CPCE Group Counseling and Work 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In the transition stage of group development, leaders can expect:
- High cohesion and deep self-disclosure from all members
- Resistance, conflict, and testing of the leader and group norms (Correct answer)
- Smooth collaboration and efficient problem-solving
- Members independently applying skills learned in the group
Correct answer: Resistance, conflict, and testing of the leader and group norms
The transition stage is characterized by anxiety, defensiveness, and struggles for control as members test safety and the leader's response to conflict.
Question 2: The therapeutic factor of 'altruism' in group therapy refers to:
- Members donating time or money to help others outside the group
- The benefit members derive from helping and supporting fellow members (Correct answer)
- The leader selflessly prioritizing member needs over personal gain
- Providing free group services to underserved populations
Correct answer: The benefit members derive from helping and supporting fellow members
Altruism is healing for group members who gain self-esteem and a sense of worth by offering help, support, and insight to others in the group.
Question 3: A group leader notices two members have formed a romantic relationship outside the group. This is best addressed by:
- Expelling both members to maintain appropriate boundaries
- Ignoring it since outside relationships are not the group's concern
- Bringing the relationship into the group for open exploration of its impact on the group process (Correct answer)
- Referring both members to individual therapy immediately
Correct answer: Bringing the relationship into the group for open exploration of its impact on the group process
Extra-group socializing affects the group system and is most therapeutically addressed by exploring it openly within the group.
Question 4: Which stage of Tuckman's group development model is characterized by the establishment of norms and increased cohesion?
- Forming
- Storming
- Norming (Correct answer)
- Performing
Correct answer: Norming
The norming stage involves group members resolving earlier conflicts and establishing agreed-upon norms that support deeper collaborative work.
Question 5: When a group member monopolizes sessions with lengthy disclosures, the most therapeutically appropriate leader response is to:
- Allow it to continue to avoid discouraging openness
- Interrupt kindly and invite other members to respond or share (Correct answer)
- Remove the member from the group for disrupting others
- Have a co-leader speak to the member privately during a break
Correct answer: Interrupt kindly and invite other members to respond or share
Gently interrupting and redirecting to other members maintains equitable participation and addresses the monopolizing behavior as a group dynamic.
Question 6: Confidentiality in group counseling is ethically more complex than in individual therapy primarily because:
- Group counselors are not bound by confidentiality rules
- Members, not just the leader, hold information about each other and cannot be legally bound (Correct answer)
- Group records are subject to public disclosure
- Confidentiality only applies to licensed therapists, not group members
Correct answer: Members, not just the leader, hold information about each other and cannot be legally bound
Unlike individual therapy, the counselor cannot guarantee confidentiality because multiple members share information and only the leader can be held legally liable.
Question 7: In psychodrama, the 'protagonist' refers to:
- The group leader who directs all dramatic action
- The group member who is the focus of the dramatic enactment (Correct answer)
- An antagonist character played by another member
- The audience members who observe without participating
Correct answer: The group member who is the focus of the dramatic enactment
The protagonist is the member whose personal issue or story is being enacted and explored through psychodramatic techniques.
CPCE Group Counseling and Work 4
In the transition stage of group development, leaders can expect: