Chapter 10: Guidance/ Psychoeducational Groups

1. Chapter 10: Guidance/Psychoeducational Groups Introduction to Group Work, 5th Edition Edited by David Capuzzi, Douglas R. Gross, and Mark D. Stauffer

2. Definition of Guidance/Psychoeducational Groups • Structured, issue specific, and leader directed • Emphasis on learning about a problem or issue • Purpose = prevention, growth, or remediation • Promote growth through knowledge and skill building • May emphasize self-awareness and self-empowerment • Combine some of the therapeutic aspects of traditional group counseling with the goal-directed emphasis of psychoeducation

3. Benefits • Knowledge is empowering. • Clients benefit from the universality inherent in an issue-specific group. • Guidance/psychoeducational groups fit well with multiculturalism. • They may attract clients who may not be attracted to traditional therapy groups. • They can be more cost effective because the size of the group can be larger.

4. Examples of Guidance/Psychoeducational Groups • Groups offered by school counselors addressing responsible sexual behavior • Groups offered by college counselors addressing stress management, relationship skills, diversity awareness, conflict resolution, or career readiness • Groups offered by agency counselors emphasizing healthy lifestyle choices for seniors or effective parenting strategies for parents of adolescents

5. History of Guidance/Psychoeducational Groups • Joseph Pratt is credited with beginning the group movement by offering groups to tuberculosis patients. • At the turn of the 20th century, schools began offering vocational and moral guidance groups. • Since these groups focus on prevention, personal responsibility, and empowerment as well as incorporating emotional, behavioral, and spiritual aspects of change, psychoeducational groups are consistent with the current wellness model.

6. Primary Purposes of Guidance/ Psychoeducational Groups • Educational: Teach members new material through lecture, discussion, observation, or participation. • Skills training: Have a strong experiential component. The leader models the desired skills. Feedback is important. • Self-understanding/self-knowledge: May resemble counseling groups but differ in their lack of emphasis on self-disclosure, working through resistance, or exploring past relationships. • Many groups contain elements of all three.

7. Incorporating Learning Principles • When designing learning activities for the group, leaders must consider: • The general characteristics of the group (e.g., age, developmental level, education, cultural factors) • The learning styles of the group (e.g., auditory, kinesthetic, visual) • Motivation of the group • Anxiety level of the group or individual members

8. Strategies for Incorporating Learning Principles • Develop goals and objectives that are specific, realistic, and clearly articulated. • Incorporate culturally meaningful learning activities. • Vary methods of introduction to accommodate different learning styles. • Incorporate active and/or discovery teaching methods (e.g., hands on activities, games, etc.)

9. Strategies for Incorporating Learning Principles • Tie content to relevant stories or examples. • When teaching behavioral skills, break the overall task into small stages or component parts. • Give opportunities for feedback.

10. Planning and Implementing a Psychoeducational Group: • Conceptual Phase • Developing a statement of purpose • This must be an explicit statement of the reason for the group’s existence and the approach that will be taken. • A theoretical perspective must be chosen (e.g., insight oriented, behavioral). • Group must be conceptualized (e.g., skills based, self-awareness, educational, or a combination).

11. Planning and Implementing a Psychoeducational Group: • Conceptual Phase • Establishing goals • Goals indicate how participants may change as a result of group involvement. • Goals must be consistent with the theoretical approach defined in the statement of purpose. • Goals should be reasonable and attainable.

12. Planning and Implementing a Psychoeducational Group: • Conceptual Phase • Setting objectives • Objectives specify, generally in behavioral terms, the steps needed to reach each group goal. • The completion of the objectives should signal successful mastery of the goal.

13. Planning and Implementing a Psychoeducational Group: • Operational Phase • Selecting the content • Group content may be organized into three categories: • Didactic: Leader uses teaching strategies that take into account member development and attention span. • Experiential: Helps members understand the material on a personal level. Should be chosen to reinforce didactic content. • Process: Helps members connect the didactic and experiential components of the group.

14. Planning and Implementing a Psychoeducational Group: • Operational Phase • Designing exercises • Group exercises must be tailored to address group goals and objectives. • Exercises should be brief, simple to implement, and require active participation.

15. Planning and Implementing a Psychoeducational Group: • Operational Phase • Performing evaluations • Process evaluation: Involves soliciting feedback during each session and incorporating changes when necessary • Outcome evaluation: Assesses the success of the group and can involve measuring goal attainment, member satisfaction, or both

16. Effective Group Leadership • Develop a clear understanding of the needs of group members. • Clearly inform group members about the scope and nature of the group. • Use stage-appropriate interventions. • Be aware of therapeutic factors at play. • Take the role of therapeutic mentor (e.g., group leaders must integrate counseling and teaching strategies to provide structured intervention that allows for personal reflection and meaning making).

17. PsychoeducationalGroups in Clinical Practice • Increasing in popularity because of the following: • They can address common needs of clients. • They can address serious mental health issues by incorporating problem solving and life skills components. • They can be used to educate persons with psychiatric disabilities. • They can be used in vocational counseling, marriage counseling, family counseling, etc.

18. Guidance Groups in Schools • Essential in schools because they can do the following: • Be an effective means of addressing the emotional needs of a large number of students as well as a myriad of prevention and adjustment issues • Can be used to address schoolwide wellness issues (e.g., substance abuse, self-esteem, conflict resolution) • Can be used to address mental health issues in schoolchildren (e.g., depression, eating disorders) • Can be used to help students with vocational and academic goals

19. Psychoeducational Groups on College Campuses • Benefits • They are economical. • They can provide an intensity of focus on the developmental issue of concern. • They provide a natural mode for many of the strategies in student development. • They provide peer affiliations for the traditional-age college populations.

20. Multicultural Considerations • Group goals must be congruent with the values of the group members.

21. Ethical Considerations • A leader must follow all the relevant ethical guidelines that all counselors and group leaders must follow. Special considerations include the following: • Leaders must clearly articulate the nature of the group including criteria for membership exclusion. • Leaders must stress that confidentiality still applies even though the group format may seem like a class. • Leaders must still communicate with a group member’s other mental health service providers. • Leaders must provide referral resources for any member in need.