Group Proposal Paper

At one point in a person life, they will participated in a group whether it is part of a specific committee, therapy, or social group. In recent years, there has been a rise in counseling within a group forum veering from the tradition individual counseling. Therapists, physiologist, and counselors believe that form of counseling is beneficial to both counselor and client. This allows the counselor to help several clients at once rather than one at a time decreasing their strenuous workload and demanding work hours. This form of counseling integrate individual that share similar issues, struggles, and experiences into one forum. This not only allows the clients to learn from the therapist but from their fellow group members. The group experience

I noticed that the participants did not look like what I perceived someone who was suffering from alcohol dependence would look like. They looked like productive law-abiding citizens. I am embarrassed to say that it never occurred to me that these individuals could live positive lives while battling alcoholism. I assumed that they would be dysfunctional and incapable to participate in the meeting. Instead many of them looked healthy and were eager to engage in the group discussion.

The process of picking who will be part of the group is vital as well, in class discussions we talked about picking certain people that will be able, to be honest, and share during that time. A group facilitator would never choose someone for a group that will not talk and is it, the central theme of group therapy is having others share about their past and presents experiences. During the facilitating period, there will be times where there are arguments between people in the group during class hours; we had great discussions on how to deal with the situation where multiple people are arguing during this period. Some of my suggestions were getting the two people to talk after class and resolve issues that they might have with the other person.

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

At the beginning of my training, I was hesitant to work with people struggling with addiction. However, at this point, I am excited to begin working with this population. The raw honesty presented in the group setting along with the anger at the possibility of losing a safe place created a dynamic I wanted to further explore. Research supports that individuals attending group therapy in a 12 step program format succeed if they have the proper support and motivation (Cite). The group dynamic demonstrated that recovery takes time and self-discovery, similar to other situations dealt with in therapy. Subsequently, by using my sense of self and humor with clients struggling with addiction, I can help them in their journey. Furthermore, the client needs to identify accountability at their own pace in the process and not when others dictate. This knowledge and the personalization of addiction will aid me in the future support of my

The experience is humbling, and I appreciate community groups that provide this type of support for members with substance use issues, as I see this as strength-based. I felt a strong sense of bonding and great empathy towards one another. A Counter transference existed when the facilitators emotional and relapse experiences influenced an assertive reaction to strongly encourage NA attendance on members that decide to quit. The facilitator reported that quitting NA group, because he "felt better," led him to relapse, therefore, he wants to prevent others from making the same mistake.

One Thursday night, I ventured out to into the warm early autumn night. I headed to a local hospital, where I knew there was Al-Anon meetings held once every two weeks. I believed that this would be a prime opportunity to witness a self-help group that was geared towards helping the relatives and loved ones of addicts deal with the terror of living with, or without, the addict in question. Addiction is a disease which impacts so many more lives than just the addict themselves. Al-Anon meetings are meant to help support the efforts of those loved ones as they face very different issues associated with addiction.

Even just being there, listening to others peoples story will still make a difference in their life. An additional issue that these people face is hitting rock bottom where they have lost everything in life like, friends, family and themselves. One person went through this dramatic realization that alcohol was ruining his life where at one point he lost his house, wife and became homeless. The leader of the AA meeting gave him a chance to get his life together and make him get his life before alcoholism became his happiness. He admitted and accepted that he was an alcoholic and he told us that the AA meetings have turned his life around. Another issue is trying other drugs that cause a synergistic effect that may result them to relapse. I heard one of the patients stating that when they had the urge to drink or try drugs that they would call their fellow members from the group meeting to get support, to help them fight the urge to pick up a

Today, one out of every thirteen adults abuse alcohol or are alcoholics. That means nearly thirteen million Americans have a drinking problem. (www.niaaa.nih.gov) This topic offers a broad range of ideas to be researched within the psychological field. For this particular project, the topic of alcoholism and the psychological effects on people best fit the criteria. Alcoholism is defined as a disorder characterized by the excessive consumption of and dependence on alcoholic beverages, leading to physical and psychological harm and impaired social and vocational functioning. (www.dictionary.com) Through this project, the most important information regarding personal experiences

Deborah F. is a 53-year-old female who had been admitted to the Chemical Dependency Rehabilitation Program at Sharp Mesa Vista for the treatment of alcohol dependence and pain disorder. Her history includes several disorders that are a cause of her pain including lupus, fibromyalgia, spinal arthritis, interstitial cystitis, shoulder pain, and multiple foot surgeries. According to her chart, she had been drinking two bottles of wine daily for almost two weeks in attempt to forget about her increasing pain. She is currently on voluntary detoxification and is considered a high fall risk. Her plan of care includes a series of medications that are prescribed for her pain and medical problems. Along with her treatment, Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital implements a treatment plan for all patients in the CDRP, which is referred to the 12-step treatment. One of the main activities that are included in this treatment is regular participation at group meetings that are conducted each day. The concern with Deborah is that she has been continuously refusing to attend the groups during her three-day stay at the hospital. She believed that attendance would not help her with her drinking issues and believed that even groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous would not benefit her. Based on the nurses ' report, it seems that she will not be discharged in the near future. One way that she will be able to progress in her recovery

By being in a group, we can be exposed to other perspectives on our problems that we may have never considered. Group therapy is very effective to bring about changes in the member’s.

There are over 23 million people, 12 and older, living in the United States who are in need of substance abuse treatment (Atkins & Hawdon, 2007). Effective support groups are needed to address an individual’s substance abuse while also take into consideration their beliefs. Atkins and Hawdon (2007) noted despite the popularity and effectiveness of 12-step support groups, a common dominator among individuals who reject them are the concepts surrounding the religious connotation associated with these groups. Without treatment, the effects of substance abuse can be devastating. Significant social and economic ramification such as death and overwhelming financial expenses are two critical outcomes correlated with substance abuse. DeLucia et

Children with ADHD are in need of a group that will help to improve their academic functioning. This group would be important for children with ADHD because those with ADHD have significant impairment in multiple domains of functioning. “The most problematic is academic impairments because children with ADHD will most likely be retained, placed in special education, and drop out of school

Looking for new and more effective ways to treat the issues of their clients, counselors and therapists may often begin to consider leading a group therapy session. Group therapy is a form of therapy in which a therapist either treats or provides psychoeducational skills to a small, carefully planned target group of individuals in an effort to ameliorate the issues and dysfunctions of each individual in that particular group of patients together (Scheidlinger, 2004). In this group, therapists often utilize some of the psychotherapy theories such as Gestalt, transactional analysis, psychotherapy or psychodrama which they often use to treat clients individually.

Group counseling not only allows for members to learn from their therapist, it also allows for them to learn from personal experiences of other members and to gain insights and ideas on the issues they are confronting. Group counseling also helps in improving social skills among the members as they are able to interact freely in and out of the group. This way members can be more confident and open to interactions during the sessions. Group therapy influences growth and change to those involved. Also, it increases their self-awareness and enables them to gain sustenance from each other. Group counseling is also favorable to the therapist as they are able to gain faster and more efficient results for their members by counseling them simultaneously rather than one at a time. Jacobs, Mason, Harvill and Schimmel (2012) describe group counseling