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Introduction
Watching the Group in Action DVD really brought a different perspective to the
counseling world. Watching the DVD’s showed a lot of different leadership techniques that
apply to different stages. In the video, there were initial feelings of fear, tension, and reluctance
that the members, and it changed during the transition, working, and ending stages.
Reflection
In the beginning of the video, both of the leaders asked the group members to express
their feelings in a positive tone. At this part of the movie, I got very nervous, because I am very
cautious about what I share with others, especially strangers. When the members started to
participate in dyads exercises for 10 minutes I started to feel a little better because it is helping
them build up trust between each other. The group member that I resonate with in the DVD is
Casey. Casey's family only tends to provide for her materially, therefore she hardly opens up
about family matters. Therefore, she tends to keep her feelings, and thoughts to herself so no
one will judge her. Coming from a background of being the only child for both parents; Casey
and I share some similar feelings. To this day, I am considered spoiled by my family, and my
peers. A Lot of peers tend to look at me sideways because they felt like I didn't go through a lot
of things that they went through. This hurt my feelings, because I went through other things in
my childhood and they shouldn't have been assuming. Therefore, I had a lot of resentment
towards them. My family and friends used to look at me like I was insane because they felt like I
had no reason to complain since I had no financial struggles, and this was not true.
Therefore, this caused me to start holding my feelings in which lead to me having a lot of
breakdowns. Eventually, I ended up getting the help I needed by going to counseling to get to
the root of my problem. Some individuals tend to hide the real them due to fear of judgement,
and this is the case with Casey. In the dvd, Casey expressed how she was scared to open up
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about her sexual preferences to Suzanne because she was scared of her reaction or judgement.
The counselor, Marianne suggested that Casey should overcome her fears of judgement, and
tell Suzanne how she really feels. Casey was shown a lot of warmth, acceptance, and love from
Suzanne when she told her that she was gay. This caused me extreme happiness because she
was finally able to live in her truth and be herself. She didn't have to have that fear in her mind
glooming about her parents disowning her or not loving her anymore. Casey was scared to
speak her truth because her family had high exceptions from her. They wanted her to get
married to a successful guy, give them grandkids, and become successful herself. She felt like
inadequate daughter, because she was gay that she was letting them down.
Marianne encouraged Casey to speak her truth to her mother after listening to her
emotions, and fears. If she would feel more comfortable talking to her in Vietnamese then she
encourages it. The counselor showed Casey warmth and understood the importance over
helping her overcome her fears. Marianne showed the other group members that she was
really on their side which allowed them to feel more comfortable around her and open up.
When the environment is therapeutic, and optimistic then the members will want to stick
around more and get treatment.
Throughout the whole transition of Casey, both counselors maintain a positive and
optimistic tone with her. She was so scared of what everyone thought of her that she shut
down, and stopped being her authentic self. Both counselors promoted a lot of leadership skills
that help the members to feel safe like linking the group members, drawing out members by
using eyes, active listening, and proper tone setting (Jacob et al., 2016). They allowed each
group member to express themselves and they did a great job actively listening to them. During
their discussion, both counselors allowed each group member to express their feelings, and
showed them that they were listening by asking them follow up questions. However, what i
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loved the most was that Jerry and Marriane allowed each group member to say how they felt
about the group and gave them the option to leave. This was great because it gave each
member a voice, and an opportunity to do what's best for them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I am very proud of how the counselor handled the session with each
individual member. They showed a lot of compassion and empathy towards them, which
caused a lot of members to open up freely. This helps me to think about the things and
techniques I would do if I was the group leader or a co- creator. However, there are some
things I would have to get better at in inorder to become a great group leader. In the bible it
states “A time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak” (NIV,
Ecclesiastes 3:7). I respected that each group member listened to each other and didn't judge
them for sharing their truth. They didn’t shout at each other or made snarky remarks that can
cause drama or tension. Both counselors showed an tremorous amount of leadership skills that
made me in awe of them. However, the leadership skill that stood out to me the most from the
both of them was their distinction of unproductive and productive silences. Productive silence
can help the members feel comfortable in an environment that will help them to open up and
express their thoughts. The one skill I will need to work on is my ability to stay quiet in some
cases, because I do express what's on my mind. Therefore, I would be allowing my friends and
clients to talk to me without me trying to interrupt them, and learning to be patient through it
all.
References
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Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Haynes, R. (2014). Groups in action: Evolution and challenges
(2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage. (DVD and workbook). ISBN:
9781285095059
Jacobs, E. E., Schimmel, C. J., Masson, R. L., & Harvill, R. L. (2016). Group counseling:
Strategies and skills. Boston, MA: Cengage.
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