Group Counseling Chapter Summary for 16-17
Lizet Morlote- Leon
Carlos Albizu University
Professor: Fina Campa
Chapter 16
Group Therapy: Ancestor and Cousins
During the 1960s and 1970s, the encounter group phenomenon, a heady, robust social movement, swept through the nation. There are several reasons the contemporary group therapist should have, at the very least, some passing knowledge of them.
First, the proper training of the group therapist must include some personal group experience. Secondly, the form of contemporary group therapy has been vastly influenced by the encounter group. Lastly, the encounter group or at least the tradition from which it emerged has been responsible for developing the best, and the most sophisticated, small group research technology.
Classic encounter groups have largely come and gone but they have had a considerable influence on how group therapy has developed – both in the huge multi-headed self-help movement and in the more traditional psychiatric/psychological environment.
Let us examine some remnants of the encounter group movement. The self-help group movement is an enormously expanding field which merits discussion because its goals in many ways are parallel to the goals of group therapy. Self-help groups exist for the explicit purpose of offering psychological support: they help members deal with a psychological problem, a physical illness, a significant external stress, or with a stigmatized status in society (for example being short, obese, gay, and widowed).
Encounter group is a rough, inexact generic term that encompasses a great variety of forms. Consider some of its many aliases: human relations groups, training groups, T-groups, sensitivity groups, personal growth groups, marathon groups, human potential groups, sensory awareness groups, basic encounter groups, experiential groups, and so on.
Although the nominal plumage is dazzling in its diversity, all these groups have several common denominators. The groups range in size from
Carlos Albizu University
Professor: Fina Campa
Chapter 16
Group Therapy: Ancestor and Cousins
During the 1960s and 1970s, the encounter group phenomenon, a heady, robust social movement, swept through the nation. There are several reasons the contemporary group therapist should have, at the very least, some passing knowledge of them.
First, the proper training of the group therapist must include some personal group experience. Secondly, the form of contemporary group therapy has been vastly influenced by the encounter group. Lastly, the encounter group or at least the tradition from which it emerged has been responsible for developing the best, and the most sophisticated, small group research technology.
Classic encounter groups have largely come and gone but they have had a considerable influence on how group therapy has developed – both in the huge multi-headed self-help movement and in the more traditional psychiatric/psychological environment.
Let us examine some remnants of the encounter group movement. The self-help group movement is an enormously expanding field which merits discussion because its goals in many ways are parallel to the goals of group therapy. Self-help groups exist for the explicit purpose of offering psychological support: they help members deal with a psychological problem, a physical illness, a significant external stress, or with a stigmatized status in society (for example being short, obese, gay, and widowed).
Encounter group is a rough, inexact generic term that encompasses a great variety of forms. Consider some of its many aliases: human relations groups, training groups, T-groups, sensitivity groups, personal growth groups, marathon groups, human potential groups, sensory awareness groups, basic encounter groups, experiential groups, and so on.
Although the nominal plumage is dazzling in its diversity, all these groups have several common denominators. The groups range in size from