Group
Counseling: Strategies and Skills is now in its 7th
edition (photo is of old edition). The book is a very down-to-earth,
practical, concrete book about group counseling and group leadership.
It differs from most other texts on group counseling in that much of
the emphasis is on leadership skills and how to set-up, plan, and
conduct groups. Most chapters contain numerous examples of dialogue
from groups so that the reader can see how techniques and concepts are
used. There are chapters on basic skills, how to begin the first and
second session, how to lead the middle sessions, how to close a
session, how to cut off and draw out members, and how to deal with
difficult members and problem situations. New to this edition is a DVD
that has 43 different segments showing the many different essential
skills for leading groups. In
the DVD , there are six
different leaders shown to give the viewer a look at different
leadership styles.
In the
first chapter, why groups are
effective, kinds of groups, leadership styles, use of theories,
characteristics
of an effective group leader, and potential group problems are
discussed. The
second chapter deals with group dynamics, group process, and
therapeutic forces
in groups.
Chapter Four focuses
on planning groups. Discussion includes how to plan
each phase of a session and how to use plans effectively. Sample plans
are
presented and discussed.
Three chapters focus
specifically on group exercises. One chapter deals with
using rounds and dyads. Another chapter discusses the different kinds
of
exercises; and a third chapter deals with introducing, conducting, and
processing exercises.
Chapter Thirteen
focuses on the use of counseling theories in groups with
lots of practical examples. Chapter
Fourteen
focuses extensively on conducting therapy in groups. Many different
techniques
are presented and then highlighted with numerous examples. In Chapter
Sixteen,
we focus on numerous problem situations that arise with various kinds
of
members. Chapter Seventeen gives a brief overview of groups for many
different
populations including children, the elderly, and
recently divorced persons. The last chapter, Chapter Eighteen focuses
on issues
in group leadership. The issues include co-leading, ethics, legal
concerns,
research, and the training of group leaders.
We are excited about
this book because we wanted it to be useful and the praise
we most often hear is that it is very reader friendly and very
practical.
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