Development of a series of group counseling sessions that target a particular population.
The project for this course is the development of a series of group counseling sessions that target a particular population. Imagine that you are making a presentation to a group of colleagues about your population, the need for group counseling, and how you are going to prepare and design your groups. Include specific details such as how you will evaluate the effectiveness of the group. Your group counseling presentation should be in reference to your future field of study; for example, school, mental health, and so on. This project will become an important part of your overall counseling portfolio and can be implemented, if you choose, during your practicum. Be sure to choose an area of concern that has practical interest to you.
There are guidelines to help you develop your final project, but ultimately, you will need to decide what considerations best fit the needs of the particular group you are proposing. The guiding principle is that successful groups are well thought out and well structured, with specific goals in mind. Typically, time-limited closed groups should include anywhere between 8 and 10 sessions depending on your setting. For instance, in a school counseling setting, 8 weeks may be all that is possible. A closed group is one where new members are not added after the group begins. Remember that whenever you take or adapt materials or activities from other sources, you must include a citation and a reference.
Presentation Content and Structure
Structure your presentation and its contents as follows:
Format: Your group presentation project should incorporate creativity and technology. The final project must be submitted in PowerPoint format. Determine the appropriate number of slides based on stated expectations below and by reviewing the grading rubrics. Your work will be graded on the quality of content as opposed to length of slides.
Title: A good title is one that communicates the group type and draws the attention of your clientele.
Background and justification for the group: Describe why this type of group is needed and the populations that will be served with this type of group.
Objectives: Provide three to five objectives for the group. Be specific and operationalize the objectives so that they can be measured and evaluated to build accountability into the group process.
Group goals: These goals can be a general statement of the desired outcomes for the group members.
Ethical practice: What considerations and steps will your group take to ensure ASGW and ACA ethical practice? In particular if it is difficult to ensure confidentiality in a group, how would you explain this to members concerned about their privacy?
Group organization: How do you plan to organize the group? In your planning, what do you need to consider about stages of the group?
Member screening: How will you select appropriate members for the group? How many group members would be optimal and what group rules would you establish?
Group format (group sessions and activities): Indicate the preferred number of sessions and outline those sessions in your presentation.
Crises and Trauma: How will you adapt your group in response to an imagined crisis, disaster, and trauma-causing event?
Diversity: How will you address specific needs that might arise from different populations such as LGBT, race, or socioeconomic needs?
Leadership: Differentiate your group leadership style, including characteristics of types of leaders and leadership styles.
Theory: Consider what theoretical approach will work best with the group you have selected.
To successfully complete this project, you will be expected to:
Adapt effectively with groups in crisis or trauma-causing events.
Apply group research findings to counseling plan and practices.
Incorporate ASGW and ACA ethical considerations into the design of group counseling sessions.
Practice multicultural awareness when designing group counseling sessions.
Incorporate knowledge of the stages of group counseling into the design of the group counseling sessions.
Incorporate an understanding of group process, dynamics, and leadership skills in the design of group counseling sessions.
Incorporate an understanding of theoretical approaches to group counseling.
Write and communicate clearly and effectively, using APA (6th ed.) style.
Group Presentation unit 10 assignment
Most of your time this week should be spent finalizing your course project—the group presentation. The project you submit should reflect comments and suggestions you received from your instructor on the group proposal and literature review you submitted earlier in the course. Review the Group Presentation course project description prior to submitting the document to ensure that you have met all the requirements. If you have questions, contact your instructor as soon as possible. When you have completed your presentation, submit it as an attachment to this assignment. Please remember, this project should be attached in PowerPoint format.
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