Effective Group Work with Children: Strategies and Considerations

1. Chapter 11 Groups for Children Prepared by: Nathaniel N. Ivers, Wake Forest University

2. Roadmap • Group Work with Children • Types of Groups for Children • Setting up Groups for Children • Role of Leaders in Children’s Groups • Strengths and Limitations of Children’s Groups

3. Group Work with Children • Children may benefit from groups as much if not more than other age groups • Group work with children (children under age 14) requires a special knowledge of child development and group theory

4. Types of Groups for Children • Group Guidance for Elementary/Middle School Children • Group Counseling Within the Schools • Group Guidance and Counseling in Community Settings

5. Group Guidance Common topics: • Prevention and wellness (Villalba, 2007) • Subject areas, such as personal or mental health or cooperation with peers • Career development or self-exploration May revolve around activities, and may be called activity group guidance (Hillman & Reunion, 1978)

6. Group Counseling Within the Schools • Provides the following: • A structure for students to give and receive feedback from each other • A place for students to practice new skills in a safe place • An opportunity for students to communicate thoughts and feelings with one another and share common experiences (Falco & Bauman, 2014)

7. Group Counseling Within the Schools • Usually takes one of three approaches in dealing with persons and problems: • Crisis-Centered • Problem-Centered • Growth-Centered

8. Groups in Community Settings • Do not differ substantially from groups conducted within schools • Community groups are usually more homogenous than groups within schools

9. Setting Up Groups for Children • Questions to answer before the group begins: • What medium will be most used in group communication? • What structure will be employed? • What materials will be used in the group? • How will group members be recruited and screened? • How long will group sessions meet? • How many children will be in the group? • What will the gender mix be?

10. Role of the Leader in Children’s Groups • Teaching Facilitator (Guidance groups) • Leaders of children’s guidance and psychoeducational groups influence what happens by the way they arrange the chairs (Myrick, 2011) • Row formation • Circle arrangement • Semicircle arrangement • Fishbowl • Discussion teams

11. Strengths of Group Guidance • Allows counselors/group leaders to see a large number of students in a brief amount of time • Allows counselors/group leaders to use inside (teachers) and outside (community personnel) resources to help children learn to help themselves • Promotes security, comfort, peer interaction, and problem-solving (Myrick, 2011)

12. Limitations of Group Guidance • May be too impersonal at times • May prohibit general discussion or exploration of certain subjects • May stereotype the counselor as a presenter of knowledge and inhibit counselor spontaneity (Myrick, 2011)

13. Strengths of Group Counseling • More efficient than individual counseling • More realistic than individual counseling • Allows group members to share with one another and learn through peer modeling and feedback • Promotes support, acceptance, relaxation, risk-taking, and resources for involved members • May free counselor to make strategic intervention with members of the group (Myrick, 2011)

14. Weakness of Group Counseling • Takes more time to develop trust and closeness • More difficult to safeguard confidentiality • More difficult to include all members actively in group discussions and activities • More difficult to organize group counseling activities • Requires leaders and members to be sensitive to topics that are inappropriate for the group • Requires group members to be aware of and counteract nonproductive behaviors (Myrick, 2011)