Sarah's Group Counseling Intervention

Sarah's Case Study: Sarah is a 13-year-old female junior high school student whose mother has visited the school's counseling office to share her concerns about her daughter. In addition to her grades falling rapidly, Sarah tends to avoid social interactions with her peers to an extent that her closest friends have started avoiding her because of her negative responses and lack of interest.

Some of the major concerns reported by her mother include reoccurring fits of anger, non-existent positive communication between her and her mother, acting out at home, and poor hygiene habits. Sarah, who is overweight and has a poor complexion, lost her father about six months ago after he disappeared and was found dead under mysterious circumstances. As a result, Sarah needs help through counseling in order to regain normalcy and improve her academic performance.

Even though Sarah may benefit from various types of interventions, group therapy would be very helpful to her and should be used as the main form of counseling. Sarah's Group Counseling: Group counseling or psychotherapy is one of the most commonly used treatment methods in the field of psychiatry. This type of psychotherapy is appropriate in Sarah's case because it provides a valuable and viable intervention that has been used by school psychologists in providing effective and efficient direct services to children and students alike (Crespi, 2009, p.273).

Sarah seems to be a good candidate for group counseling because she is suffering from a wide spectrum of psychological problems that not only affect her performance in class but also affects her interactions with others. The suitability of this method in her case is attributed to the fact that most of these psychological problems originate from her poor social interaction. In essence, it will provide a safe environment where Sarah can experiment with new behaviors, enhance communication skills, and obtain feedback from her colleagues.

One of the major advantages of using this method in Sarah's situation is that it would provide necessary direct services that she currently needs. Secondly, group counseling will provide her with an opportunity to share these psychological problems and deal with the difficulties she is experiencing in her social interactions. This is mainly because group counseling will provide Sarah with a platform to be listened to, to feel a sense of belonging, to be understood, to become stronger in herself, and to become more confident.

Third, group counseling will promote and enhance her self-awareness, behavior change, and support networks. However, the disadvantage of this method is that it may become ineffective if the main ethical concerns are not addressed. Secondly, such interaction may exert pressure on Sarah to conform and scapegoat, which would largely affect the effectiveness of the process. Suitable Group Counseling Environment: The most appropriate type of group counseling environment that will serve Sarah best is a theme group.

Generally, theme groups are used for individuals who would largely benefit from giving and receiving support with others who are experiencing similar issues or experiences. This environment will not only enable her to know that she is not alone but will also help in enhancing her psychological functioning through sharing experiences, experimenting with new behaviors, and giving and receiving support or feedback in a safe environment.

The ethical concerns for the group environment include the need to have members whose needs and goals are aligned with group goals, protect her well-being throughout the group experience, confidentiality issues, and reasonable precaution to safeguard her from any kind of harm. Potential Challenges for Sarah: As group member progresses through the group experience, he/she usually discovers a greater disruption in his/her life.

Some of the challenges Sarah is likely to experience include difficulties in developing new interpersonal behaviors, feelings of isolation, challenges of openness because of confidentiality issues, and changing her social interactions. The impact of such outcomes can be lessened by helping Sarah to understand that the process is geared towards her well-being. This would involve discussing the goals of the counseling process, discussing limitations of confidentiality, and developing a code of ethics to govern the group.

Some of the legal and ethical concerns related to working with a client like her include maintaining confidentiality, promoting the client's well-being and safety, protecting the client's rights during the group experience, informed consent, and potential consequences of not adhering to treatment. The other concerns include cultural and diversity factors during group therapy and developing appropriate diagnosis ("Chapter 10," 2011). Sarah's Honest Open Communication: Group counseling environments are usually characterized by the need for honest open communication.

Sarah's involvement in her group during the counseling process requires open honest communication in order to achieve the goals of the therapy. Despite avoiding social interactions with her peers, showing lack of interest, and negative responses, Sarah is ready for honest open communication in order to deal with the psychological distress she is experiencing. As her counselor, I feel Sarah is ready for honest open communication because her current responses shows that she wants to share her experiences but only in a safe and secure environment.

To assist her in becoming more communicative I will create such an environment by encouraging group members to share their experiences, providing positive feedback, and developing an effective diagnosis. The other measures include promoting self-awareness, identifying and addressing counter-productive behaviors, developing trust for each group member, and modeling positive behaviors. Group Pressure: One of the major components in group counseling experiences is group pressure to conform and scapegoating, particularly among teenagers.

As a teenager, Sarah is likely to face this pressure in her group therapy experiences and therefore needs to be adequately prepared for such events. The pressure to alter behavior, feeling, and thinking can be dealt with through appropriate measures. Some of these measures include establishing ground rules for the therapeutic process, notifying the client of probable consequences of failure to follow treatment, and dealing with issues that arise in every stage of the group counseling process.

Legal and Ethical Concerns: While group counseling is the best intervention for Sarah's case, it is associated with some legal and ethical concerns.