Name: Zekeri Rekiya Aye

Matric Number: 19EE2013

Level: 300
Course: Guidance and Counselling
Department: Education/ Economics
Question: (Explain in details the differences between individual and group
counselling).
Counseling is a process that involves interpersonal relationships and helps the clients to become more self-directive
and self-responsible. Though Counseling began as a person to person relationship, group counseling too has a long
and distinguished history. Joseph Hersey Pratt is generally credited for starting the first counseling group with
tuberculosis patients in 1905. Counselors have a wide variety of approaches to choose which include but not
limited to individual and group counseling.
Answer: Before going into the differences between individual and group counselling, I
will like to give some definition of counseling itself.
Counselling in simple terms is to make a suggestion to someone to follow one
direction but not to force them to do it.
Also, according to Oedebomi (1991), he defines counselling as a part of guidance
program and their relationship one to one or a group of twelve people which normally
deals with personal and emotional issues more expensively.
Another author Anageogu (1991) Alps sees counselling as a communication
between two people which involves talking, listening, gesture, lances, nodding, Frans
and other non verbal features (non- verbal communications) by which meaning is
transmitted from one person to another.
Counselling is typically thought of as one- on- one encounters between a counsellor
and a client, which bus a bit of a misconception. Group counselling structure are just
as frequent a therapeutic setting as individual counselling sessions.
They also represent an entirely different setting than individual therapy, requiring
separate skills and knowledge.
Students pursuing a graduation degree must become familiar with these essential
difference, as group therapy is found in nearly all counselling fields and specialties,
including family, mental health, marriage, substance abuse and school counselling.
Group dynamic differ from individual therapy and vary from group to group. In short,
counsellors need to call on a diverse set of abilities to best achieve outcome for
multiple client. Honing these skills through a graduate education I'd one way
counsellors can better approach group setting. There are many benefit of group
therapy and deploying knowledge gained from a master of arts in counseling can help
counsellors unlock those advantages for clients.
Now, back to our question above, the differences between individual and group
counselling are clearly stated below:
* In individual counselling, there is one client and a councillor. While in group,
there are multiple clients and sometimes multiple counsellors. Group counselling is
roughly defined as at least five clients, and as high as 15. Sometimes in those higher
reaches two or more counsellors are employed to direct the session. Yet, couples
counselling is also a form of group therapy.
This obvious difference leads to a variance in how sessions unfold, in the content of
the conversations, and how bonds and alliance between client counsellors are formed.
For instance, the one-on-one contact of individual therapy may lead to more sensitive
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topics and person feeling being addressed than in a group setting. However, that
doesn't mean intimate topics are not discussed in group counselling. Participants in a
substance abuse group may speak to their addiction struggle, but each in their own
way. This affects the session, how it progresses and what insights are reached.
* Also, group counselling session are more likely to have specific purpose. While an
individual session can be wide- ranging. Group therapy is often focused on one topic
that units client: for examples, depression, eating disorders, terminal diagnoses,
academic challenges, substance abuse or chronic pains.
* Another difference is that, running a group session demand s specialized skills.
Managing multiple personalities in counseling setting means that counsellors must
have sharp interpersonal skills. While abilities like communication, listening and
empathy are important for individual therapy, they are of greater consequence in
directing and leading a group conversation. Counsellors must also be able yo resolve
conflict and help clients understand each other, responsibilities not often found in
individual therapy.
*Fourthly, confidentiality and ethics is another subject that's not unique to group
counselling but magnified in its context. What is said in individual session VI's under
strict control, but while those protections extend to group session s, they may not be as
rigid. In some cases these code are broken. Thus, engendering trust and encouraging
honesty is a central duty of the counsellor to avoid such instance.

REFERENCE: Bradcey University American Addiction Centers.

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Corey,G.(2001).Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy. Brooks/ Cole. Thomson Learning. U.S.A.
Gibson, R.L. & Mitchell, M.H. (2005). Introduction to Counseling and Guidance. Pearson Education. Gladding,
S.T. (1996). Counseling A Comprehensive Profession. Prentice Hall U.S.A.