LMHC Group Counseling Theories 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In person-centered group therapy, the leader's primary role is best described as:
- Expert diagnostician who interprets member dynamics
- Facilitator who creates conditions for member growth (Correct answer)
- Director who structures therapeutic exercises
- Teacher who instructs members in coping skills
Correct answer: Facilitator who creates conditions for member growth
Carl Rogers' person-centered approach positions the leader as a facilitator offering empathy, unconditional positive regard, and congruence rather than directing the process.
Question 2: Solution-focused brief group therapy (SFBT) would most typically incorporate which intervention?
- Exploring the historical roots of current problems
- Asking members to identify times when the problem was absent (Correct answer)
- Analyzing the group's unconscious resistance
- Confronting members' cognitive distortions directly
Correct answer: Asking members to identify times when the problem was absent
The 'exception question' in SFBT helps members identify times when the problem did not occur, building on existing strengths and successes.
Question 3: A group therapist practicing rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) would focus primarily on members':
- Unconscious drives and unresolved conflicts
- Irrational beliefs that cause emotional disturbance (Correct answer)
- Interpersonal patterns within the group
- Behavioral deficits and skill gaps
Correct answer: Irrational beliefs that cause emotional disturbance
Albert Ellis's REBT holds that irrational beliefs (not events themselves) cause emotional disturbance, making belief disputation the central intervention.
Question 4: Which ethical issue is most unique to group counseling compared to individual therapy?
- Maintaining the therapeutic frame
- Confidentiality among non-professional members (Correct answer)
- Obtaining informed consent
- Managing transference
Correct answer: Confidentiality among non-professional members
Unlike individual therapy, in group counseling the counselor cannot fully control confidentiality because non-professional members may disclose what others share.
Question 5: In a dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills group, the leader's role most resembles a:
- Process facilitator exploring member feelings
- Teacher delivering structured psychoeducation (Correct answer)
- Analyst interpreting group transference
- Director of experiential exercises
Correct answer: Teacher delivering structured psychoeducation
DBT skills groups are structured, psychoeducational sessions where the therapist teaches specific skills (mindfulness, distress tolerance, etc.) rather than facilitating open process.
Question 6: When a group member consistently takes on the role of 'helper' for others but deflects attention from their own issues, the leader should:
- Reinforce the helping behavior as altruistic
- Explore how helping others may serve as avoidance of personal work (Correct answer)
- Assign the member a formal co-leader role
- Redirect the group to focus on a different member
Correct answer: Explore how helping others may serve as avoidance of personal work
Compulsive helping in group settings can be a defense mechanism; the leader's role is to gently explore the underlying avoidance without shaming the member.
Question 7: The concept of the 'group-as-a-whole' perspective derives primarily from which theoretical framework?
- Cognitive-behavioral theory
- Object relations and systems theory (Correct answer)
- Existential-humanistic theory
- Behavioral learning theory
Correct answer: Object relations and systems theory
The group-as-a-whole approach, associated with Bion and systems theorists, views the group as an organism with its own dynamics beyond individual member behaviors.
LMHC Group Counseling Theories 3
In person-centered group therapy, the leader's primary role is best described as: