Group Counseling Collaboration Model
My thoughts after reading the article were that it was ethical that the counselors collected appropriate parent permission documents before commencing the group sessions, and this improved the confidence of the parents and anything that would happen to their children, the counselors would be held liable. It was of great importance that the counselors first went through a training program and understood the relevant curriculum because this helped them to apprehend the counseling needs of the students (Holmes & Kozlowski, 2016). Additionally, the idea of instructing students to browse a music video that would illustrate a current issue they were facing or a song that motivated them to achieve their goals was a nice initiative because it was a way of involving the students in the counseling process. Moreover, the concept of requiring each student to share a single component that had impacted them daily and sharing weekly goals was a game-changer for the students since it made sure that the students understood a new concept every day.
One pro of online counseling is that it provides diversification in expression when compared to face-to-face communication. Hanley, Ersahin, Sefi & Hebron (2017), note that when using online counseling, clients can explain themselves through texts, music, and in the form of videos. Clients can even send pictures as a way of expression, and they can do this at a convenient time. Face-to-face only offers limited ways of expression, which include verbal and use of non-verbal communication. The con of online counseling is that it does not provide in-person interaction. The majority of the clients might require to use body language to express themselves while communicating with the counselor. Some circumstances may also require a change in tone in order to effectively convey their message. In addition, other clients may require a different environment for the counseling process, and all these can only be achieved through the use of face-to-face counseling.
One take away that I found vital from the article, and that would help me in my future group work was the organization of the counseling process. The process began with the selection of the students who would participate in the process and training of the counselors who would facilitate the process. Parents were also required to permit the process, and the counselors were well conversant with the curriculum, something that improved their competence (Holmes & Kozlowski, 2016). The group counselors had a plan for every day, which included the setting of objectives, achieving the objectives, and personal motivation. At the end of the day, each member was requested to share an idea that had impacted them. I liked the organization, and I would employ the concept of planning in my future group work, which would include goal setting, collection of information and resources, having effective and motivated team members, implementation of the plan and monitoring and evaluation of the plan in order to achieve the group work effectively.
References
Holmes, C. & Kozlowski, K. (2016). A Group Counseling Collaboration Model: Support for Virtual High School Students. American Counseling Association Conference.
Hanley, T., Ersahin, Z., Sefi, A., & Hebron, J. (2017). Comparing online and face-to-face student counseling: what therapeutic goals are identified, and what are the implications for educational providers?. Journal of psychologists and counselors in schools.