Discuss at least three unique considerations that counselors need to keep in mind when doing group counseling with children

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The unique considerations that counselors need to keep in mind when doing group counseling with children include:
Developmental level: Perhaps the greatest challenge and opportunity of working with children through group counseling is the varied stages of development that group participants may exhibit. Because of their cognitive and developmental levels, children typically adapt rapidly to the group environment and may jump quickly into the working stage of group development.

Group leadership: Monitoring groups of children, particularly younger children, may require more structure than is ordinarily required for group work with other populations. There should be a balance of group member engagement, interaction, and processing and the group leader is the catalyst for ensuring the group is making progress. This may include addressing disruptive behaviors of group members as young children are often easily distracted by other children or may act out for attention. For this reason, considering co-leaders or co-facilitators for the group may be beneficial.

Member screening and parental consent: Regardless of the setting, it is important and ethical to meet with each child who is being considered as a potential member for the group. The screening of participants for group counseling is ethically required by the American Counseling Association (ACA, 2014, A.9) as well as ASCA (2016, A.7.c). This is especially critical when the group topic may be emotionally-charged, such as grief or divorce. Even though parental consent is sought for the child’s participation in the group, having the student/client assent to counseling is important as well.

Group composition: One factor that influences who is in the group and how many group members to have is the group topic. The nature of the topics may dictate whether groups should be smaller (4-6 members) or larger (7-10 members) Typically, small group counseling with children works ideally with 6-8 members, depending on the age and the topic. Another decision is whether the group should be homogeneous or heterogenous. These groupings could be based on gender, age, topic, developmental level, or level of dealing with the issue. Some groups may be more successful and have greater cohesion with members who are closer in age and other groups may be more effective with members who share a certain issue or experience regardless of age difference. Also, depending on the topic, some groups may be more cohesive if it only includes members of one gender while other groups may benefit from having both male and female children.

Group structure and process: Because of the developmental level of children and the cognitive capacity for more concrete activities in group, structured groups tend to be most appropriate for this age group. Lowenstein and Sprunk (2010) recommended using initial session(s) to build rapport by providing engagement activities that are creative and play-based so that children can begin to feel comfortable in the group (p. 2). Another recommendation is to not overwhelm the child with too much talk or too much activity. Controlling the pace of the sessions and maintaining a balance of activity and discussion is a natural way to build rapport (Lowenstein & Sprunk, 2010). This supports the group leader’s need to be flexible when doing group work with children.

Group closure and follow-up: One of the biggest differences between groups with children in schools and groups with children in other settings is that Closure/Follow-up be different. A school counseling small group leader may conclude a small group one day, but she will see those children in the hallway, in the cafeteria, or at recess that day, and in the days to follow as a natural part of being in a school with the students. There is a natural process for follow up with group members that occurs at schools simply because of access to students. For group work with children in external agencies and facilities, group closure and follow-up may be more like a medical follow-up, with the scheduling of an appointment and a specific time for checking in to see who the child is doing.