Group Counseling Proposal Assignment
In this assignment, you will build upon the research conducted for the group counseling special topic paper. The purpose of this assignment is to design a developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive group for a specific clinical issue. Group counseling theories/techniques will provide the framework of activities outlined in the group counseling proposal. In addition, ethical and legal considerations, including crisis management or suicidal/homicidal ideation, will be addressed in the proposal to promote a successful implementation of the group.
Scenario:
Your agency administrator has given you the green light to develop a new counseling group for the specified population. You have been asked to create a six session group counseling proposal to work with the identified population to provide counseling or psychoeducation for a specific treatment issue. You may or may not be leading this group yourself. Thus, the group proposal needs to be detailed enough for a co-worker to run the group without you.
Instructions:
Develop a proposal for a psychoeducation or counseling group that will run for six-sessions (90 minutes per session – unless with children 30-45 minutes). The proposal should include the following information:
a. Describe the overall structure of the group including:
1. the purpose and goals of the group (e.g., treatment issue, rationale for group);
2. the length, frequency, and duration of group; and
3. Cultural/developmental considerations in rationale for the group.
b. Define eligibility criteria, recruitment strategies, and screening techniques. Include cultural/developmental considerations as related to participant recruitment.
c. Analyze and recommend group leadership appropriate for this proposed group.
1. Describe a leadership style and roles for the leader of group.
2. Include concrete examples of appropriate group intervention strategies, such as process comments, empathic responses, self-disclosure, feedback, confrontation, and pacing skills across the various stages of a group’s development.
d. Generate proposed group norms, process, and procedures. Be specific.
1. Structure of group (e.g., open/closed groups)
2. Group rules
3. Describe how these elements may be adapted by group participants.
e. Propose activities/interventions for EACH session (detailed), and describe how these fit with the anticipated stage of group process (include group handouts in appendix as needed).
1. Include cultural/developmental considerations while describing activities.
f. Provide ethical/legal considerations.
1. Include how crisis in group will be handled (e.g., psychological first aid strategies for suicidal/homicidal ideation).
2. Briefly mention any additional ethical/legal considerations as noted in the special topic paper or additional considerations that are relevant to this specific group.
g. Explain the group’s evaluation criteria: What will determine whether group goals have been met?
h. In a closing paragraph, summarize your proposal and rationale.
Your final product should be a 13-15 page Word document (including the cover page, references, and appendix), using a minimum of 5 scholarly sources. At least one of your references should be from the Journal for Specialists in Group Work. Be sure you write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Use the most current APA format.
Grading Criteria
