Developing a Counseling Group: 4 Tips for Graduate Students and New Counselors
Developing a Counseling Group
A few months ago, my site supervisor asked me to develop a counseling group to engage clients at the practice. This was the PERFECT opportunity because although my school paused the requirement to obtain direct group counseling hours due to COVID-19, my supervision professor encouraged my cohorts and me to look for opportunities to gain experience working with groups.
At first, I was nervous. I couldn’t help thinking to myself, “How am I going to pull this off.”
Of course, I accepted the challenge in front of most of the other interns during one of our lengthy supervision group meetings. But internally, I was sweating buckets! We (my fellow interns and I) decided to create a counseling group that focused on providing care to the parents of children receiving therapy and/or parents receiving treatment themselves at our site. Join The Reidiant Corner to obtain your copy of the Group Outline and Curriculum I created when planning this parent group.
Doubting my Ability to Facilitate a Counseling Group
Again the doubt crept in… “I’m the youngest intern at my site, AND I’m not a parent…how am I going to pull this off!” I recall thinking.
And yet, as I sat there discussing ideas with my supervisor and the other interns, I forced myself to shut out the doubts because the internal dialogue was doing absolutely NOTHING for me but causing a headache. It was a bit challenging to reframe my thoughts at the moment. It helped that my supervisor and fellow interns voiced their support and willingness to help out.
4 Tips For Developing A Counseling Group
Armed with general expectations set by my site supervisor, I went home and started planning. I realized that if I were going to pull this off, I would need a co-facilitator to help with planning and facilitating each group session. I went back through my notes from previous courses where I’d designed groups. I even bounced ideas around with my cohorts in our weekly school supervision Zoom meeting.
Now that we are (another intern and I) 2 weeks into our 6 week Parent and Guardian Peer Support Group, I have had a chance to reflect on what this experience has taught and continues to teach me. Planning a group is challenging for interns and licensed professionals. But with the right tips and resources it can be rewarding!
Here are four tips for mental health Graduate students and new mental health professionals developing counseling groups.
#1 Create an outline
Admittedly I can be a procrastinator. Ways that I have counteracted my procrastination is by organizing my thoughts with lists or an outline. Need some help getting started creating an outline for your group? I’ve got you covered. You can download a copy of the outline and session curriculum my co-facilitator and I used to organize the group by clicking here! *A password is needed to access The Reidiant Corner, To obtain the password subscribe to our monthly Newsletter
I found The First Session Checklist from Family Therapy Basics to be very helpful in developing the outline for this counseling group. You may have to join her mailing list to access the free library but it’s worth it! Asking more senior interns for the resources they used to develop previous groups was helpful too. I even talked with my classmates during academic supervision to learn from my peers.
#2 Ask for help
As previously mentioned I asked my fellow interns for their help. I also consulted with my site supervisor. When I realized doing everything on my own was too much, I asked a fellow intern who also needed group hours for her program if she would like to co-plan and co-facilitate. Together we turned the idea into a program. In this industry don’t be afraid to ask for help and guidance. Doing so shows that you are a team player and helps develop your network.
#3 Do your research
Doing my research has been such a major part of my earning my degree it feels wrong not to include it. Whether you are designing a counseling group for your agency or as a part of research trials knowing what others have done with similar groups and what is working in the literature is so important. Since I have never worked with parents in this capacity before I looked up information and resources about topics for parents as well as best practices for Telehealth groups—including icebreakers and engagement. Additionally, the co-facilitator was able to share her knowledge and background working with children and parents which shaped our research and group design.
#4 Go with the flow
I know I know, my first tip was to develop an outline and now I’m saying go with the flow…Even though the other co-facilitator and I developed an outline and slide shows for each group session, we also anticipated sessions where we might stray somewhat from the outline. Straying off topic can happen in an individual session, bringing a few individuals together and the likelihood becomes more frequent. Being able to go with the flow in the group allows space for moments where the topic might stray while also being able to redirect back to the topic at hand when necessary.
I hope you found these tips useful. If you have additional questions or have tips you’d like to add feel free to email me or comment below. Don’t forget to join The Reidiant Corner for access to a variety of Wellness related materials including the outline used to develop my site’s Parent Support Group.
