Summary Of Group Work With Children By Samuel Gladding

Samuel Gladding (2008) in his book provides a comprehensive view of groups throughout the lifespan. The groups looked at are; groups for children, groups for adolescents, groups for adults and groups for older adults. Gladding considers group to be an important aspect throughout the lifespan. Group work with children is looked at by Gladding (2008) as “work with children under the age of 14 that requires a special knowledge of child development and group theory” (p. 245). Consequently, when conducting group work with children, it is imperative that a counselor be aware of children’s issues and needs whilst being cognizant of the fact that children have a shorter attention span than adults. Learning with children occurs best during teachable …show more content…
257) in group guidance groups. Crucial to the outcome of group guidance groups are chair arrangements in the classroom (row formation, circle, semi-circle and in an out circles) and discussion teams to promote involvement. The benefits of Group guidance include the counselor’s ability to see a large number of students at the same time, “promotes security and comfort in children, promotes peer interaction and enhances learning of practical ways to handle problem situations” (p. 262). Among the limitations of group guidance and psychoeducational groups are; group sizes being too large thus limiting the opportunity for discussions and exploration of certain subjects and the fact that it may lead to the counselor being stereotyped as just the presenter of knowledge. Similarly, group counseling with children has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include; it being more efficient than individual counseling as the group is larger, “it is more realistic than individual counseling and it promotes support, acceptance, relaxation, risk taking and resources for involved members” (p. 263). Likewise among the disadvantages are; the length of time it takes to develop trust and closeness due to group size, it being more difficult to organize group counseling activities and it requires leaders to have a sensitivity to topics deemed …show more content…
I decided to reflect on the theme of groups particularly children and adolescents as I believe those are the most crucial stages of one’s development. In looking back at my childhood and adolescent years, I remember how important groups such as small extra lesson classes in middle school, club groups, peer groups especially in high school and educational groups and how the different aspects of each has influenced my development. Through reading all the chapters of part two, Gladding has enhanced my knowledge about groups, provided me with insight on how to make groups more effective and beneficial to members and has stimulated group ideas in my thoughts for the current adolescent population I work with as well as other