Sociologists and other scholars have long noted that the relationship of friendship contributes to mental health. Consequently, they have developed various interventions to promote friendship, from describing and quantifying it to designing programs to help the friendless. The background upon which groups were designed to promote the development…

Discusses a model based on a specific set of assumptions about causality and effectiveness in interactional groups. Discusses personal qualities of group facilitators and proposes five major functions and seven skill clusters central to effective group facilitation. (Author/BH)

Measured expectations held by male and female clients and nonclients for group and individual counseling modes, using the Expectations About Counseling questionnaire. Results indicated significant differences between modes, sexes, and populations; however, no interaction effects were noted. (JAC)

Presents goals, types of groups, and unique issues and considerations related to group counseling with nursing home residents. (Author)

Identifies components of group process and describes leader functions. Discusses personal elements, focus of interaction/psychological distance, group development, content, quality of interaction, and self-reflective/meaning attribution, illustrated by a case study of a group of persons (N=5) arrested for drunk driving. (JAC)

Describes how to organize and facilitate a jogging group, combining jogging and group counseling as an important intervention strategy for positive wellness. Describes client selection, medical clearance, liability, meeting times and places, as well as group work. (JAC)

Explored possible differences in group leader (N=32) and member (N=32) reactions to three interventions that seem likely to elicit strong reactions from both leaders and members. Results supported the belief that group leaders and members often enter a group with differing expectations and perceptions. (LLL)

Illustrates how group counseling can facilitate personal development in older adults, using an open-ended support group at a geriatric day care program. Recurring themes included relationship with adult children, housing needs, religion, health issues, and age stereotypes. (JAC)

Describes a counseling group comprised of people concerned with elderly family members. Group members found both information and emotional support, and all suggested that the group be continued. Challenges counselors to meet the need for similar groups. (JAC)

Argues that group work is the most effective tool for work with Black clients because of the Africentric dispositions. The group experience reinforces family and communal relationships while providing a platform for evaluating and defining social realities. (JAC)

Perhaps the most well known treatment modalities in the field of prevention and treatment of addiction are groups. Group settings serve to bring individuals with addictions together at one time in one place to work on relevant issues together. Groups may serve as a safe environment for learning new social and relationship skills, gaining…

This article discusses several principles derived from learning theory which aid in understanding the use and abuse of drugs and illustrates their role in behavioral group counseling, a promising new strategy for drug abuse prevention. (JC)

In this article an attempt has been made to identify Black unity and a discussion of how achieving a sense of collective Black identity, through utilizing skills peculiar to the human potential movement, can serve as a positive force to unite blacks. (Author)

This article describes the content and evaluation of a training center for drug abuse prevention. Through a series of four workshops teams of students, educators, and community leaders received intensive training in behavioral group counseling focused on alternatives to drug use. Evaluation along several criteria indicated that the goals of the…

This article concerning structuring in group counseling discusses a type of structuring which allows a great deal of freedom and permissiveness within the group and at the same time provides a framework within which the group can begin to function. (Author)