Discussion: COUN 5241 Capella Unit 2 Therapeutic Factors in Group Counseling Paper

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Discussion: COUN 5241 Capella Unit 2 Therapeutic Factors in Group Counseling Paper

Discussion: COUN 5241 Capella Unit 2 Therapeutic Factors in Group Counseling Paper

Question Description

Consider Mat Min and Abu Baker’s 2015 article, “Therapeutic Factors in Group Counselling Promotes Self Development,” on therapeutic factors and Young, Dollarhide, and Baughman’s 2015 article, “The Voices of School Counselors: Essential Characteristics of School Counselor Leaders,” on leadership skills used for group counseling. Describe some of your personal characteristics that will enable you to be an effective counselor. For example, you might discuss presence, genuineness, and an awareness of subtle cultural issues.

RESPONSE GUIDELINES

Respond to one learner. As you reflect on his or her post, address one therapeutic factor you will need to work on to be a more effective group counselor. For example, describe how you might increase your belief in the group process.

LEARNING COMPONENTS

This activity will help you achieve the following learning components:

Identify the characteristics of group leaders.

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THE VOICES
OF SCHOOL
COUNSELORS:
ESSENTIAL
CHARACTERISTICS
OF SCHOOL
COUNSELOR LEADERS
The majority of school counselor leadership studies
focus on quantitative data. The current study
contributes to the limited qualitative research
surrounding school counselor leadership. The
analysis of an open-ended statement from a national
study gives voice to school counselor perceptions
about leadership characteristics pertinent to the
profession. Five themes emerged from the findings:
leadership attributes, relationship attributes,
communication and collaboration, exemplary
program design, and advocacy. The themes align
with characteristics previously identified in the
school counseling literature.
Defining the how and why of
effective school leadership is
complex. Yet, mobilizing a
vision and impacting change
is considered a key skill set in
educational settings. Leadership is about commitment to
goals and a foundational belief
that goals are achievable (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty,
2005). Educator effectiveness,
particularly administrator effectiveness, has been equated
with the ability to demonstrate
leadership characteristics and
practices that result in positive student outcomes (Marzano,
2010). Practices such as articulating
a strong vision, demonstrating knowledge about instructional curriculum,
promoting a positive school climate,
and partnering with community
members to develop student strengths
are often considered core competencies
for school leaders (Dufour, Dufour,
Eaker, & Many, 2010; Finnigan &
Stewart, 2009). Leithwood, Day, Sammons, Harris, and Hopkins’ (2006)
meta-analysis of literature on the
meaning and definition of leadership
identified 14 core behaviors: setting
goals, vision, individualized support/
consideration, emotional understanding, intellectual stimulation, modeling,
building a collaborative culture, structuring the organization to facilitate
work, creating productive relations
with family and communities, connecting the school to wider environment,
managing staffing, providing teaching
support, monitoring progress, and
buffering staff from distractions to
their core work. Examples of these
Anita Young, Ph.D., is an assistant
professor at Johns Hopkins University.
E-mail [email protected] Colette T.
Dollarhide, Ed.D., is an associate
professor at the Ohio State University.
Amber Baughman, Ph.D., is an assistant
professor at Heidelberg University in
Tiffin, OH.
36 ASCA | PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELING
VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1 | ASCA 37
core leadership behaviors are frequently present in school vision statements,
identifiable in the goals of School Improvement Plans (SIPs), or observable
daily in instructional settings.
Another common behavior among
school leaders such as principals is the
ability to recognize and embrace the
evolving leadership potential of others to move schools toward rigorous
academic achievement for all students
(Clark & Stone, 2001). Although the
number of studies focused exclusively
on school counselor leadership may
not be as abundant as principal leadership, researchers agree that leadership
is important to the principal–school
counselor relationship, and to the ability to impact the quality of the school
counseling program (Armstrong, McDonald, & Stillo, 2010). The purpose
of the present study was to illuminate
the voices of practicing school counselors and capture their beliefs about
essential school counselor leadership
characteristics. Qualitative analysis
of an open-ended statement from a
national school counselor leadership
instrument was the impetus for the
study (Young & Bryan, 2015).
SCHOOL COUNSELOR
LEADERSHIP
The literature provides evidence of
the importance of school counselor
leadership through studies using existing leadership surveys. For example,
Kouzes and Posner’s (2011) Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) has
been used as a platform to study how
school counselors demonstrate leadership practices. McMahon, Mason, and
Paisley (2009) and Shillingford and
Lambie (2010) used the LPI to investigate school counselor leadership practices and concluded that practices such
as alignment of the school counseling
program mission statement with the
school’s mission and vision significantly contributed to vital programmatic
service delivery. Janson (2009) also
confirmed the importance of school
counselor leadership through the
examination of how school counselors
perceive their leadership behaviors
and found that the school context may
impact how school counselors lead.
Most important in the school counseling profession, the ASCA National
Model (American School Counselor
Association [ASCA], 2005, 2012)
acknowledges the strength of leadership to design comprehensive school
counseling programs and integrate
with the lateral themes of advocacy,
collaboration, and systemic change.
Consequently, the need for visible and
intentional school counselor leadership is not disputable (Chen-Hayes,
Ockerman, & Mason, 2013; Education Trust, 1996; Hanson & Stone,
2002; Hines & Lemon, 2011; House
& Hayes, 2002; National Office for
School Counselor Advocacy, 2011;
Sink, 2009; Young & Miller-Kneale,
2013).
Two models of leadership appear
most pertinent to the current study.
One of the earliest models of school
counselor leadership is from Dollarhide (2003). Using Bolman and
Deal’s Four Framework Approach
(1997, 2008), Dollarhide identified
four contexts in which successful
school counselor leadership occurs:
structural leadership (creating successful school counseling programs),
human resource leadership (empowering and inspiring others to want to
follow), political leadership (using the
formal and informal power structures
in the school to accomplish the goals
of the school counseling program),
and symbolic leadership (framing the
goals of the school counseling program in symbolic terms that the followers can identify). In a longitudinal
qualitative study following the leadership efforts of five new school counselors, Dollarhide, Gibson, and Saginak
(2008) found that the leadership challenges faced by new school counselors
included balancing all four leadership
frames and implementing human
resource leadership. The respondents
reported feeling alone and isolated in
their leadership efforts, prompting the
implication that new school counselors
need leadership mentors to help them
navigate the political leadership and
human resource leadership frames of
the model.
Second, in a quantitative study,
Young and Bryan (2015) identified
five dimensions of school counselor
leadership practices that provide
preliminary factors based on an instrument developed from the only survey
normed with school counselors. The
first dimension, Resourceful Problem
Solving, suggests that school counselor
leadership practices involve innovation, promote student achievement,
and require problem-solving strategies
to accomplish and exceed goals. The
second dimension, Systemic Collaboration, highlights skills required to
coordinate and work with others to
initiate new programs resulting in systemic outcomes for all K-12 students.
The third dimension, Interpersonal Influence, addresses persuasiveness skills
needed to promote the instructional
vision and gain buy-in to share innovative ideas. The fourth dimension,
Social Justice Advocacy, addresses
aspects of social justice and advocacy
skills that challenge status quo barriers to equitable opportunities. Last,
the fifth factor, Professional Efficacy,
focuses on the ability to believe in
oneself. The results suggest that school
counselors from all levels (elementary,
middle, high, and supervisory) engage
in practices that align with skills previously suggested as effective by educational leaders (Marzano, 2010) and
recommended by authors of studies
related to school counseling leadership
LEADERSHIP IS IMPORTANT TO THE PRINCIPAL–SCHOOL
COUNSELOR RELATIONSHIP, AND TO THE ABILITY TO IMPACT
THE QUALITY OF THE SCHOOL COUNSELING PROGRAM.
38 ASCA | PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELING
(Janson, Stone, & Clark 2009; Mason
& McMahon, 2009; Shillingford &
Lambie, 2010).
Together, these two models provide
macro and micro views of leadership
for school counselors. Dollarhide
(2003) provided some insight into the
process of leadership from a macro
perspective, offering how leadership
might be engaged from a systemic
view of establishing a program, recruiting colleagues, accessing power
structures, and inspiring others. Young
and Bryan (2015) provided a micro
view of school counselor leadership; they captured the dimensions of
leadership practices from professional
school counselors in the field and
outlined leadership behaviors from a
quantitative perspective in terms of
resourceful problem solving, systemic
collaboration, interpersonal influence,
social justice advocacy, and professional efficacy. What is still unknown
about school counselor leadership
is how practicing school counselors
describe characteristics of school
counselor leaders. This becomes
important when considering the following example: efforts generated by a
leader who is not trusted by his or her
followers may likely fail because the
individual does not possess or exhibit
leadership characteristics of trustworthiness. Therefore, this survey-based
study was undertaken to examine how
school counselors describe leadership
characteristics.
METHOD
The current study is part of a national study designed to articulate
and validate a framework for school
counseling leadership. An exploratory
factor analysis was conducted after
analyzing Likert items and open-ended comments developed from focus
groups and used in pilot studies with
school counselors, school counseling supervisors, and graduate school
counseling students. A confirmatory
factor analysis concluded that the
Likert items were reliable and an effective measure for school counselors
and school counseling supervisors’
leadership practices. The findings
from the exploratory and confirmatory analyses were used for separate
quantitative research articles. This
current survey-based study (Wiersma
& Jurs, 2009) focused on what practicing school counselors identified as
important characteristics of school
counselor leaders. The study was
designed to capture and analyze the
open-ended responses of practicing
school counselors and supervisors.
Participants
The stratified sample consisted of
school counselors and school counselor supervisor members from the
American School Counselor Association (ASCA) database and was
believed to provide a wide national
representation for this study. Therefore, an e-mail link survey request was
sent to approximately 18,000 school
counselor members, of whom 1577
from a variety of backgrounds and experiences responded and were deemed
appropriate for a Web-based study
(Wiersma & Jurs, 2009). Of those,
1,316 participants responded to the
one open-ended question. However,
due to the number of blank responses
throughout the survey, the following
demographics do not represent all
1,316 participants’ responses for the
open-ended statement. Percentages
are presented in terms of the total
responses for each question. In terms
of school setting, respondents included
371 (28%) elementary counselors, 205
(16%) middle school counselors, 437
(33%) high school counselors, and
303 (23%) counselors across multiple
levels. The sample also represented
257 (20%) school counseling supervisors. The respondents were dispersed
in terms of school counseling experience; 475 (40%) reported fewer than
7 years of experience, 415 (35%)
reported between 7 and 15 years of
experience, and 300 (25%) reported
more than 15 years of experience
(total n for this question = 1,190). For
gender, 174 (14%) of the respondents
indicated male and 1066 (86%) indicated female (total n = 1240). In terms
of school context, 323 (26%) were
from urban schools, 375 (30%) were
from rural schools, and 532 (43%)
were from suburban schools (total
n = 1,230). Last, in terms of leadership experience in the past 2 years in
a professional association, 365 (30%)
indicated yes and 868 (70%) indicated
no (total n = 1,233).
Procedure
The authors obtained Institutional
Review Board (IRB) approval prior
to distributing the survey to a stratified sample of school counselors and
school counselor supervisors who were
members of ASCA. Participants were
emailed a link with instructions to
complete the School Counselor Leadership Survey (SCLS), with weekly
reminders e-mailed for 30 days.
As previously mentioned, questions
posed to the respondents included
demographics about school counseling
setting; status as a school counseling
supervisor; years of school counseling
experience; gender; urban, rural, or
suburban school setting; and leadership in a professional association in
the past two years. Participants were
also invited to respond to Likert scale
items that were not used for this study
and to the open-ended statement used
for this study. The open ended statement asked respondents to “List two
characteristics that you believe are
essential for school counselor leaders.”
The statement was asked at the end of
the SCLS and used to capture participants’ ideas about leadership characteristics (Marshall & Rossman, 2006;
Young & Bryan, 2015).
SCHOOL COUNSELOR LEADERSHIP PRACTICES INVOLVE
INNOVATION, PROMOTE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, AND
REQUIRE PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES.
VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1 | ASCA 39
Research Team
The analysis of the open-ended responses involved content exploration;
therefore, the researcher-as-instrument
(Creswell, 2013) was an important
part of the research process. In this
study, the two first authors were both
school counselor educators who have
written and researched extensively in
school counseling leadership (from
quantitative and qualitative perspectives, respectively), and the third
author was a doctoral student with
research experience. All three authors
were women with experience in the
field and in academia. The first author
collected the data as outlined above
and the second and third authors
analyzed and coded the data. To
minimize research biases and increase
confirmability, the first author acted as
auditor (Hunt, 2011). Assumptions of
the three researchers included a belief
that understanding school counseling
leadership was imperative and that
school counselor leadership could be
learned and should be taught to all
school counselors. Although the first
and second authors have written about
school counseling leadership using different conceptual leadership models,
those models were set aside during
data analysis so that the data would be
analyzed free from preexisting structures (Jackson & Trochim, 2002).
Data Analysis
An overall description of the data
analysis in this study was concept
mapping using phenomenological,
not statistical, clustering strategies
(Jackson & Trochin, 2002; Moustakas, 1994). Due to the high number of
responses (usable responses = 1,316)
and the multiple responses from each
respondent, the dataset was very
large. The initial examination of the
data found that some responses were
long sentences describing one idea; in
other cases, respondents had strung
together multiple descriptors, creating
wide variety in the number of actual
descriptors from each respondent. For
example, one respondent stated “Proactive, innovative, and accountable”
for one response, then “advocate,
empathic, and compassionate” for the
second response. In this example, each
word in the string represents a unique
“meaning unit” and was coded separately to allow full understanding of
the response, consistent with concept
mapping (Jackson & Trichim, 2002).
The authors selected QSR NVivo 10
(http://qsrinternational.com) as the
most appropriate tool to organize,
analyze, categorize, and code openended survey responses (Wiersma &
Jurs, 2009, p. 199) from these 1,316
respondents.
Data analysis involved six steps
(Jackson & Trichim, 2002). In the
first step of analysis, the second and
third authors established the meaning
units as words by having the system
do a word count. In this list of words,
they could then select and read the
responses in which that word appeared.
To account for all the responses, the
authors followed this procedure for all
words that appeared twice or more, not
including “the”, “and”, prepositions,
and qualifiers that did not alter the
meaning of the response (Jackson &
Trochim, 2002). For example, “a good
communicator” and “should have great
communication skills” were both coded
as “communication” in the nodes that
developed from the data. This level
of analysis revealed misspellings and
other issues that the authors were able
to capture for analysis, and they were
able to ensure that all responses were
represented in the results.
The second step, sorting, involved
the initial coding of meaning units,
called “child nodes” (QSR NVivo
10). During this step of the analysis,
the authors monitored the meaning
of each response before coding to a
node to ensure fidelity to the respondent’s intent, and monitored the size
and scope of each node to be sure that
the meaning of the node was internally consistent (Jackson & Trochim,
2002). For example, the response
“knowledge of school counseling” and
“knowledge of students’ issues” were
both brought up in the initial code
for “knowledge,” but the responses
clearly had different meaning. The
first response was hand coded under
“school counseling”, and the second response was hand coded under
“students.” In this way, the authors
ensured that all data was captured and
ensured congruence with the respondents’ meaning (Moustakas, 1994).
For the third step, the second and
third authors examined the child
nodes and grouped them under
“parent nodes,” or themes. In concept mapping, this is called clustering (Jackson & Trochim, 2002). In
this iterative process, relationships
between child nodes emerged and
were grouped together. The process
included multiple discussions and
configurations, with time for reflection
and individual analysis between meetings and continued thematic groupings (Moustakas, 1994). In the fourth
step, the themes were examined for
internal consistency, called final cluster
solution (Jackson & Trochum, 2002),
with movement of child nodes to create conceptually meaningful themes
that were intuitive, consistent, and
logical (Moustakas, 1994). The fifth
step was labeling the clusters (Jackson
& Trochim, 2002), a step designed
to capture the textual and structural
elements of the responses in a unified
statement (Moustakas, 1994).
In the sixth and final step, the first
author served as an outside reader
to validate the findings (Hunt, 2011;
Jackson & Trochim, 2002). In the
Results section, below, thematic descriptors and discrete elements of each
theme were maintained as parent and
child nodes. The child nodes represent
THE OPEN ENDED STATEMENT ASKED RESPONDENTS TO
“LIST TWO CHARACTERISTICS THAT YOU BELIEVE ARE
ESSENTIAL FOR SCHOOL COUNSELOR LEADERS.”
40 ASCA | PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELING
the discrete meaning units from the
original data, and the parent nodes
capture the thematic descriptor of all
the related child nodes. The counts for
the parent nodes were then defined as
the aggregate of the child nodes within
that thematic descriptor.
In qualitative research, four quality
indices help the reader evaluate the
integrity of the findings (Hunt, 2011;
Marshall & Rossman, 2006): credibility, transferability, dependability, and
confirmability. Because the examination of responses to this open-ended
survey statement involved coding and
thematic grouping, the authors applied
these criteria of soundness. To achieve
credibility, the data were carefully
analyzed to preserve the meaning
of the respondents, including extensive verification of the child nodes
and presentation of all child/parent
nodes for the reader to evaluate. To
address transferability, the authors
primarily applied triangulation: first,
this study was grounded in (but not
bounded or structured by) leadership literature in counselor education,
school counseling, and educational
administration; and second, the data
analysis took place in multiple stages
and from multiple perspectives within
the research team, creating triangulation in the literature and triangulation
from multiple researchers. In terms of
dependability, the authors felt that the
size and diversity of the respondent
pool provided some confidence that
the question of study was adequately
covered. Last, in terms of confirmability, the authors provided transparent
views of the data analysis process, the
research team, and the child/parent
nodes so that the reader could evaluate
the veracity of the findings.
RESULTS
Respondents provided a total of 2,465
meaningful ideas for school counselor
leadership qualities. As can be seen in
Table 1, a total of five major themes
emerged from the data: Leadership
Attributes, Relationship Attributes,
Communication and Collaboration,
Exemplary Program Design, and
Advocacy. Each of these major themes
aggregated from six to 14 child nodes
per theme, which are listed in Table 1;
note that all descriptors within each
individual node are listed, including
misspelled words found in the raw
data. As with any attempt to quantify
and categorize complex interpersonal
phenomenon, some level of overlap
between themes is possible, but the rationale behind the division of individual responses into themes was as follows. Responses dealing with diversity,
inclusion, justice, and outreach were
grouped together under the theme
of Advocacy; responses that directly
related to the qualities required for the
creation and development of a school
counseling program were gathered
under Exemplary Program Design;
responses that directly related to how
school counselor leaders utilized core
communication skills were organized
under Communication and Collaboration; responses identifying qualities
that related directly to the ability of
school counselor leaders to develop
healthy and genuine relationships
with their colleagues and stakeholders were grouped under Relationship
Attributes; and, last, responses that
identified qualities that were directly
related to willingness and proficiency
in the work of leadership, such as driving programs forward or having vision
for the future of the program, were
gathered under Leadership Attributes.
Each of these major themes is presented individually, from the theme with
highest number of responses to that
with the lowest (see also Table 1).
The theme with the largest number
of responses was Leadership Attributes
(915 references), which included 37%
of the total recorded responses. This
theme was used to capture leader-specific behaviors and qualities based on
existing literature. Example responses
that were coded under this theme included “flexible, adaptable” (n = 136),
“confident” (n = 117), “creative, innovative, problem solver” (n = 79), and
“vision, visionary” (n = 41).
The theme with the second largest
number of responses was Relationship Attributes, with 530 references
and 22% of the total responses. This
theme captured those relational attributes that are relationship, not leadership, qualities. This theme included
descriptors such as “empathy, opening
minded, approachable” (n = 206),
“compassion, caring, kindness, love”
(n = 167), “patience, calmness, poise,
poised” (n = 49), and “ethical, honest,
integrity” (n = 49). A full list of references under this theme can be found in
Table 1.
The third most populated theme
was Communication and Collaboration, with 503 references, and 20%
of the total responses. This theme was
characterized by communication and
collaboration skills that were distinct from leadership and personality
characteristics. This theme captured
responses that included “communication, interactions” (n = 214), “collaborator, collaboration” (n = 50),
“listening, listener, listen” (n = 80),
and “stakeholders” (n = 63). Other responses in this category included “rapport, friendly, supportive” (n = 37).
The theme with fourth largest
number of responses was Exemplary
Program Design, with 343 references,
or 14% of the total responses. This
theme described program-related
qualities and perspectives, including
the instructional purpose of educaFIVE MAJOR THEMES EMERGED FROM THE DATA:
LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES, RELATIONSHIP ATTRIBUTES,
COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION, EXEMPLARY
PROGRAM DESIGN, AND ADVOCACY.
VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1 | ASCA 41
RESULTS: “CHARACTERISTICS OF SCHOOL COUNSELOR LEADERS”
Name References
LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES 915
commitment, dedication 15
humility, service 6
high expectations, belief, student achievement 56
vision, visionary 41
delegate 4
determination, tenacity 19
drive, motivation, motivated 21
follow through 7
leadership, lead, leader 40
multitask, multitasking, multi task, prioritize 9
objectivity 3
organization, time management, 72
organizational, efficient (2)
persistent, persistance, perserverance, perseverance 19
professionalism, role model, professional 36
resourcefulness, resourceful 12
visibility 4
confidence, confident, strength, strengths 117
courage, guts, risk taker 28
decision, decisive 4
flexibility, flexability, adaptable, adaptability 136
intelligent, intelligence 5
passion, energy, enthusiasm, energetic, passionate 72
positive attitude, positivity, optimism 67
Proactive 12
resilient, thick skin, tough skin 8
solution focused 12
strategies, plans, analytical, analyze 6
thinking outside box, creative, innovative, 79
innovator, creator, ideas, problem solver, problem
solve, question status quo, initiative, independent
wisdom 5
RELATIONSHIP ATTRIBUTES 530
boundaries 3
compassion, caring, kindness, love 167
empathy, open minded, approachable, understanding, 206
mind, approachability, empathic, empathetic
help, helping 10
ethical, honesty, integrity, honest 49
patience, calmness, poise, poised 49
respect, unconditional regard, non-judgmental 23
tolerance 5
trust, trustworthiness, genuine 18
Name References
COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION 502
articulate 4
assertive 8
collaborator, collaborative, collaboratively, 50
collaboration
communication, communications, interactions, 214
interaction, communicators, communicator
conflict resolution 4
cooperation 4
diplomacy, negotiate, negotiation, negotiator, 9
compromise, policital, political
listening, listener, listen 80
networking 3
public speaking, public relations 3
rapport, interpersonal, engaging, friendly, 37
supportive, connect, connections (2)
sense of humor 7
stakeholders, parents, teachers, administrators, 63
faculty, staff, community, families, everyone,
people
team 16
EXEMPLARY PROGRAM DESIGN 343
classroom, teaching, instructional 8
goal driven, data driven, data-driven, 58
goal-driven, driven, accountable,
accountability, impact
holistic, big picture, systems, systemic, 35
building-wide, school-wide
knowledge, expertise, education, competent, 81
competency, competancy, experience
program, essential, comprehensive, 55
school counseling
resources, research, information, best current 26
practices, lifelong learning
student focused, needs 54
work, working 26
ADVOCACY 175
advocate, advocacy, advocating 97
change agent 33
different, diverse, diversity, cultural 12
equity, justice 3
right, stand 4
willingness, willing 26
TABLE 1
42 ASCA | PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELING
tion, goal and data driven, holistic and
systemic, expertise, comprehensive
program, knowledge of resources and
research, student focused, visionary,
and hard working. This theme had a
large number of responses with similar
numbers; those with the highest number of references included “knowledge
and expertise” (n = 81), “goal and
data driven” (n = 58), “comprehensive program” (n = 55), and “student
focused” (n = 54).
The fifth and final theme was
Advocacy, with 175 references, or
7% of the response set. This theme
was derived from descriptors of a
specific activity that was unique
from leadership, communication, or
personality. In this theme are “advocate, advocacy” (n = 97), “change
agent” (n = 33), “diversity, equity, and
justice” (n = 15), and “willingness to
advocate” (n = 26).
DISCUSSION
This study was designed to capture
school counselors’ and school counseling supervisors’ perspectives of school
counseling leadership characteristics.
A total of 1,316 respondents yielded
2,465 descriptors in open-ended
statement format. These responses
were then analyzed using NVivo and
hand coding in a six-step qualitative analysis using phenomenological
concept mapping (Jackson & Trochim,
2002; Moustakas, 1994). The findings
resulted in five themes: Leadership
Attributes, Relationship Attributes,
Communication and Collaboration,
Exemplary Program Design, and Advocacy. Several frameworks can help
contextualize these results.
The findings of this study not only
confirm existing characteristics and
behaviors of the school counselor
literature, but the large data set also
contributes to the uniqueness of the
participants. For example, the larger
context that these findings address is
the ASCA National Model (ASCA,
2012). The four themes of the ASCA
National Model are Leadership, Advocacy, Collaboration, and Systemic
Change, which are represented in the
findings of this study in the major
themes of Advocacy, Communication
and Collaboration, and Leadership
Attributes. Further conceptualizing
the remaining findings of this study is
possible, namely, Relationship Attributes and Exemplary Program Design
as the means by which the delivery
system of the ASCA National Model
(ASCA, 2012) would be provided in
the school. Given that the respondents
of this study were drawn from the
membership of ASCA, it is possible
that the foundation concepts of the
professional association, as articulated
in the ASCA National Model, may
also be internalized by members as
crucial leadership characteristics.
Another framework is applicable
when examining the results of this
study with the ASCA Leadership Components of the ASCA National Model
(ASCA, 2012) based on Dollarhide’s
(2003) research. In this model, structural leadership, or the building of
viable comprehensive school counseling programs, can be seen in the
themes of Exemplary Program Design
and Relationship Attributes. Human
resource leadership, or the empowerment and inspiration of followers, is
woven through Communication and
Collaboration (see rapport and sense
of humor) and Leadership Attributes
(see leadership). Political leadership,
or the use of interpersonal power
and organizational power, appears in
Communication and Collaboration in
terms of diplomacy and networking,
although it represents a very small
number of responses. Last, symbolic
leadership appears in Leadership Attributes in vision/visionary. Although not
the only lens through which to view
these results, the leadership structure
articulated by Dollarhide (2003) does
provide a context for much of these
findings.
A third framework that can be applied to the results of this study are
the five dimensions identified in the
School Counselor Leadership Survey (SCLS) that categorizes leaders’
practices for school counselors and
school counselor supervisors (Young
& Bryan, 2015). The Resourceful
Problem Solving dimension mirrors
Leadership Attributes as evident in
the responses that refer to flexibility,
adaptability, thinking outside the
box, and resourcefulness. Consistent
alignments also exist with exemplary
program design and specific correlations with goal driven, data driven,
program, essential, comprehensive,
school counseling, and student-focused
needs. The Social Justice Advocacy
dimension is unanimously integrated
with all characteristics identified in
Advocacy and Relationship Attitudes.
Systemic Collaboration appears solely
in Communication and Collaboration
and Relationship Attributes. Professional Efficacy is noted in comments
related to confidence within Leadership Attributes and Communication
and Collaboration. For example,
responses such as confidence and
positive attitude align with Leadership
Attributes responses and although
small, assertive relates to Communication and Collaboration. Interpersonal
Influence is noted within characteristics such is as rapport, interpersonal,
engaging and communication noted in
Communication and Collaboration.
Interpersonal Influence is also present
within high expectations, belief, and
student achievement in Leadership
Attributes.
This study is unique in that it is the
first leadership instrument exclusively
normed and developed for school
counselors. The magnitude of the
response rate from participants in this
THE THEME WITH THE LARGEST NUMBER OF RESPONSES
WAS LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES, [WHICH] WAS USED TO
CAPTURE LEADER-SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS AND QUALITIES.
VOLUME 19, NUMBER 1 | ASCA 43
study also contributes to the uniqueness. More important, the authentic
voices of practicing school counselors
and school counselor supervisors that
emerged from the open-ended statement responses substantiate the importance of school counselors engaging in
leadership behaviors (Janson, 2009).
The authors did encounter surprises
such as the presence of likability in
relational qualities and the absence
of a data and accountability theme.
Research by Harland, Harrison, Jones,
and Palmon (2005) supports the
importance of likability as a leadership
quality; however, the responses in this
study provide a unique and interesting perspective with the categorical
identification of relationship attributes
that highlight the value of likability in
school counselor leaders. Also notable
are the low responses around the use
of data and advocacy, yet this is congruent with the Likert scale responses
(Young & Bryan, 2015). A possible
reason is that school counselors view
use of data as a strategy and not a
characteristic.
Limitations
As with any study, this one had limitations that must also be acknowledged.
First, the survey was administered to
practicing school counselors and supervisors who are members of ASCA,
so the authors cannot state what
non-ASCA school counselors and
supervisors might identify as school
counselor leadership characteristics.
Participants may not be representative
of all ASCA school counselors. For
example, fewer middle school counselors participated than other levels,
20% of the returned surveys were
supervisors who may not have been
school counselors themselves, most
of the participants had limited (1-7
years) of school counseling experience,
and most participants had never held
a school counselor leadership position. Further, qualitative analysis of
data is always subject to researcher
bias and interpretation, and although
qualitative quality measures were put
in place, bias could always be possible.
Other readers could have organized
these findings into other themes, so the
categories in which the results were
located are researcher specific. Transparency in design and analysis can,
however, provide some assurance that
interpretations were made without a
priori assumptions.
IMPLICATIONS
Counselor Educators
and Researchers
The results of this study have potential implications for how counselor
educators can promote the leadership
growth of prospective school counselors. First, examining the leadership
characteristics that K-12 school districts seek can help counselor education programs (a) refine their criteria
for admission to identify students
with the potential to become leaders
as professionals, (b) develop curricula
such as leadership courses to facilitate
their professional growth and identity,
and (c) aid the identification of school
counselors who demonstrate the characteristics suggested in this study and
other evidence of leadership as field
supervisors for practicum and internship. Second, counselor educators can
use this study’s results to prepare professional development conferences and
direct outreach to schools targeted to
help school counselors identify these
characteristics within themselves, and
further the opportunities for school
counselors to demonstrate leadership
within the schools.
These results are also useful for
future researchers in counselor
education. Existing school counselor
leadership models can be compared
to these results; the level of congruence with previous models can provide
additional support to those conceptualizations, or suggest areas where
the existing model may not capture
the practitioner-level experience of
leadership. New areas of inquiry could
include how school counselors develop
their understanding of leadership, and
how these identified characteristics intersect with existing models in practice
with school counselor leaders currently in the field. Future research also
could explore whether programs led
by school counselors displaying these
characteristics have more effective
outcomes than programs led by school
counselors without these qualities, and
to what extent these characteristics
and existing models such as Dollarhide’s (2003) framework and the
School Counselor Leadership Survey
(Young & Bryan, 2015) account for
the effectiveness of school counselor
leaders in the field.
School Counselors
Because the ASCA National Model
(ASCA, 2012) highlights leadership
as one of the its four themes, professional school counselors will want to
explore developing their own leadership potential using these results. For
example, they might identify with
leadership characteristics identified
in this study and seek professional
development trainings to increase their
leadership capacity. There are also
benefits from these results to school
counselors in the field both emergent
and experienced. Many of the characteristics identified by the participants
as essential for school counselor leaders overlap with the characteristics of
skilled school counselors in general,
which may encourage practicing
school counselors to feel competent
and empowered to seek out professional development and leadership
opportunities. These characteristics
can also provide a starting point to
help emergent school counselors idenCOUNSELOR EDUCATORS CAN USE THIS STUDY’S
RESULTS TO PREPARE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
CONFERENCES AND DIRECT OUTREACH TO SCHOOLS.
44 ASCA | PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELING
tify peer mentors who can aid them
in developing their own leadership
characteristics (Dollarhide, Gibson &
Saginak, 2008). They can help emergent school counselors reflect on what
characteristics are important to them
as leaders, and assist them in identifying other leaders among their peers
who could help them grow to become
stronger leaders, and collaborators,
themselves. For district level personnel, these results can also be useful
in developing assessments targeted at
evaluating school counselor leadership characteristics and performance,
evaluating current assessments for potential revision or refinement, and for
developing hiring criteria for positions
of school counselor leadership, such as
directors of counseling.
CONCLUSION
This analysis of qualitative responses
from a national study of school counselors offers a deeper understanding
of what school counselors value about
leadership. Respondents identified
their preferred traits, strong personal
and professional attributes, sound
communication preferences, the ability
to create and maintain a comprehensive program, and the willingness to
advocate for students and the profession. With this information, counselor
educators and researchers can refine
programs to nurture these characteristics in students and help practitioners
further develop these characteristics. n
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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without
permission.
attachment_2

Asian Social Science; Vol. 11, No. 10; 2015
ISSN 1911-2017 E-ISSN 1911-2025
Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education
113
Therapeutic Factors in Group Counselling Promotes Self
Development
Ruhani Mat Min1
& Mohd Yusuf Abu Bakar1
1 School of Social and Economic Development, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia
Correspondence: Ruhani Mat Min, School of Social and Economic Development, Universiti Malaysia
Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. E-mail: [email protected]
Received: September 15, 2014 Accepted: January 13, 2015 Online Published: April 20, 2015
doi:10.5539/ass.v11n10p113 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ass.v11n10p113
Abstract
This qualitative study is aimed at identifying therapeutic factors in group counselling that encourage the
development of self. A total of five counselling students voluntarily participated in this study. The participants
had been involved in at least ten sessions of group counselling, which is also part of the learning activities, prior
to this research. Data were gathered through interview and diary writing. During this semi- structured interview,
the researchers provided questions as a guide before starting the interview. However, the interview was not based
solely on the provided questions. Participants were also asked to keep a diary designed to help them express their
thoughts, experiences or any other matter related to group counselling experiences. All research participants
engaged in three interviews and three journal entries during the data gathering period. Writing a diary entry was
done after each interview was held. The data gathering period, interviews and diary writing, occurred over a
period of eight weeks. The results showed that unconditional acceptance and compliance with confidentiality by
the group leader and the group members were the main therapeutic factors that contributed to the
self-development of members. Other therapeutic factors that had an effect were the leadership style, counselling
skills and knowledge of the group leader, as well as the commitment of the group members. The presence of
therapeutic factors promoted the development of self-confidence, insight, relief and feelings of appreciation
among group members. The implication of this unconditional acceptance and confidentiality must be understood,
and can thus be practiced by counsellors or group leaders, to create an opportunity for group members to model
those behaviours.
Keywords: group counselling, therapeutic factor, self-development, qualitative research and counselling
students
1. Introduction
Group counselling provides an opportunity for group members and the group leader to interact with each other.
This interaction helps the group members to resolve personal, social or career problems (Gladding, 2008).
During the interaction, group members have opportunities to evaluate themselves as well as the situation, which
helps them to change their attitudes and behaviours (Hansen, Warner, & Smith, 1980). Effective group
counselling depends on many factors, however: the preparation of the group leader or facilitator, and an ability to
plan and perform are important in creating a meaningful group experience (Gladding, 2008). Professional group
counselling manages to create a positive short-term and long-term impact on group members (Zainudin, Zuria, &
Salleh, 2008). Berman & Zimper (1980) noted that interpersonal changes occurred among members after they
had more than ten hours’ worth of group counselling sessions.
2. Literature Review
Corey, Corey & Corey (2007) discuss some of the factors that promote the dynamics of the group: e.g.
acceptance by the group; expectation of other group members; and a sense of security. According to the author,
absence of these factors in group counselling may create the possibility of participants not cooperating, or being
mutually hostile towards each other. Yalom (1995) discusses therapeutic or healing factors in group counselling.
He says that there are eleven factors that must be present to enable efficient group counselling, such as: hope;
equality; convey information; to model the positive behaviour of others; cohesion between members; and several
other factors.
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114
Rogers (1951) states that relationships with others help individuals to understand themselves, which contributes
to self-esteem. Every individual needs positive attention, and needs to be loved, liked, respected, admired and
accepted by others, including family members. In real life, people do not always get positive attention as needed.
They also receive negative attention that could cause tension and stress. Often individuals receive negative and
positive attention at the same time. As a result of this, they are able to manage tension and stress despite the
negative attention that they receive. Positive attention experienced by the individual contributes to the formation
of self-concept. Human needs for love and acceptance are natural. If this cannot be met, then the individual’s
self-concept will also be distorted. Thus, relationships with others, including family members and members of
the community, are very important in developing a sense of love and affection (Rogers, 1951).
Maslow (1970) suggests that humans are motivated to satisfy their needs. These needs include for basic physical
requirements, safety, love, esteem and self-actualization. According to Maslow, every individual has one
dominant need at a time. When one need has been satisfied, another need becomes significant to that individual.
The need to love and be loved, and to have and belong, is important. Being able to meet this need helps
individuals progress to the next need; that is a feeling of competence and confidence with oneself.
3. Purpose of the Study
Group counselling experience has an impact on the individual (Zainuddin et al., 2008; Hansen et al., 1980).
Individuals need others when developing their potential (Rogers, 1951). Group counselling provides an
opportunity for members to share their experience with others (Corey et al., 2007; Gladding, 2008). In relation to
this, what kind of experiences were encountered by the group members while participating in group counselling?
4. Methodology
This study was carried out using qualitative methodology. The main focus of this research was not to search for
objective facts and objective truth about development, but the subjective experience captured in the individual
stories of group members during participation in group counselling. As Grafanaki (2010) suggests, many studies
on the experiences of counsellor trainees rely heavily on quantitative data, as well as often excluding the
perspective of trainees in favour of external perspectives. Qualitative methods allow the experiences of study
participants to be interpreted and explained in the context of a specific environment (Denzin & Lincon, 2000).
Qualitative findings generally disclose or reflect the language or words used in day-to-day life, and often
incorporate words of the participants themselves to describe the psychological event, experience or phenomenon
(Patton, 2002). Therefore, the stories of group members regarding their experiences while engaging in group
counselling are the focus in this research.
A total of five university students participated in this study. All research participants have experienced a
minimum of ten group counselling sessions prior to this research. Most importantly, their involvement in the
study is voluntary. Data for this qualitative study involve interviews and journals. Interviews were face-to-face
between the interviewer and the participants of the study. These semi-structured interviews enabled the
researcher to systematically ask questions, but the answers given by the participants had no limits and no special
structure. Most of the questions asked allowed the researchers to explore more about the personal development
of participants in the study. The interview process allowed the researcher to enter into the individual’s experience
and uncover their thoughts and feelings (Patton, 2002). Each interview took between one and one and a half
hours, which included time for warming up, the interviewing phase and time for cooling down at the end of the
interview.
The participants also undertook journal writing. Journal writing by the study participants assisted researchers in
obtaining additional information in addition to the interviews. The participants can write further on their
experiences during the group sessions in their journal.
Analysing the stories of the participants started immediately after completing the first interview. It was important
to listen to the interview and read the transcript before engaging in the next interview. During this phase, it was
necessary to try to make sense of the experiences of the participants and note down any themes emerging in their
stories. The researcher drew on the six steps suggested by McLeod (2001) as a guideline in conducting an
analysis of the participants’ stories. According to the author, all six steps were based on work from previous
writers (Colaizzi, 1978; Bullington & Karlsson, 1984; Wertz, 1984; Hycner, 1985; Polkinghorne, 1989;
Moustakas, 1994).
5. Findings
The stories of five participants, Mas, Din, Iza, Fadhil and Hafiz will presented in this section. These names are
not their real names. The findings of this study indicate themes that contribute to the development of self, e.g.:
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unconditional acceptance; confidentiality; group leader or facilitator skills; and counselling skills; and the
commitment of the group members. The results also indicated the effects of group counselling on the research
participants, such as a feeling of relief, confidence, feeling valued and having insight.
Theme 1: Unconditional Acceptance
Unconditional acceptance is an important issue that has been emphasized in counselling. Feeling accepted in the
group will create a sense of comfort. Acceptance also allows members to feel they have the same rights as the
other participants and will have the opportunity to participate in group sessions.
According to Mas, counselling allows each member to feel accepted. Mas noted that unconditional acceptance
could affect her confidence:
“In this group session I really feel accepted by other members, I think I can accept them even there are some of
them that I did not know. Each can accept each other. For me, this is the strength of the group, and it is has an
impact on my confidence. I think I can learn something through this group. If I want to be accepted by others,
first, I must accept others. After that I think the members mutually accept each other.”
Another participant, Din also had a similar experience regarding the importance of unconditional acceptance in
group counselling:
“I feel accepted in the group. The group members helped me during sharing session. This acceptance gives
confidence in me to exchange views on issues of other members and the other members shall assist in the sharing
of the issues I experienced.”
Here is a statement written by Din in his journal:
“Unconditional acceptance helps me in feeling confortable while expressing in the group. In addition, it also
gives confidence in me to share about an issue that I have experienced and also respond to other members.
Through this unconditional acceptance makes me feel free to give opinions and suggestions to other members.”
Like Iza, the unconditional acceptance related to the experience of accepting herself. Here is an excerpt from her
journal:
“Unconditional acceptance is about how I accept myself. Accepted in all aspects, including the physical self as
body, colour and so on. This included internal aspects such as strengths and weaknesses. These aspects are
accepted as they are and take weakness as a challenge to move forward.”
Theme 2: Confidentiality in Session
Confidentiality can help members feel free to share their thoughts, feelings and experiences without any
reservation. The importance of confidentiality needs to be discussed in the early stages of group counselling. The
results of this study showed that the issue of confidentiality affects the personal development of members.
Iza said that confidentiality is very important in safeguarding the rights of group members during their sharing
session:
“More time in group increases my confidence level. At the beginning, I still have the feeling of distrust, and I
feel less confidence. However, when members of the group started to share their experience, and at the same
time, group leader gave an encouragement and support, as a result, I became more confident. Furthermore, the
group leader mentioned about confidentiality that should be kept by each member.”
The importance of confidentiality in building trust and self-concept of members in this group was also mentioned
by Din:
“I see cooperation among members depends on our confidence. If trust is high, then the commitment of the
members will be more. If their trust is less, then the commitment would be less. Group involves many members, so
it will have an impact on their trust. For me, the importance of confidentiality in group sessions is important.”
Theme 3: Skills of the Group Leader
Group counselling requires leaders that can lead, especially in ensuring that the group sessions run smoothly. The
findings indicate the importance of the group leader in determining the success of sessions. As an example, Mas
felt that the role of the group leader is very important and should be aware of all the verbal and non-verbal
members:
“I think as a group leader, he was able to determine the effectiveness of group sessions, whether successful or not.
The leader gave attention and focus on non verbal, movements and changes in the words of the members of the
group. There was a member that felt sad and the leader gave appropriate response to that member. In that case,
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116
the member felt understood and got moral support from other members as well as the leader himself. The
unhappy member could feel that others understood her feelings. From that experience, I feel comfortable to share
with the group. I felt the leader of this group was friendly with the members. When we are happy, the leader also
smile with us. I think the use of skills, style, and voice intonation will help members improve confidence among
the members themselves.”
This is Iza’s experience as result of the group leader’s skills.
“During the session the leader discussed problems of the family, and it was actually difficult to share about the
family, but may be the leader was so much empathy, so I share much about myself, my family in the session.
During that session, the leader also asked ‘what do you want to contribute to your family?’ At that time, I was
truly touched, because all in my growing up, I have not contributed anything to the family. Started from there, I
promised myself that I will make every effort in pursuing my career and help my family later.”
Theme 4: Responsibility of Group Members
The group member plays an important role in the group session. This is Mas’s experience on the members’ role:
“For me, the role of the two key parties, leader and members, is important in ensuring a successful group session.
Group is not just a task of the group leader, but members of the group are also play a significant role in the
success of the session.”
Mas also shared that the group members served as a catalyst to other members’ sharing. Commitment of others
can help a member to engage in group session. Here is Mas’s experience in this matter:
“One of the factors that contribute to my sharing with members in this group, probably related to the
participation of other members. Furthermore, I was encouraged by other members and the leader. Because of
those, I wanted to share my experience in the group. For me, sharing in the group was not only involve
discussion on the issues but also involved the exploration of feelings, which may cause insight.”
Fadhil mentioned his experience in group counselling that related to self-concept:
“As I said earlier, when we were engaged in this group, it is about cooperation, so we shared and I realy make
sure that I get useful input from other members. It sometimes gave me strengths that really useful in my life.
Exchange views with others, so that we become better individuals in the future.”
Another participant, Hafiz, wrote in his journal about feeling accepted and how it relates to his strengths:
“I felt myself accepted during the group sessions, which I can share my stories with them, I can tell my
experience. I really feel accepted by other members, and I think that I also accepted them although some of them
I did not know. Each of us can accept one another. I see the strength of the group, and it has an impact on my
confidence.”
Theme 5: Feeling of Relief
The results showed that most participants in the study experienced the impact of the group counselling during
and after the sessions. Participants mentioned feeling more positive as a result of sessions in interviews and
written journal.
Fadhil commented on his experience, in particular the changes that he encountered at the beginning and later on:
“Feeling, at first I really felt nervous, very unsure what to do during those sessions. However, after certain time,
group members talk to each other, we share our stories. I felt very happy, and those feeling came naturally. At the
beginning, I never thought that I could share those stories with other people. I felt relief and very happy because
I could share my experience during those sessions.”
According to Iza, sharing during group sessions help her in searching for ways out from a situation that she faced.
Sharing made her feel happy, comfortable, and relieved. This is Iza’s story:
“After sharing, maybe I have a problem, then I noticed that other members helped me, probably because I share
the things that have something in common with the other members in the group. They have got experience and
they helped me, from there I feel more happy, comfortable and relieved, maybe I could not find ways out, but
with other members help me.”
That feeling of relief was also experienced by Hafiz. He said sharing his experience with others created a feeling
of relief and thus he was able to forget about his issues:
“After I shared in the group, I expressed that thing, feeling of relieved occurred within me. So, then I would no
longer think of that problem.”
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Theme 6: Confidence
Confidence is an important aspect in an individual’s character. Confidence with oneself contributes to the
capability of interacting with others. Related to this, Din mentioned his experience of sharing and expressing his
feelings promoted his strength and courage in order to face the real situation:
“After the session, I could feel a relief when I can share and I can express my feelings to the item that used
during the group work. This means that I need to find strength to express the matter to that item. After that
expression, I feel more confident, and even more courage to face real situations.”
Din continued to explain about his confidence:
“After my sharing in group sessions I felt better, furthermore I received useful inputs from others. I felt more
confident after group counselling. I believed that my self-confidence during the group contribute to changes of
my confidence outside the session. Sharing in group sessions provided an opportunity for me to get an awareness
and build confidence in the future of my life.”
Fadhil also had the same experience when going through group sessions. According to Fadhil, sharing in group
counselling sessions contributes to feelings of confidence within himself:
“Like I said earlier, when we share problems or things, it indirectly helps to increase self-confidence. I could feel
my confidence increased after the group session.”
Another participant, Mas, explained that her confidence was related to her being accepted by members of the
group. Mas was aware that the group members did not know each other previously, but they were willing to
accept one another. According to Mas, this acceptance promoted her confidence. This is Mas story:
“After the group sessions I felt myself accepted by the group. I can share my stories and I can tell my experience.
I think I can also accept them although I did not know some of them. Each can accept one another. I can see the
strength of the group, and it has an impact on my confidence. At the beginning, I thought that acceptance would
be hard, however thing was different when the session started. After that, I feel more satisfied, happy because I
can share and can express what is inside me.”
Theme 7: Feeling Appreciated
Appreciation can encourage individuals to improve themselves. According to Hafiz, sharing in group counselling
sessions and having others listen to his stories made him feel appreciated. This is his experience:
“They listened to my stories, I feel my confidence getting better, I feel appreciated, I feel relieved because they
understand me. I want to be heard. When I shared that, the members listen to what I am trying to share, I can see
from their facial expression, they are trying to understand me. So I feel very appreciated in group sessions.”
Din expressed a similar experience,
“Group counselling is different from individual counselling. Group counselling was more on the sharing of all
members. From there we could see development, and members would updates on their development. I feel more
appreciated because they want to share things that happen to them.”
Theme 8: Insight
Insight provides an opportunity for an individual to understand his or her lifestyle and be aware of his or her
goals, as well as their behaviour. According to Iza, her group counselling experience created an opportunity for
her to think differently on the issues that she is encountering.
“I also had an experience in a session where the group leader was facilitated group discussion by using certain
technique. I did not realize that I was in tears as I shared my experience in the group. I did not realize that was a
problem for me. Then I know what need to be done. That group session provides an opportunity for me to create
positive thinking about my experience which I could make a change about myself. Now, I can think more
positive about many things.”
Mas perceived that interaction among members during the group counselling created an awareness, as well as a
learning experience, for herself. This is Mas’ story:
“Sometimes I do not understand about my own experience and what I learn from that, however being in the
group sessions make me to realize on certain thing. I know that I am not much different from the thing that has
been discussed in the group. From that discussion, I know what need to done, to change to move on or many
other things. For me, experience of other group members creates such opportunities for learning about life.”
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6. Discussion
Unconditional acceptance means acceptance of others without judgment. The results showed that unconditional
acceptance by the group leader or facilitator and group members are of the utmost importance. Experience of
acceptance by the facilitator and group members encouraged the research participants to feel comfortable being
in the group. Feeling comfortable in the group then contributed to feeling confident with themselves. The study
also showed that feeling accepted contributed to participants gaining courage to share their experiences and
stories with the group members. This study described the ideas that have been previously stated by Rogers (1951)
on the need to be respected, loved and accepted by others, and thus contributing to self-confidence.
The results also showed that confidentiality is one of the most important factors for group members. Stories of
the research participants indicated that confidentiality developed slowly. The research participants were also
aware that confidentiality in the group involved the responsibility of many individuals. Related to this, Corey et
al. (2007) stated that confidentiality is an important factor in forming effective groups. The implication of these
findings is that the group leader should promote confidentiality among members. Also, confidentiality cannot
occur without the effort of the group leader. In other words, the group leader is responsible for promoting
confidentiality. However, there are certain exceptions in respect of confidentiality. Group leaders are required to
contact certain people when a client attempts to hurt themselves or others. According to Corey et al. (2007),
counselors or group leaders who leaked confidential information about a client without a good reason, will
damage client confidence towards him, and thus damage the therapeutic relationship. A secure group atmosphere
allows members to get support in dealing with the emotions that arise, face with challenges, and get involved in
the interaction among members (Corey et al., 2007).
The results also showed that leadership skills among group leaders contribute to the quality of group counselling.
Stories of the research participants indicated that the counselling skills of the group leader promoted their
cooperation in the group. The study also showed that the group leader requires listening skills as these are the
most basic and most important skills. Listening effectively requires hearing skills and a high level of
concentration. In the context of counselling, there are many things that need to be heard, e.g.: the spoken content;
feelings expressed by non-verbal behavior; and the feelings expressed. The skills used by the group leader have
an impact on the development of group counselling. Experiences of the participants indicated that the leadership
skills shown by the facilitator encouraged sharing in groups. Related to this, Yalom & Leszcz (2005) emphasizes
the importance of the role of the group leader in developing therapeutic experience among group members. The
author also states that the relationship between the group leader and the members should be built and developed.
Referring back to the findings of this study, the relationship can be built and developed through the skills used by
the group leader.
The results showed that the responsibilities of each member are very important and have an impact on the
achievement of group goals. Group members are responsible in promoting cooperation among them during
group counselling sessions. Cooperation during group counselling allows for adjustment or development of
members’ experiences, such as feedback from others helps them to face adjustment issues positively. Group
counselling allows for interaction among group members, which is also intended to help members enhance their
self-development. Adjustment and personal growth among group members can be seen in the modification of
behaviour, the development of a personal relationship, values or attitudes. In addition, the counselling group
members interacted with each other. This interaction allows individuals to understand themselves and their
personal situation better. Thus, this interaction creates opportunities for clarification and understanding of own
goals and values, and can help in determining appropriate future actions. The experiences encountered by the
students supported the idea put forward by Tudor, et al. (2004) on the importance of relationships with other
people in fulfilling individual needs.
The findings also show that there are many positive effects for students who undergo group counselling. Most of
the study’s participants reported positive effects of group counselling after the sessions. The feeling of relief is an
aspect that is often mentioned by research participants. The study also showed that sharing in group counselling
contributes to feelings of confidence, being valued, and self-insight among the members.
7. Conclusion
Group counselling provides a therapeutic experience to its members. Therapeutic experience is partly related to
unconditional acceptance, confidentiality, leadership and commitment of the group leader. The therapeutic
experience contributed to self-confidence, gaining insight into past experiences, feeling valued and the feeling of
relief.
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Copyrights
Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
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Due Date: weekly
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Graduate Discussion Participation Grading Rubric
Criteria Non-performance Basic Proficient Distinguished
Apply relevant course concepts,
theories, or materials correctly.
25%
Does not explain relevant
course concepts, theories,
or materials.
Explains relevant course concepts,
theories, or materials.
Applies relevant course
concepts, theories, or
materials correctly.
Analyzes course concepts, theories, or
materials correctly, using examples or
supporting evidence.
Collaborate with fellow
learners, relating the discussion
to relevant course concepts.
25%
Does not collaborate with
fellow learners.
Collaborates with fellow learners
without relating the discussion to
the relevant course concepts.
Collaborates with fellow
learners, relating the
discussion to relevant course
concepts.
Collaborates with fellow learners,
relating the discussion to relevant course
concepts and extending the dialogue.
Apply relevant professional,
personal, or other real-world
experiences.
25%
Does not contribute
professional, personal, or
other real-world
experiences.
Contributes professional, personal,
or other real-world experiences, but
contributions lack relevance.
Applies relevant professional,
personal, or other real-world
experiences.
Applies relevant professional, personal,
or other real-world experiences to extend
the dialogue.
Support position with
applicable knowledge.
25%
Does not establish relevant
position.
Establishes relevant position. Supports position with
applicable knowledge.
Validates position with applicable
knowledge.

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