DAY 1 & DAY 2 WORKSHOP

Developing Group Counselling Skills - A Workshop.

An individual therapy session is the most effective method of gaining insight into your past. It is an amazing opportunity to discover how your past has influenced your current situation. Individual therapy, however, does not equip you to develop deeper and longlasting connections. For many, merely opening new channels of connection and closeness is not enough to bring about personal transformation. Group therapy can be beneficial for persons who are trying to manage a mental health problem or are going through a major life transition.

Psychology Department, Jain (Deemed-to-be University) in collaboration with Kalreva P s yc h o l o g i c a l C e n t re , conducted a workshop on Developing Group Counselling Skills. While Dr. Alka Ranjan, Post Graduate Department of Psychology, Jain (Deemedto-be University) spearheaded the event, Ms. Anna Jogie, a counselling psychologist at Jain (Deemed-to-be University) Student Guidance and Counselling Center conducted the workshop.

In mental health therapy, individual counselling is largely preferred over group counselling. Group counselling assures individuals that they are not alone in the process and that others also share similar problems and struggles. Group therapy provides an opportunity to receive support from others and to give support to others. The objective of this workshop was to enrich participants regarding group counselling skills with a major focus on educating them regarding group leadership skills, Yaloms curative factors and to assess their personal group style.

Day 1

This workshop, which was led by Ms. Anna Jogie, focused on the importance of collaboration. The following topics were discussed: types of groups, group stages, leadership skills, Yaloms curative factors, ethical issues and group process and dynamics. The participants were given an overview of group counselling, including its history from the 1920s to the 1970s, as well as its current prominence. The participants were given an understanding of how group counselling differs from individual counselling, as well as how it functions in a multicultural setting. In this context, the participants were able to discuss the pros and cons of group leadership, as well as the reasons why groups should be led. To to assist students better comprehend the many sorts of groups available to them (such as education and discussion groups as well as task and growth groups), case studies were presented as illustrations. The phases of Yalom were discussed.


Session 2

Session 2 of day 1 focused on the qualities and principles of effective group leadership. It is extremely crucial for the group therapy leader to be proactive and to focus on fundamental skill sets when conducting group sessions so that members in the group can mimic the successful behaviours of other who have gone through similar situations.

Day 2

focused on skill development for group counselling. The components of the workshop included:
  • Pre-group planning
  • Therapeutic factors
  • Session planning
  • Stages of the Group
  • Basic Skills of Group leaders
  • Using counselling theories in Groups
  • Closing the Session



Experiential role-plays, simulated group sessions, case studies, and self-reports were used as media of instruction.