Types of Counseling

Individual counseling refers to any professional counseling

given to a person based on their unique circumstances
Areas for Individual Counseling
o Legal services,
o Career counseling,
o Financial planning,
o Medical or psychological issues, etc
 Types of Counseling
Group counseling encompasses those activities of
counseling which concern more than two people
experiencing the same problem.
Organization of Group Counseling Activities
Needs assessment to find out the common problems of
individuals in the group.
This can be done by administering questionnaire checklists
and interviews.
Organization of Group Counseling Activities
 Determining size of the group, time, and venue for
group activities: Depending upon the group activity, the
size of the group should be fixed.
 The size should be approachable and manageable (7-10 for
adults, 6-8 for secondary school students and 3-5 for
primary school pupils).
 Organization of Group Activities
 The population, kind of people being handled will
determine the duration and frequency (i.e., adults 2hours
once a week, secondary school students 40-45minutes to
1 hour once a week, and primary school pupils 30-45
minutes once a week). However, for adults, some
challenges at hand will determine the sessions and
duration.
 Organization of Group Activities
 The venue should be selected taking into account the group
selected for activity. This venue should be neutral and
accessible to all group members.
Organization of Group Counseling Activities
 Selection of members and role specifications:
 Grouping members in a similar age range permits the group to
focus on similar developmental goals or concerns.
 Balance of males and females increases the opportunities of
group members sharing their views or behaviors of the opposite
sex.
 In some cases, you may separate boys from girls, women
from men, and sometimes you put them together. All this
depends on the issue to be discussed.
 Techniques of Group Counseling
 Group discussions
 Problem solving involves the following steps:
 Identify a common problem i.e., what is going on?
 Gather data i.e., what do we know about the problem
 Analyze data i.e., what are the root causes of the problem
 Generate solutions i.e., what could we do to address the problem?
 Select a solution i.e., what is the best thing to do?
 Plan implementation i.e., how do we go about it?
 Implementation and evaluation i.e., have we solved the problem
 Techniques of Group Guidance
 Role play involves participants in ‘as-if’ actions with the
following steps;
 Existence of a common problem
 Orientation of group to role playing and the problem
 Assigning of roles
 Preparation of other members/audience to observe intelligently
 Assessing the role play
 Concluding the session and giving feedback
 Techniques of Group Guidance
 Case study is usually a description of an actual situation,
commonly involving a decision, a challenge, an
opportunity, a problem or an issue faced by a person or
persons in an organization.
 Sociometric method where every group member has the
capacity to evaluate social relationships in the group.
 Advantages of Group Guidance
It is cheap.
 It serves many people at a go
 It enhances coping skills
 Its growth oriented
 Problem solving skills
 Advantages of Group Guidance
 Promotes socialization or a spirit of togetherness
 Development of confidence
 Development of friendship
 Advantages of Group Guidance
 Reduces pessimistic ideas
 Increases self-awareness or understanding
 Saves time and effort
 Improvement of students attitudes and behavior
 Safe environment
 Support and encouragement
 Group members serve as role models
 Disadvantages of Group Guidance
 It can make some people uncomfortable
 Loss of trust
 Clashes between personalities
 Some individuals can face rejection
 Limitations regarding privacy
 Social phobia and speaking in front of a group
 Disadvantages of Group Guidance
 No maximum individual attention
 Pressure to conform with group norms
 Poor leadership
 Other Types of Counseling
 Marital counseling
 Family counseling
 Adolescent counseling
 Child counseling
 Substance counseling
 Crisis counseling
 Trauma counseling