special topic

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