Counseling Interventions
G532, Group Counseling
Structure in Group Work
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Bednar, Melnick, & Kaul (1973)
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New groups get little work done
Low group cohesiveness
Environment threatening
Members can’t anticipate responses to their
messages
Meaningful messages perceived as risky
Members “chit-chat” instead
Structure . . .
Provides context for therapeutic messages
 Reduces risk by reducing responsibility for
message outcomes
 Members produce more meaningful
messages
 Cohesiveness grows
 More rapid group development
 Less need for structure
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Two Types of Structure
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Cognitive structure provides a conceptual
rationale for therapeutic messages
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Includes
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Pre-group preparation
Early group didactic explanations
Written and taped material
Discussion of concerns about therapeutic
behaviors and how to alleviate those concerns
Behavioral Structure
Provides opportunities to view ad rehearse
therapeutic behaviors
 Includes
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Exercises
“Ice-breakers”
Role-plays
About Structure
Most helpful early in a group
 Most helpful to high risk takers
 Less helpful as group cohesiveness builds
 Too much structure hinders group
development
 Structure continued too long hinders group
development
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Types of Interventions (Corey, 2001)
 Facilitating
 Processing
 Challenging
Facilitating Interventions
Reflective listening
 Questioning
 Drawing out
 Drawing together
or expanding
discussion
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Self-disclosure
 Supporting/siding
 Blocking/
redirecting (verbal
and nonverbal
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Processing Interventions
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Process illumination
Linking
Interpreting
 Addressing
anecdotes
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changing questions
to statements
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Feedback
Role-playing
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Challenging Interventions
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Individual and group confrontation
 Evaluating
 Suggesting
Working With Stories in Groups
Address the feelings behind the story
 Address the point of the story
 What does person want others to learn about
him from the story?
 These interventions bring stories into the
“here and now”
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