Write an Essay to Evaluate the Benefits and Challenges of Group Counseling: Group Counselling Essay SUSS, Singapore

Group Counselling Essay 

Clients of similar profiles can be grouped based on their age, gender, socio-economic status, and talk about their life situations. Group counselors can facilitate a discussion among them and address similar concerns or any related issues. To be effective, trained counselors must learn how to manage various group situations and apply the appropriate theoretical approaches, or intervention strategies, to help their clients with their life issues.

Assignment Questions

Students are to write an essay to evaluate the benefits and challenges of group counseling as opposed to one-on-one counseling, based on  life issue faced by ONE  of the following groups –

• Children
• Adolescents
• Young adults
• Middle-age adults
• Elderly

Task

The essay should include:

1. Introduction. The introduction gives an overview of group counseling, the age group to be facilitated and the life issue to be addressed. The introduction may also touch on the institutional setting, the overall management of the sessions, and the general approach to helping the clients.
2. Evaluation of group counseling. Based on the age group and the life issue chosen, the essay is to address the benefits of group counseling. Appropriate research is to be cited to justify that group counseling is advantageous to the age group and life issue addressed.
3. Analysis of life issue. While there are many life issues encountered in any age group, only ONE (1) should be identified and described in greater detail. Challenges faced by the group members, their backgrounds,and situations should be analyzed. The essay should be clear in identifying the issue to be addressed during a group counseling session.
4. Application of Intervention Strategy. To address the life issue, an appropriate theoretical approach, or intervention strategy, is to be identified and applied. The essay is to explain clearly the reasons for this approach, with research cited on the successful application.
5. Evaluation of Group Counselling Effectiveness. The effectiveness of group counseling is evaluated against the life issues of the chosen age group. The essay is to describe, with appropriate examples, some successes and limitations encountered in the application of the intervention strategy. Some realistic challenges faced by the counselor are to be clearly explained
6. Compare & Contrast. While group counseling can be suitably applied in some settings, there could be situations where individual counseling is more appropriate. Compare and contrast group counseling against individual counseling for the chosen age group and life issue.
7. Conclusion. Summarize the key learning points in organizing and conducting a group counseling session and describe the experience in applying the intervention strategy to assist clients in their life issues.