Group counseling: A developmental approach

Abstract

A DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH'Group counseling has become the preferred term to describe "counseling with more than one individual simultaneously (Gazda, Duncan, & Mea dows, 1967)."There is still some confusion between group guidance, group counseling, and group psychotherapy but it appears to be abating.(My distinctions will be given later on in this paper.)There is no clear cut evolution of group counseling; however, it was used in print by Dr. R. D. Allen as early as 1931.In this journal article, Dr. Allen (1931) used the term interchangeably with group guidance and case-conference.The context in which Allen used the term suggests that he was describing what we now call group guidance.A study of the various movements or disciplines which have contributed to the development and evolution of group counseling reveals the following: group psychotherapy, child guidance, vocational guidance, social casework, and group work (Gazda, 1968b).Late arrivals on the scene which hold great promise for positively affecting group counseling are group dynamics and social psychology.The current popularity of the entire "group movement" suggests that group counseling is here to stay.In fact, the group psycho therapy movement, in conjunction with sociometry, sociatry, and psycho pharmacology has been referred to by Moreno as the "Third Psychiatric Revolution (Moreno & Kipper, 1968)."The purpose of this presentation is to set forth a series of basic proposi tions for the understanding and application of group counseling.The position to be outlined here is both developmental, in the Havighurst (1952) sense of "developmental task," and developing, in the sense that changes have been made and will continue to be made as new research and clinical appli cation suggest modifications.Until this attempt, to my knowledge, no one has described a systematic approach to group counseling which recognized the differential needs of the different age groups.This paper, therefore, attemps to outline a complete approach to group counseling-an approach which describes group coun seling for the young child, the preadolescent, the adolescent, and the adult.The broad interpretation of developmental tasks as described by Zac caria (1965) includes the "bio-socio-psychological" task of Havighurst (1952, p. 3), the "vocational developmental tasks" of Super, et al., (1957Super, et al., ( , 1963)), and the "psychosocial crises" of Erikson (1960Erikson ( , 1959)).This broad approach gives the counselor a more complete guideline for evaluating an individual's progress along his developmental pathways.

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