Question

Give the differences in facilitation group sessions from facilitating individual counseling sessions. How do the skills of the leader differ? Be thorough in your discussion of the differences, making sure to cover every aspect of the differences in the leader's skills in facilitating groups and facilitating individual sessions. Be sure to use correct paragraphing and APA for documenting.

Answer 1

In individual therapy sessions, the issues are brought forth with one therapist listening and responding to the concerns. The therapist assumes the position of an expert and the type of feedback given is dependent on the therapist's training. The exchange between the therapist and the client is of a highly personal nature and it allows for putting specific focus on the issues presented by the client. The dynamics of the relationship between the therapist and client often take a while to emerge before they can have a therapeutic effect.

Group therapy, on the other hand, involves simultaneous interaction with people who are identified as the clients each of whom are outside each others’ social and familial network: that is are relative strangers. people in the group constitute a homogenous group having similar issues,. At other times, they amay be heterogeneous, with the members having diverse background and concerns. The group counsellor acts as a facilitator who often has specialized training in group therapy.

Unlike individual sessions Counselor, there are no state or national licensing boards specifically for group therapists. Moteover, while individual counsellor may often explore issues and experiences of the client from his/her past, facilitators of groups concentrate more on the dynamics typically within the moment—the here and now—which reflect the current issues in the members' lives. Thus, the facilitator directs and initiates the interaction between the members but then allows each member to take equal turns in discussing their own thoughts, exreveals the dynamics that have emerged from the family of origin, other intimate relationships, and other interpersonal settings such as the workplace.

Moteover, Individual sessions may see a counsellor as focussing more on building insight with or without change in behaviour. However, group facilitators are more focused on analyzing or employing the interaction features between the members, discuss the themes and insights brought forward by the membershi and encourage them to consider changing their behaviour in line with the mutually agreed goals.