techniques of the field when they get the opportunity to utilize those methods as therapists. Yalom briefly talked about what each chapter in the text would discuss. He closed out by mentioning while making changes to this text, he was also writing the class novel, The Schopenhauer Cure, which complements this text very well.

Beside personal therapy, boundary setting is one of the essential elements to develop effective client-counsellor relationship. It provides a consistent framework in the counselling process which shapes the appropriate interaction and relationship structure. There are five basic principles outlined in the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) Interim Code of Ethics 2015 that guides the therapeutic boundaries. They include: beneficence (to promotes the best interest of the client), non-maleficence (“doing no harm”), autonomy (to encourage independent thinking and decision-making in the client), justice (to provide equal and fair service), and fidelity (to be honest and commit to client’s progress). However, the structure

Power is one aspect of social work practice that needs to be considered in reflecting on any situation or action. Reflection focused on anti-oppressive practice is concerned with the social worker’s understanding of the institutions of power and his or her understanding of power, and his or her understanding of identity as being constructed within a society that creates interlocking oppressions. Power is seen as ‘a social relation that may open up or close off opportunities for individuals or social groups’ (Tew,2002: 165) where ‘opportunity’ may involve anything from accessing resources and social or economic participation, through to developing personal identities and capabilities, expressing needs, and feelings and renegotiating.

When I decided to train to become a professional school counselor, I knew I had a long road ahead. I am trained to be a teacher, a special education teacher to be specific, and though I will be able to use much of my past experience as a classroom teacher in my school counseling practice, I am aware that I will also need to see my students in a new way, a more holistic way. I will need to focus not only on what works in the classroom, but what works in order to motivate and support the students with whom I meet. It is essential for me to determine what will drive me, inspire me to be the best school counselor for both my school and students, therefore, I must determine my professional philosophy of education and school counseling and develop my beliefs, vision and mission statements.

Elements of Yalom’s therapeutic factors were apparent over the course of the semester while experiencing and conducting our breakout groups. Yalom refers to 11 therapeutic factors in the practice of successful group therapy with them being: installation of hope, universality, imparting information, altruism, corrective recapitulation of primary family, development of socializing techniques, imitative behavior, interpersonal learning, group cohesiveness, catharsis, existential factors. Below, will be a reflection of my experience in the group over the course of the semester.

Psychoanalytic group therapy is the model involving groups that meets face to face with therapist and it comes approximately in a group of seven to eight members. Each and everyone in the group have to contribute with their thought. Firstly some might feel a sense of rejection being in a group but those fears will fade away after they observe the rest of the group members. Apart from that, during the session, members will be able to receive valuable feedback from one another rather than depending on the therapist itself (Kleinberg, 2011).

Prior to starting this course the MA Social Work course and the PPSWP module I felt very confident in the aspects of communicating effectively and working with a diverse range of people, and after the reading the professional capabilities framework I believe that I hold the same personal values which is expected of a social worker. The PCF6 talks about the importance of critical reflection and reflective practice explaining that it helps improve accountability, professional development and helps to you understand your own tacit knowledge and gain new knowledge, which improves outcomes and experiences for social workers. (Capabilities within the PCF, 2016)

counseling, where the co-leader can take a few minutes work on some better communication methods so that the client can learn some new and healthier methods to communicate. When the co-leader does not have a client to work with, the co-counselor can be part of the counseling process with the leader of the group.

In order to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the counselling process, the counsellor must employ a number of individual counselling skills. The effective use of these counselling skills enables the development a working therapeutic alliance therefore empowers clients to their perspectives regarding problem situations in their lives and create positive therapeutic outcomes (Egan, 2007). After watching and analysing my recorded counselling demonstration, I was able to identify the counselling skills that were used effectively, the skills that require improvement and the skills that were not demonstrated. Accordingly, this essay examines my ability to demonstrate basic counselling skills and the contribution of these skills to the formation

Counselling is a talking therapy that involves interactive relationship of client and counsellor. Counselling offers opportunity for clients to talk to the counsellor about their problems and feelings in a confidential environment. A counsellor generally helps the clients to see things from a different perspective and find their own solutions based on their own beliefs. The main aim is to enable the clients to develop a better understanding of self and be able to make changes to cope with difficulties in their lives, by reaching their own decisions and act upon them accordingly to develop a satisfying life.

The counselling process for the Xtina approach uses the Carkhuff’s model of counselling which was presented by Fuster (2005).

Through the role play, I am better convinced that counselling is not an easy job in which counsellor has to deal with the diverse issues from the clients of diverse cultural backgrounds. I believe, given time and more exposure to clients, my skills would become better and I’d also be able to make progress in areas I have identified for improvement, while maintaining a grip on my current strengths. Overall, I feel satisfied that I have made an effective use of basic counselling micro skills to establish a therapeutic relationship with my

Within this essay, I will be describing how the helping relationship is initiated by covering ethical concerns, boundaries of the relationships, equal opportunities and confidentiality. I will also be explaining how relationship is developed.

In order to prepare for our group facilitation exercise, my colleague and I sat together for the first time in class to plan and discussed our understanding of what we thought was expected of us. According to (Corey, Corey & Corey, 2010) if group facilitators are prepared, they are more likely to be able to effectively open up members for a meaningful group experience. We agreed that I would open the group and my colleague would close the group. In addition, we would share and support each other for the time in between. Our aim was to have equal

In this semester, I have been exposed to the subject of Introduction to Guidance and Counselling which is a new field of study for me. After I have received this lesson, I can relate my experiences with what I have learned. Not only that, I also have different perspective towards after I learned this subject. The aspects that I can relate my experiences and thoughts with are the differences between advice, guidance and counselling as well as the goals of counselling.