COMPULSIVE DISORDER

COMPULSIVE DISORDER

unning head: GROUP COUNSELING FOR OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER 1

GROUP COUNSELING FOR OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER 2

Group Counselling for Compulsive Disorder in African American Adolescents

Laquisha Neal

5832

10-31-18

Professor Rob. Eubanks

Group Counselling for Compulsive Disorder in African American Adolescents

Introduction

Working in groups is a significant part of life; it is inevitable. No single person irrespective of his or her abilities and talents can avoid interacting with others in a group setting. Listing several cases in day to day life, where an individual must work in groups is an easy task. Individuals in work, learning institutions, and social settings cannot make it without interacting in group settings. The prominence of group activities or work in day to day activities, without any doubt, promote good reason to study the essence of good leadership. According to Fassinger and Shullman (2017) leadership has been a significant topic of interest in psychology since its inception, as early thought leaders tried to define psychology as a science and a discipline that is distinct from philosophy. Various literature has described psychologists as well as suited to leadership roles in diverse areas as businesses and patient-centered medical homes. This paper discusses some of the leadership theories, legal and ethical as well as cultural competencies applicable in group therapy.

Group Leadership Approaches for Group Therapy

Leadership is a significant topic of interest in group counseling. In practice, there are various styles of leadership in counseling psychology that a leader can use in group therapy of adolescents with an obsessive-compulsive disorder. Some of the most common approaches are the excellent man leadership approach, trait and attribute leadership approaches, behavioral leadership styles approach, situational leadership approach, transactional leadership approach, and transformational leadership approach. Others are learning leadership approaches, as well as diversity and leadership approaches (Fassinger & Shullman, 2017). This section explores the situational approaches, transactional leadership approaches, transformational leadership approaches, learning leadership approaches and diversity leadership approaches in group counseling.

Situational or Contingency Approaches

This leadership theory posits that inherent differences in situations help in determining the needed attributes as well as traits required for a leader, hence implying that there is no one leadership model but rather than a given situation determines the type of leadership needed. Some of the most commonly referenced situational or contingency approaches used by therapists are the leadership decision style approach, the Fielder contingency model, the situational leadership model, and the path-goal leadership theory. The contingency approaches put greater emphasis on the characteristics of as well as the relationship with followers. Currently, emerging value-based approaches emphasize the transitory needs of the followers, their deeply held values as well as the prevailing views, which should be reflected in the ethical behavior as well as the integrity demonstrated by a leader (Mackey & Sisodia, 2013). A therapist should consider using the situational and contingency leadership approaches in a group setting with adolescents having an obsessive-compulsive disorder. The therapist should focus on his or her attention and those of the clients.

Transactional Leadership Theories

A leader may consider using transactional leadership theory in group sessions with adolescents with an obsessive-compulsive disorder. These approaches define leadership regarding labor exchange for the capacity to reward. Fassinger and Shullman (2017) assert that under this theory leader has some tasks to perform as well as the ability to pay or punish followers for performance in the functions. He or she creates a situation in which the group agrees to follow him or her to accomplish a goal in exchange for something of value to the team. The leader also has powers to direct and reward the followers for meeting the goal. One typical example of transactional leadership theory is the leader-member exchange theory. Under this approach, a leader forms a stronger relationship with some members of the group than with others. This theory presumes that a leader does not treat each follower the same way, and a follower’s attitudes and behaviors depend upon a leader’s treatment.

Transformational Leadership Theories

These theories, unlike the transactional leadership theories, show concern for the followers beyond just rewarding performance. Leadership is defined by how a leader does not only influence but also empowers his or her followers in enhancing awareness of values and the importance of tasks, providing group vision that is bigger than a single individual as well as stimulating the need for meeting the higher order needs. Transformational leadership is anchored on the four principles of idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. A follower’s emotional commitment plus identification with a leader are grounded on a leader’s moral character as well as the perceived moral worthiness of a leader’s goals and project (Fassinger & Shullman, 2017). In group counseling, a leader should use this transactional leadership approach to inspire a shared vision, enable others to act, model their behavior and attitude as well as encourage their heart to participate in therapy.

Learning Leadership Approaches

These approaches focus much on the context, examining how a leader is thriving under the contemporary as well as the global conditions of rapid changes, heightened ambiguity, uncertainty as well as first-time dilemmas. Various researchers define leadership on many circumstances like the ability to learn, change as well as grow, hence creating an environment in which everyone can perform to the maximum of his or her capacity by responding to the continuous environmental changes. Some describe it as leadership in a volatile, uncertain, complicated as well as an ambiguous world (Bennett & Lemoine, 2014). Fassinger and Shullman (2017) indicate that learning leadership approaches depend on collaboration for success. There is a need to learn how to reach shared goals, which are unachievable by a single party or individual. As such psychologists need to embrace the learning leadership approaches not only in their identities but also in their working focus.

Leadership and Diversity Approaches

Most leadership approaches neglect the aspects of diversity, culture as well as globalization in the formulation of leadership. They ignore primary contextual variables of individual social identity and group social identity. Trait theories are, in particular, ethnocentric as well as overly focused on what a leader does instead of whatever they bring to the leadership roles. There is a need to shift focus to a leadership identity that intersects with social identities’ dimensions. Situational; theories focus much on specific context hence compromising the applicability of leadership approach across broader situations. As such, there is a need to focus on leader adaptability across various settings as well as the inclusion of enhanced cognitive complexity skills learned from bicultural experience. Transactional leadership neglects the notion that it is possible to co-create direction in groups thereby engendering socially unjust relationship between a leader and his or her followers in the creation of a favored group, where the minorities compose the outgroups. Transformational leadership focuses much on Western notions of charisma plus inspiration (Fassinger & Shullman, 2017).

Legal and Ethical Issues

Bruns and Frewer (2011) refer to ethics as the rules and parameters that professionals adhere to be fair to the client, to their profession as well as to themselves. Generally, there are various ethical and legal considerations for psychologists who choose to counsel on either the individual or the group basis. Some of the common ones are a conflict of interest, client referrals, and clients and sharing,

Conflict of Interest

In counseling, this can range from too much self-disclosure to establishment of dual relationship and relationship with patients outside of therapy sessions. These ethical issues may appear very innocent and may be avoidable in some situations. Psychologists must understand that there are specific rules as well as ethical considerations that must come into play to prevent relationships outside the office settings (Gonyea, Wright & Earl‐Kulkosky, 2014).

Client Referral

Therapists must also be aware as well as mindful when a client wants to transfer to another more qualified counselor or from group session to individual therapy. A therapist must refer a client to another therapist who is more skilled with group sessions to do his or her client some justice. In a nutshell, a therapist ought to refer a client to a more qualified professional who possesses the necessary experience needed to help a client further. With group sessions, it is a therapist’s responsibility to know when participating in group sessions is more beneficial to help a client move on with his or her recovery. If a particular client in a group setting is having challenges with group therapy and cannot seem to connect, it is a therapist’s responsibility to refer him or her back to a group setting or individual setting that is more suited to his or her needs (Cornish et al., 2014).

Clients and Sharing

According to Scher and Koziowska (2012), a therapist should let clients know that they can freely share whatever they would like as long as it relates to the topic of the group, which in this case is dealing with the obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is also important to let the client understand that they have a right not to share anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. Some clients require more time to warm up, become comfortable and trust group members to share their experiences. Therapists must also disclose their training as well as experience in an honest way; falsification of information is unethical.

Cultural Factors

Group counseling may comprise of multiethnic and multiracial clients, which requires therapists to develop cultural competence. A culturally competent therapist understands and addresses issues of race, ethnicity as well as culture in a group setting. He or she must apply to develop effective strategies to address the various needs of clients within a group that Eurocentric therapy has limited application. For instance, a therapist whose treatment approach focuses on an individual’s decision-making abilities may be less effective at assisting a Chinese client in group session by using a collectivist approach to problem resolution. A therapist must aim for multicultural therapy to provide a helping role as well as the process that employs the modalities and goals that are consistent with the clients’ life experiences plus cultural values. It strives at recognizing client identities to include the individual, group as well as universal dimensions. Also, a therapist should aim for global as well as culture-specific strategies as well as roles in the healing process. Also, he or she should balance the importance of collectivism plus individualism in the assessment, diagnosis as well as treatment of clients in a group setting. This therapeutic approach integrates the significance of cultural and social norms, from the beginning of therapy (Dunn & Andrews, 2015).

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are various types of leadership approaches that a therapist can use in group therapy with adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder. One can pursue the command and control approaches like trait, situational and contingency, behavioral and transactional approaches, which are mainly leader focused. Alternatively, a therapist can pursue the transformational and empowerment leadership approaches which focus more on leader-follower relationships or the learning leadership approach where a leader relies on continuous group learning to identify the evolving needs and how to created adaptive measures to attain the desired goals. Most importantly, the leader must be culturally competent because a group comprises of multiethnic and multiracial clients. A leader must also be aware of the various ethical and legal issues in group therapy such as conflict of interest, client referrals, and clients and sharing.

References

Bennett, N., & Lemoine, G. J. (2014). What VUCA means for you. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from. https://hbr.org/2014/01/what-vuca-really-means-for-you

Bruns, F. & Frewer, A. (2011). Ethics consultation and empathy. HEC Forum, 23(4), 247. doi:10.1007/s10730-011-9164-7

Cornish, M. A., Wade, N. G., Tucker, J. R., & Post, B. C. (2014). When religion enters the counseling group: Multiculturalism, group processes, and social justice. The Counseling Psychologist, 42(5), 578-600

Dunn, D. S., & Andrews, E. E. (2015). Person-first and identity-first language: Developing psychologists’ cultural competence using disability language. American Psychologist, 70(3), 255-264.

Fassinger E. R., & Shullman, S. L. (2017). Leadership and counseling psychology: What should we know? Where could we go? The Counseling Psychologist, 45(7), 927-964.

Gonyea, J. L. J., Wright, D. W., & Earl‐Kulkosky, T. (2014). Navigating dual relationships in rural communities. Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy, 40(1), 125-136.

Scher, S., & Koziowska, K. (2012). Thinking, doing, and the Ethics of Family Therapy. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 40(2), 97-114

Mackey, J., & Sisodia, R. (2013). Conscious Capitalism. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Revie

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