The Importance of the Therapy Leader in Group Counseling

Active listening is the main key for understanding any kind of communication. Active listening means more than just hearing words. It means understanding what someone else is saying by making eye contact, body language and verbal responses.

active listening is about giving your full attention and watching not just what is being said but how its being said. This can be observed by watching their body language, gestures and other signals.

The process of running a group therapy session is a unique time to tests a person’s skills abilities when it comes to facilitating that group. This paper will mainly look at ways when it comes to my learning's of this class that I took ways; I will also show examples and skills to run a good group therapy session. This whole paper is a reflection of the many things that I took was on being an active group counselor facilitator.

Purpose of the group counseling varies from group to group. It can be therapeutic, educational, or helping people to make fundamental changes in their way of thinking, feeling and behaving (Corey, 2004, p. 7). Group counseling/therapy has the advantage of being more effective than individual therapy because, it more closely stimulates social interactions and interpersonal communication patterns than does individual counseling (Kottler, 2004, p. 260). The techniques and strategies use in group counseling are to help resolve members’ interpersonal conflict, promote greater self-awareness and insight, and help them work to eliminate their self-defeating

Effective communication is not just about speaking and listening. It is also about watching and feeling. Our body language and tone of voice actually communicate more strongly than the words we use. So, listening effectively involves tuning in closely to the other person’s body language and tone of voice as well as their words.

The first time I personally experienced attending a group therapy was part of my course. Through this experience i can say that group therapy can be very powerful in healing a person emotionally and since the members were from the same class, where we all have similar goals. Group therapy helped all of us to establish meaningful and intimate relationship and we also recognised commanality of members needs and problems and to develop a sense of bonding and we became very close and we could also be there for each other during emotionally trying times.It also helped me to increase self-growth, self acceptance and self –confidence among oneself and group members. Group therapy is a powerful venue for growth and change. It also helped me in expressing my emotions in a healthy way.

Talking and listening are essential life skills. The ability to talk in order to communicate and exchange ideas and information, to negotiate with others, to express feelings and emotions, allows human beings to function well in the world and to be full and active members of society. Communication, to be effective, requires the ability to listen, to understand and to make sense of what is heard. On the personal level, when we listen, we give attention to the other person in such a way as to allow them to feel heard, understood and therefore respected. In that way, listening is more than

There are several leadership skills that are needed to run an effective and therapeutic group. The primary skills are cutting off; drawing out; and holding, shifting, and deepening the focus (Jacobs, 2016). As the group moves into the middles stage sessions other skills can be beneficial for the leader (Jacobs, 2016). These skills include use of progress reports, introducing topics, inspiring thoughts, changing the format, varying the style of leadership, restructuring the group, varying the tone of voice, utilization of resources and projects, meeting one on one with the members, and communicating with the group prior to the groups ending (Jacobs, 2016). This skill can aid in creating an environment that is both valuable and meaningful

Active listening shows the person you are listening to that you are doing just that: listening. By displaying appropriate body language and positioning, summarizing what the person has just told you, and following it with your own insight or comment, you show that you heard the person and understand what they are saying. Following that up

Chris Cotter says that active listening is a complicated skill to learn because it requires an individual to be mentally engaged to the speaker’s tone of voice, and body language (Cotter). In other words, students need to be aware of both verbal and non-verbal messages. Louise Rehling says an effective means to start actively listening to focus on a what a group member is communicating, instead of thinking of a response at the same time. When a disagreement occurs in the group, members are expected to watch for body language and other cues to fully understand their group member thought process, instead of deeming them unhelpful for the group (482). When individuals feel that their voice is being heard then a trust among group members is strengthened and the quality of assignment is improved, thus listening skills is an important skill taught in group work. In the present day, a majority of companies want to create a relationship with their consumer. Employees that are able to actively listen to clients are better adept to understand the client and change the way they are communicating with the client.

Leadership skills are important to developing a successful and effective group session. Leaders can include nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, recreational therapists, occupational therapists, and other types of mental health workers. Leaders need to have the skills to develop behavioral rules to maintain positive function, facilitate communication between clients, and direct the group in meeting their desired goals. The role of the leader is to be open, sincere, kind, warm, positive, honest, and flexible. This allows clients to feel trust, freedom and confidentiality. It is also important for leaders to act as role models, set boundaries, and up-hold rules and procedures. This encourages clients to express their thoughts

Group counseling may be adverted to as a course of counseling, which takes a group of people coming together under one or more trained therapists, who simultaneously facilitate them and promote them to help one another to overcome their challenges. The group members are usually peers who may not necessarily face the same problem, but their problems may be linked. According to Jacobs, Masson, Harvill and Schimmel (2012), all members in a counseling group wish and desire personal growth. This kind of therapy has been employed over the years and it has produced excellent results in the lives of the group members.

substantial information about the group process. As I have learned in this program, group therapy is a powerful form of therapy that allows group members to complete their therapeutic goals in a group setting. As a therapist, I believe it is essential to experience what group process is like. For this class assignment we were required to record a video session of a group session demonstrating skills discussed by Yalom in our required text. This paper will serve the purpose to explore my reaction of the experience of leading the group, reflections on the Yalom skills I incorporated, and my views on the strengths I displayed as a leader. In addition, I will explore ways I can improve as a group leader. From this assignment, my hope is to complete a session with tenants of Yalom, and make improvements to my therapeutic style.

Active listening includes a variety of behaviors which communicate to the other that they are heard and understood, that the feelings which underlie the words are appreciated and accepted, and that regardless of what the individual says, thinks or feels, they are accepted as a person by the listener. Active listening demands that the receiver of the message put aside the belief that listening is easy and that it happens naturally and realize that effective listening is hard work. Good listening encourages the speaker, promotes trust and respect, improves relationships, and makes resolution of problems more likely. Good listeners are prepared to listen, show interest, keep an open mind, listen critically, resist distractions,

Listening is more than just hearing. The process of listening involves receiving and constructing meaning, and responding to verbal and/or nonverbal messages. In other words, listening is not always easy and being a good listener is all about developing listening skills. To receive messages appropriately we have to listen actively. Active listening can be broken down into three important skills; first of all you have to reflect the feelings that the person is communicating, secondly reflect the content that they are communicating and finally ask good, meaningful questions.