Exploring Group Dynamics- A Comparative Analysis of Three Types of Groups

Exploring Group Dynamics- A Comparative Analysis of Three Types of Groups

A Description of Each of the Group Types, Their Format, and Purpose

According to Ohrt, Robinson, & Hagedorn (2013), psychoeducational groups are a type of group therapy that focuses less on developing relationships between the psychologist and the clients but instead on providing education through sharing information as well as developing beneficial coping mechanisms. The therapist does not allow the group members to guide the therapy session’s direction but instead sets goals to guide and lead the discussions. Psychoeducation is different from other therapy forms because members in a group often share a similar diagnosis. This allows for the specific needs of the members to be the main focus. The recovery process requires that the mental needs of the members are met; hence, psychoeducational groups allow members to explore personal and complex issues for effective care provision. When people are in a mixed group, it becomes difficult for sensitive topics to be discussed, and it also becomes difficult to address questions that may be very intimidating when addressed at an individual level. In psychoeducational groups, members benefit when they interact with each other as they share similar experiences. Additionally, some members may ask difficult questions and share experiences, while others choose to listen and learn from others regarding their needs. Lastly, these groups help focus on mental health conditions and assist clients in learning how to identify potential triggers, develop healthy coping mechanisms, and avoid any future pitfalls. Because mental health plays a critical part in addiction development and continuation, it makes treatment and education the foundational recovery components.

A counseling group often comprises 4-15 people who meet face-to-face for therapy sessions. The sessions are guided by one or two therapists who talk with them about their issues. The group members listen to each other and express their feelings and thoughts openly with others in the group. By interacting in this way, group members get the opportunity to increase their understanding of themselves and others as well. Members also get the opportunity to try out new ways of interacting with each other and learn new ways of interacting with each other effectively (Marmarosh & Van Horn, 2010). The content of the discussions in the counseling groups is confidential, and members are expected to commit to this confidentiality. This means that the members are allowed to talk about their personal experiences with whoever they choose to do so but are restricted from identifying other members or what is said in the outside world. Members of a counseling group benefit from enhanced socialization skills and communication skills. Counseling also allows them to learn new ways of expressing their issues and positively accept criticism from other group members. Lastly, counseling groups offer a platform for members to develop self-awareness through listening to others with similar issues (Marmarosh & Van Horn, 2010).

Psychotherapy is talk therapy that allows therapists to help people with varied emotional difficulties and mental illnesses. Psychotherapy can help eliminate or control troubling symptoms so a person is better able to function and can increase the healing and well-being of such a person. The purpose of psychotherapy is to assist a person in becoming more aware of their emotional state so they can tell when experiencing any form of stress. Psychotherapy helps a person learn how to express emotions safely, both to themselves and to others, so that they can become more aware of their personal boundaries and protect themselves (Sperry et al., 2013). When working with clients in differentiating the present from the past at the emotional level, a psychotherapist can help clients experience their emotional response toward the world based on the current needs instead of re-triggering of their past trauma. Psychotherapy also helps people address their genuine and present needs, which involves negotiating, feeling satisfaction, and coping with frustration. This is different from repressing the needs of the person to protect any attachment they may have (Sperry et al., 2013).

The Population That Might Be Involved In Each Group Type And Why

Originally, psychoeducation (PE) was conceived as a composition of several elements of therapy with a complex intervention of family therapy. Patients, as well as their family members, were, through preliminary briefings as regards the patient’s illness, expected to develop an understanding that is fundamental for the therapy and further convince them to be part of the long-term treatment and to be fully involved. According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), interventions of psychoeducation are part of a standard program of therapies in acute and post-acute phases of schizophrenic patients (Zapata et al., 2015). PE can be especially useful for persons with alcohol and substance abuse disorders who lack the insight they need on the extent of their illness; have negative behavior consequences; and are in need of treatment (Ekhitiari et al., 2017). Axelsson & Hedman-Lagerlöf (2019) point out that PE involves patients learning about the nature of health anxiety in cases of anxiety of health. Such health anxiety includes the fact that it is common for harmless bodily sensations to be misinterpreted as signs of serious disease states and that there are several normal processes of the body that can result in symptoms that the patient can link to serious illnesses such as bowel symptoms from a stressful day and pains and aches from tense muscles.

Counseling group therapy is an effective method for individual therapy and is more effective for certain age groups, such as teens. Teenagers have an easier time in counseling groups as they can open up and take advice from adults, their peers, authority figures, and doctors. In addition, counseling groups can benefit diverse people, such as those having challenges with interpersonal relationships and those dealing with certain problems such as behavioral problems, addictive disorders, loss, serious medical illness, anxiety, and depression. For adolescents, counseling groups can help them learn socializing skills that they would need to function outside their homes (Marmarosh & Van Horn, 2010).

Psychotherapeutic approaches can be long or short-term based and depend on the preferences of a client, though few are on a short-term basis. Psychotherapies were created by therapists for persons belonging to specific groups and included affirmative psychotherapy (Sperry et al., 2013). These therapies focus on the authenticity and acceptance of sexual orientation. Feminist therapy also acknowledges that women could be going through mental health issues following psychological oppression that targets women because of their gender. Wealth therapy targets wealthy people who are having to deal with mental illnesses related to their wealth, and this includes feelings of isolation and loneliness; guilt that comes from inheriting wealth or being more privileged than other people; or feeling persecuted or made to feel guilty as regards their wealth, among others. Sometimes psychotherapy is a way of helping a person to cope with a rough period in one’s life or with a medical issue with roots or consequences in mental health. An example of persons who may seek this kind of therapy include those in need of addiction counseling, divorce counseling, postpartum counseling, and therapy for infertility, miscarriage, and pregnancy (Sperry et al., 2013).

Decision-Making Factors Or Challenges That Each Group Faces

The decision-making factors in Psychoeducational groups are shown in the image below:

Source: DeLucia, Kalodner, & Riva, (2013)

A group’s cognitive and emotional orientation involves different therapeutic factors and perceptions. Emotion-oriented groups often appreciate self-understanding, learning from interpersonal actions, and installing hope, catharsis, and acceptance. On the other hand, those who are in the cognitive group attribute higher importance to vicarious learning, learning from interpersonal actions, guidance, and acceptance. Additionally, the developmental stage also appears to affect the therapeutic factor’s functionality. The universality, guidance, and installation of hope are deemed helpful during a group’s initial stage while self-understanding, interpersonal learning, and self-disclosure are the most important as the group develops. Altruism and cohesion play an important role in the group’s life. On the other hand, as the Psychoeducational group progresses, the universality and installation of hope decline in their importance. Overall, in the initial stages of a group, cognitive factors are mainly present, while the mid and final stages are characterized by behavioral factors (DeLucia, Kalodner, & Riva, 2013).

In counseling groups, people come to the group with diverse attitudes and experiences toward confidentiality and trust. Not everyone is on the same page, and no one is expected to be. Further, although members of a group commit verbally to respect confidentiality in the process, most of the problematic dynamics that later emerge are often due to confidentiality and breach of trust. Additionally, the members are not always comfortable about revealing the aspects of themselves, which in turn generates anxiety and fear. Most members avoid acknowledgment or even talking about their shadow selves. This arises from frustrations resulting in awkwardness and elicits varied responses from people (Oramas, 2017).

A person can take medications for a lifetime to suppress unpleasant feelings. However, a person does not form any emotional bonds with the medication they take. On the other hand, psychotherapy is different because it is possible to form an attachment of some sort. If a person has been in a great therapy relationship, the chance of such a person feeling a natural spiritual or emotional attachment is very probable. Although it is natural for a patient to feel this attachment, it makes breaking the relationship even harder. When breaking the relationship is done against the will of the patient in situations such as where the therapist has moved to another location, has changed jobs, or has retired, it can have a devastating effect on the patient. The main challenge of psychotherapy is that the side effects are unpredictable. Psychiatric medications allow a person to have an idea of the possible side effects. With psychotherapy, a person can go to a therapy session feeling very comfortable and then end up discussing a traumatic childhood experience and leave the session feeling re-traumatized and exposed (Keefe & Brady, 2017).

Conclusion

Psychotherapy is designed to help an individual remediate their psychological problems. It involves both unconscious and conscious problems and aims for the reconstruction of a person’s personality in a major way. While counseling groups seek to look into short-term issues, psychotherapy sessions orient toward resolving long-term, pervasive issues and treatment of serious psychological disorders. Change is brought about through the interactions of the members of a counseling group as well as in psychotherapeutic groups. In both counseling and psychotherapeutic groups, member interaction provides a level of caring and support, while confrontation is unlikely in individual therapy. In psychotherapeutic groups, the facilitators are much more than a teacher though they need to do more in-depth work compared to counseling.

Counseling helps people identify crises and problems and encourages them to take positive steps to resolve these issues. It provides the best therapeutic treatment form for anyone with a previous understanding of well-being and can resolve problems. Counseling takes a short period and encourages behavior change. Psychotherapy, on the other hand, helps people with psychological problems that have accumulated over a longer period. It helps people understand their feelings, actions, and thoughts profoundly. Psychotherapy is a long-term treatment process that identifies emotional issues, difficulties, and problems backgrounds.

Psychoeducation refers to a session or number of sessions in which a person learns psychotherapy techniques. In this approach, health psychology is combined with psychotherapy and behavioral counseling. Psychoeducation is applied in a group setting specific to a diagnosis and is both open-ended and structural as may be therapeutically appropriate. The aspect of behavioral counseling in psychoeducation deals with self-care, relaxation, coping, perceptions, and emotions, while the component of education imparts knowledge about a psychological or physical condition that members of a group share. Most times, psychoeducation takes place in groups so that a person can learn the psychotherapy models such as CBT and how to apply these models to their individual worlds. This applies to some people as they seek to learn techniques that help them manage some issues, such as negative patterns of thought. However, some people look for tailored approaches, which makes psychotherapy ideal.

References

Axelsson, E., & Hedman-Lagerlöf, E. (2019). Cognitive behavior therapy for health anxiety: systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical efficacy and health economic outcomes. Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research, 19(6), 663-676.

DeLucia-Waack, J. L., Kalodner, C. R., & Riva, M. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of group counseling and psychotherapy. Sage Publications.

Ekhtiari, H., Rezapour, T., Aupperle, R. L., & Paulus, M. P. (2017). Neuroscience-informed psychoeducation for addiction medicine: A neurocognitive perspective. In Progress in brain research (Vol. 235, pp. 239-264). Elsevier.

Keefe-Cooperman, K., & Brady-Amoon, P. (2017). Psychology, counseling psychology, and professional counseling: Shared roots, challenges, and opportunities. The European Journal of Counselling Psychology, 6(1), 41-62.

Marmarosh, C. L., & Van Horn, S. M. (2010). Cohesion in counseling and psychotherapy groups. The Oxford handbook of group counseling, 137-163.

Ohrt, J. H., Robinson III, E. M., & Hagedorn, W. B. (2013). Group leader development: Effects of personal growth and psychoeducational groups. The Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 38(1), 30-51.

Oramas, J. E. (2017). Counseling ethics: Overview of challenges, responsibilities, and recommended practices. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 9(3), 47-58.

Sperry, L., Brill, P. L., Howard, K. I., & Grissom, G. R. (Eds.). (2013). Treatment outcomes in psychotherapy and psychiatric interventions (Vol. 6). Routledge.

Zapata Ospina, J. P., Rangel Martínez-Villalba, A. M., & García Valecia, J. (2015). Psychoeducation in schizophrenia. Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría, 44(3), 143-149.

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Group Types Comparison

As covered earlier in class, several types of groups exist in a variety of environments and for a variety of reasons. Select three types of groups from your course readings. Write a 1,500- to 2,000-word compare and contrast paper about the three different groups. Include the following in your paper:

1. A description of each of the group types, their format, and purpose
2. The population that might be involved in each group type and why
3. What are the decision making factors or challenges that each group faces?
   

   Group Types Comparison

4. A conclusion where the strengths and weaknesses of each type of group selected are compared and contrasted. How they are similar? How they are different?

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the GCU Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

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My three groups

1. Psychoeducational groups
2. Counseling groups
3. Psychotherapy