Group Work With Mandated Clients
Clients Ordered to Attend Group Counseling Can be a Challenge
Apr 18, 2009
There are many challenges that could present themselves when a counselor is required to perform group work with mandated clients. Charles Zastrow has defined some techniques that can be utilized when working with this unique population of clients.
Allow Members to Voice Their Concerns
In his book Social Work With Groups: A Comprehensive Workbook, Zastrow explains that the anger felt towards being forced into attending therapy sessions can never be overcome if it is not voiced and expressed. It is much more beneficial for the entire group if the disgruntled group member expresses concerns in a reserved manner rather than unleashing them with frustration and anger in later sessions.
A Challenge With This Technique
Group members might begin to express their anger too often. If a particular group member comes to sessions each time and does nothing but vent it reduces productivity for themselves and for the rest of the group.
Avoid Over-Venting in Group Therapy
To avoid this challenge, a group leader can make a set time that venting or expressing concerns is acceptable, for example, the first or last five minutes of the session. There could be a challenge faced by the group leader if the first five minutes of the session was designated for this purpose because it may set a negative tone for the remainder of the session. At the same rate, if the last five minutes was set aside it could potentially cause an issue as well because the member wishing to voice a concern would be forced to harbor the feelings for the entire meeting.
Disarming The Group During Mandated Therapy
When it is seen that the group leader agrees with the mandated client it will allow the rest of the group to be confident that there is some truth to what this person is talking about and in turn this will create a higher level of respect among the group. Zastrow refers to this as disarming the group members.
A Challenge With Disarming in Therapy
If the group leader is constantly backing up one member and not the others equally it will create a problem among the group. A group leader will need to be cautious that they are not displaying favoritism towards one member, or only towards the mandated members. An experienced group leader should never fall into this rut and should have the sense and knowledge to avoid this problem prior to running group sessions.
Turn Concerns Into Goals
Motivation can be increased when the mandated client’s concerns are used as goals for the entire group. If the group can come up with their own goals they tend to be much more focused on achieving them than if the group leader outlined what should be worked on. (Zastrow, 2006)
A Challenge With Group Goal Setting
The fact that not all group members need to focus on the same goals can create a challenge for the group leader. It is important for the group to have some goals as a whole but if focusing on some concerns voiced by only one or two of the members, it could cause a lack of motivation for others who do not agree with the goals.
Charles Zastrow's techniques for working with mandated clients when conducting group therapy can be useful for achieving a comfortable therapeutic environment for all clients. Members need to have the opportunity to voice concerns and to set goals that are applicable to all.
Source:
- Zastrow, C. (2006). “Treatment Groups,” Social Work with Groups: A Comprehensive Workbook, Brooks/Cole.
