Main Discussion Post 1 – According to Corey & Corey (2006) group counseling is just as effective as individual counseling. There are numerous reasons for such value in group counseling such as lower costs, effectiveness of treatment
for certain problems, and less time (Corey & Corey, 2006). Group therapy, in my opinion, has great advantages for managed care agencies in reducing costs and for clients in rectifying and/or the prevention of specific problems. I have worked with groups in the substance abuse area with drug court
in Arkansas. The pre and post testing was amazing. The adolescents problems declined tremendously and the prevention techniques provided great tools for the clients. As noted by Corey & Corey (2006) groups are an effective means of providing participants with problem solving skills that can motivate change. Group counseling also opens up the door for peer-to-peer interaction between participants. As Corey & Corey (2006) note, groups demonstrate to participants that there are others with similar situations in which they can relate to in life. Once the group has built rapport and respect among members, community is inevitable. In the group community clients begin to accept other ideas and form different thought processes through the interaction of group members (Corey & Corey, 2006). “Many group members can benefit from an emotional release, previously kept to themselves” (Corey & Corey, 2006, p.7). Group process education and training are vital to a counselor-in-training because of the recent research showing the effectiveness of group therapy with certain populations. Counselors have numerous research articles available to help them identify specific theories and techniques to use within their group. However, Stockton (2010) notes that group research may lack generalizability, but still provides relevant information that can be applied to group therapy. References
Corey, M. S., Corey, G., & Corey, C. (2013). Groups: Process and practice (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole. Stockton, R. (2010). The art and science of group counseling [Commentary]. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 35(4), 324–330.
