Group Leader Charateristics

Reflecting feelings: Reflecting feelings involves identifying client emotions and then paraphrasing this affective component back to the client. Group leaders use this skill to let members know that they are being heard and understood. 2. Confronting: Confrontation is used to assist clients to identify and consider discrepancies in their thoughts, behaviors, and feelings in order to resolve their problems and issues. Confrontation could be seen as an attack; therefore many leaders shy away from onfrontation because they fear its possible repercussions.Skilled group counselors only confront when they care about the person, and they do so in a way that gives the person ample opportunity to consider what is being said. 3. Interpreting: Interpreting is to provide clients with a broader understanding of their behaviors, attitudes, thoughts, and feelings. If a group leader is not sensitive to the client willingness or unwillingness to accept it the interpretation may be rejected.Interpreti ng too soon or in a dogmatic way or encouraging the members to become dependent on the leader to provide meanings and answers are common mistakes of interpreting. 4. Goal setting: Goal setting allows a client to have a long-term vision and short-term motivation. By setting goals one can achieve more, improve self- confidence, and increase motivation to achieve the set goal. In group counseling the productive goal is at the core, to help members select and clarify their own specific goals. 5.Active Listening: Active listening involves paraphrasing and summarizing the client's emotions back to them, asking questions to express what they feel or believe or asking questions to achieve a better understanding of what is being communicated. As a group leader the goal is to listen, many leaders focus to intently on the content and in doing so do not pay enough attention to the way in which group members express themselves. Reference Corey, G. (2012). Theory and practice of group counseling (8th ed. ) Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole ed. )