It is human physiology that whenever people are stuck with some complicated issue, they prefer to gather and discuss to get brief ideas and best possible solutions. Group counselling is nothing but an arranged group discussion or group therapy between 6-10 people under the leadership of 1-2 group leader(s). It can be organised for students, employees, or any age group from any community.
Group counselling is very much effective. People get comfortable space to open up with their problems and thoughts. Students from different backgrounds and ages can benefit in many ways in regards to study, career, or settling down on a new campus. Whereas, a person facing some rough phases in the relationship can get better mental support from a group of related people and advisors. Click here to know more benefits of group counselling.
Leadership
So many articles only talk about advantages, but to conduct a successful group counselling, the role of the leader is very important. A good leader needs to be sensitive, a good listener, and impartial. They pre-plan all the objectives, member list, time and place of a program. They need to have the skill to identify similar cases and guide the member to avoid distraction from the objective of the day. And the most important thing is the rules and regulation, the key to managing the whole procedure.
When any therapist suggests a certain person to group counselling, it is not always easy. Opening up or getting familiar with a bunch of new people is not an easy job. Finding a suitable group is another challenge. In that case, a person can opt for a good reading habit. But group counselling or therapy has lots of significant advantages keeping aside some disadvantages.
Positive Impact
- Support: People from all different corners are suffering just like you, and this somehow minimizes your troubles. You can share in front of people who can relate and understand the problem. By discussing all the angles, you can find a suitable solution and a strong support system to fight with depression, difficulties, health issues, etc.
- Interaction: Sometimes we all suffer from behavioral problems, especially those dealing with some sort of mental health issue. But interaction with others, following their gestures and manners can help us develop better social skills to communicate. Communication is always vital to any situation.
- Perspective: Not necessarily what we see, how we perceive them, has to be right. Most of the time, we get biased. But in a group discussion, we can find out how one situation can be viewed differently from our perspective.
- Inspiration: Overtime, when a group of people discuss the same issues they create a strong bond. People can get much-needed motivation to fight, think positively, and start afresh.
- Cost-effective: Yes, one-on-one counselling makes you pay a large amount for a couple of sessions. But group therapy is pocket-friendly when you are not financially stable. But most of the time group therapy is proven to be more effective than solo therapy because it connects people.
Sharing is a healing process. There are so many closed and open groups, dealing with different issues of society to cure, surrounding us. Join, participate, share, & live peacefully.