PYG 6030 – Group Approaches to Mental Health Counseling
Become an Effective and Adaptive Group Counselor.
Format: Online
Duration: 16 weeks (Spring)
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Must be admitted to the Antioch Online Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduate program
This highly experiential course links the cornerstones of group counseling’s theoretical approach to practice as you learn this specialty’s demands and knowledge base. You’ll learn and practice various leadership styles in facilitating a group, how to determine who might benefit from group counseling, and what to do when you have an uncooperative member who’s derailing the progress of others or the intent of the group. By the end of the course you will have experience of facilitating a group, building cohesion and some of the benefits of this treatment option.
Course Description
This course is designed to help students gain a solid theoretical and practical knowledge of group dynamics, group development, and group leadership styles. Students will learn to observe and understand group process on a variety of levels. The course will give students the opportunity to practice group facilitation and will prepare them to work in various types of groups. The course will balance presentation, discussions and experiential learning in a group culture. The course includes 10 hours of small group experience with required student participation.
What Kind of Work Will I Complete?
A large part of the coursework is based on interactions with peers, your instructor and the group experience. You’ll expand your knowledge, experience sharing your thoughts, ideas and personal experiences as they relate to the issues raised, and understanding those of others.
Sample Coursework: Discuss and Reflect
Thoughtful discussions based upon the weekly reading are expected. Discussion forums provide an environment for you to construct and gain the knowledge you need to be a competent helping professional. They allow you to take charge of your own learning, as you’ll continue to do as a working professional. At a minimum, there will be posted questions within each section of course work. You’re expected to state your point of view as it’s shaped by the required readings and your personal experience. You’ll also review the postings of your classmates and respond thoughtfully to them, demonstrating you understand your classmate’s position, and that you can apply the learned material appropriately.
Your reflection journals provide an opportunity for self-assessment as you pay attention to what you have learned about yourself through your participation in a counseling group, and how this may impact your future clinical work in leading groups.
Sample Course Topics
Throughout the course your studies will focus on a core set of topics that coincide with the course’s learning objectives. Sample topics are listed below:
- Therapeutic Factors of Group Counseling
- Beginning of Group & Client Selection
- Interpersonal Dynamics & Group Logistics
- Problematic Members & History of Group
- Multicultural Considerations
- Group Leadership
- Specialized Formats & Specialized Groups
- Advanced Group, Termination
What You’ll Learn
This course provides a firm understanding of group counseling and gives you the ability to link theory to practice. By course’s end, you’ll:
- Apply professional training standards, ethical, and legal issues to group work practice.
- Discuss current findings in the field of group work.
- Evaluate the impact of developmental stages, tasks, and issues on group composition and dynamics.
- Link theory to practice as a group leader, member, and observer.
- Contribute to a cooperative, collaborative classroom climate where intellectual learning, interpersonal collaboration, and creative conflict can occur.
- Discuss principles of group dynamics, group processes, leadership styles and counselor orientations, therapeutic factors, and characteristics of effective group work.
- Prepare to translate the interpersonal learning in group settings to the larger community, social, and political issues facing our society.
Session Group Plan
This project is designed to provide experience in facilitating a group counseling session from concept through evaluation. You’ll determine the topic of the group and outline appropriate goals of the group.. You’ll select and describe at least one activity you think would be effective at this stage of the group and why, the list of materials needed, and a short description of how you plan to process the activity. Finally, you’ll summarize how the session goals and objectives will be evaluated for success.
For more information about this course, or other courses in the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Antioch Online, please call (855) 792-1049 or request more information