Hi everyone,
These chapters were a good resource explaining a couple of ways of modeling group therapy. They discussed Expressive-Supportive Therapy where clients share their emotions and the group supports them, helps them process, and talks about actions that can be taken. The Three Stage Model of Counseling was also discussed, which children needed a lot of guidance around and consisted of three stages: 1) exploration, 2) insight, 3) action. Finally, the Trans-theoretical Model of Change was mentioned, with its six stages: 1) pre contemplation, 2) contemplation, 3) preparation, 4) action, 5) maintenance, 6) termination. For each of these models, case examples were given to describe how these might look in action. Chapter 4 focused more on leadership qualities when doing group with children. Over all, I appreciated the overview, though I would have probably liked a couple of more case examples of how these models could work.
There was something that really stood out to me in Chapter 4, that I'd love others' thoughts on. On p.10, Shechtmen writes about positive qualities of group leadership and mentions that warmth and supportive natures are really helpful. By way of example, the author discusses a fellow counselor who is very admired for their work by the author, and that "says, "I love you" constantly to the children".
This was a bit shocking to me. As someone who works with kids, I've experienced a lot of training/warnings/awareness around how to be around children and how to avoid anything even remotely inappropriate with them. This is as extreme as being told to stop kids from trying to hug you. While I support the creation of safe spaces for all children, I think some of these guidelines go a bit far and are hard to enforce. However, telling kids that are your clients that you love them feels really on the edge of okay to me. What if you really love one kid in group but not five others? Do you tell all of them you love them even when it's not true? Or just conspicuously leave some out? It just feels like a poor therapeutic practice. And where do boundaries fall in all of this? When is countertransference okay and when have you crossed a line? Again, I'd love all of your thoughts!
Thanks,
Melissa