Description
Group counseling: Strategies and skills is now in its 8th 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 second DVD consisting of five segments, each lasting approximately thirty minutes. In the first DVD, there are 43 brief segments showing the many different essential skills for leading groups. In the first DVD, there are six different leaders in order to give the viewer a look at different leadership styles. In the second DVD, Dr. Schimmel leads three segments for approximately 30 minutes each of groups that are relevant for both school and mental health counselors. Also on the DVD, Dr. Schimmel and Dr. Jacobs colead a group on anger and Dr. Jacobs leads an open therapy group.
In the first chapter of the book, 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.
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.