Since the children of the divorced parents in the group counseling session range between 16-18 years of age, that is, they are adolescents; therefore, they may experience loss, sadness, anger, and pain. These adolescents may express such feelings by “acting out” via engaging in sexual promiscuity, delinquency, alcohol and drug consumption and aggression. It befalls the duties of the counselor to notice the adulthood becoming visible in the client and offer alliance, which would be fruitful in helping them express emotions .
In addition to the technique of offering an alliance to the children, it is important to clarify the purpose of the group. “Rounds and Dyads” can be utilized to establish focus in the group. Rounds ensure that everyone is involved in the discussion, while the Dyads pair members up and keep them focused on a certain topic . Other techniques that can be used include active listening, reflection, clarification, and questioning, summarizing, linking, mini lecturing and information giving, and encouraging and supporting the students . Along with such techniques, the counselor also needs to understand how and when to hold focus on a particular topic or person and how and when to move on. Such actions can be accomplished with the aid of questions posed to the young students. Other techniques that the leader can use to complete the counseling session include maintenance of progress reports, introducing topics for discussion, stimulating members’ thoughts, varying the format. He can also change leadership style, change structure of the group, use voice to get members to think, outside materials and assignments, meet with members individually, etc. Such tools and strategies can ensure that the students receive the needed support from the counselor as well as remain interested in their group therapy sessions.
Conclusively, it is important that the group leader knows the needs of the adolescents and strives to retain their interest via variation in the techniques. It befalls the skills and knowledge of the counselor to decipher the appropriateness of each technique with the group session scenario. The variability in techniques will ensure that the message goes through to the students and aid them in accepting, understanding and learning from their emotions and their parent’s divorce.
References
Jacobs, E. E., Masson, R. L., Harvill, R. L., & Schimmel, C. J. (2011). Group Counseling: Strategies and Skills. Mason: Cengage Learning.
Sherman, L. (2015). Skills in Counselling and Psychotherapy with Children and Young People. Los Angeles: SAGE.
