Group Counselling for Elderly: Challenges, Benefits, and Comparisons

This report delves into the realm of group counselling, specifically focusing on its application and impact on elderly individuals grappling with social isolation. It begins by outlining the fundamental principles and goals of group counselling, emphasizing its role in fostering support, understanding, and the development of interpersonal skills. The report then explores the significant benefits of group counselling for the elderly, such as combating loneliness, providing a sense of belonging, and facilitating social interaction. It further examines the specific situations where group counselling proves particularly advantageous, supported by research evidence. However, the report also acknowledges and analyzes the challenges faced by both clients and counsellors within this context, including issues of elder abuse, mobility limitations, and the potential for personal clashes. The report then proceeds to compare and contrast group counselling with individual counselling, highlighting the unique advantages and disadvantages of each approach. Finally, it briefly explains the use of existential theory for elderly people, emphasizing its relevance to addressing individual life situations and challenges. This comprehensive analysis provides valuable insights into the complexities and effectiveness of group counselling as a therapeutic intervention for the elderly population.

Running Head : GROUP COUNSELLING
Group Counselling
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

Introduction-200 words
The group counselling is a type of counselling where little group of people
regularly meet for discussing, interacting and exploring the issues with each other along
the group leader. The group counselling for older people facing isolation is aimed at
providing the clients comfortable place where they can discuss the emotional and
physical problems. The members of the group try to gain insight into their thoughts and
behaviours to provide some suggestions and support. Those people who have hard
time with the interpersonal connections can also get advantages from the social
interactions which are the fundamental parts of the entire group counselling experience
(Barekati et al., 2017).. The group counselling has some meaningful goals that aim at
providing and receiving support, understanding of the issues and exploring the possible
solutions practicing the interpersonal skills. The group counselling help in increasing the
observations along with the feedback skills, the improvement of the motion,
expressiveness, enhancement of the problem solving skills, development of good
communication skills and decreasing the social isolation.
There are many advantages of the group counselling which mainly appeal a person of
old age facing isolation. First of all, the groups are typically of 14 to 15 people as staff
who are directed by a qualified facilitator too. The leaders of the groups are usually the
social workers and the mental health professionals are the psychologists who are well
trained about how to deal with group dynamics and the issues of consideration.
There are situations that occur once or twice each week for short time, for long time and
the groups may vary in shape and format but the common say it is that the members

gain the scope of working on improvement of lives with the supportive and structured
ambience for the older adults (Delavar, Pashaeypoor&Negarandeh, 2020).. The group
counselling process is considerably of huge importance. It can be said that the older
adults are mostly unaware of the valuable advantages of counselling. The older people
are quite vulnerable to the loneliness along with the social isolation and it can leave a
serious impact on their health.
Benefits of group counselling For Elderly People Facing Isolation – 300 words
Most of them are too strong survivors living in the value of determination,
discipline and willpower for surmounting the challenges. Also, counselling might never
have been a part of their family culture. There can be time when the emotional strength
may not be the most effective strategy for their health. According to some renowned
psychologist and counsellors along with therapists, the older clients facing isolation
reach the time when they need to see a geriatric counselor for sure. Taken for example,
their medications, the physical health status, socialization, safety living conditions,
isolation, spirituality all contribute to the sense of well being of the older people (Ghazi
Mohseni, Soleimanian&Heidarnia, 2016). Through group counselling, the isolated adults
feel a sense of belonging and the biggest advantage of the group counselling is the
scope of seeing that other are also struggling in the similar ways. The individual
counselling cannot offer this type of personal insight into the life and experiences of
other people. The feelings of isolation of older people are likely to be listened when a
person starts hearing the stories of others and realizes the way they have struggled as
well. It provides a space for understanding and validation to almost every aspect such

as anger management, anxiety, isolation and depression. The group counselling further
leads to interpersonal interaction that is the most important factor in making older
adultsfeels good (Ma et al., 2016).The group sessions are used for providing perfect
environments for practicing the interpersonal relations and improving the social skills. It
is common for people who deal with mental health issues and the struggles of others life
in terms of experiencing difficulties in the relationship. At the time of group work, one is
able to interact with the other members of the facility that helps in processing the
interactions. This processing helps the members for gaining and understanding of the
points of view of other people regarding learning healthy ways of resolving and
communicating the differences.
Situations that are advantageous to group counseling for elderly people based on
researched evidence.-200
The group sessions further provide powerful results than the individual sessions
because one is able to receive the support from more than one source. This is one of
the best advantages of group counselling for the older adults because in group therapy,
the counselor is not the only one to provide the feedback. In that place the group
facilitator helps in encouraging the members in terms of offering suggestions, feedbacks
and support to the whole session. The members of the group counselling can also
become the sounding board(Sutipan, Intarakamhang&Macaskill, 2017). Their services
provide a person with feedback helpful in seeing a particular situation that is realist and
clear. It is actually the human nature for perceiving things through to other lenses. The
group counselling also enhances the motivation of living among the older adults.

Challenges Faced By Client During Counselling -300 words
It is evident that the world population by the year 2050 the age group of elderly people
is expected to have reached nearly 19 million. There are challenges faced during the
group counselling. The older adults people facing isolation might think that the
caregivers are not properly behaving with them and they are excessively bound by duty
of care. This can include the feeling that the caregivers are causing harm to their elders
and they are not meeting the basic needs properly as they are failing to protect the elder
from harm and not listing to his or her instructions. Most of the time, the elderly patients
facing isolation are unable to report the abuses or they are reluctant to do so (Şahin,
Özer&Yanardağ, 2019). Hence, it is up to the professionals to know whether there is
any symptom of elder abuse and realize the steps required for confronting the problem.
The elderly people also face the lack of mobility which is another challenge. The time
when the population requires counselling the most, they are unable to conduct a travel
to the office of counselor due to physical mobility issue on health concerns. Also, with
the aging of the population the counselors who work with the older adults come across
some rare cases. The older adults also face the problems with unfulfilled grief they have
suffered from through the past years. The counselors who are into the adult care often
find that they need a special type of training for helping with the issues that are unique
to the particular age. Most of the adults in isolation go through an anxiety after
retirement and fell the lack of belongingness and want of identity. The financial

constraints that they face after retirement can also be a reason of stress and anxiety
among them which is not the department of the group counselors. Hence, it can be said
that the different kinds of people have different problems and the counselors might not
have solution to each of the problems which is the biggest problem.
Challenges Faced By Counsellors -300 words
There are many challenges faced by the group counselors such as the personal clashes
occurred because of the different natures of different people in the group. The
occurrence of disagreement among the members is a usual problem where a
dominating personality always tries to rule the entire group and others always cannot
accept the opinion. This is the issue which has to be maintained by the trainer. There
are also challenges with comments because while sharing and discussing something
among the group members there are comments passed which can leave a personal
dissatisfaction. This issue can be managed either in hostile way or in an emotional way.
Also, the fear of receiving comments and information provided by the participants can
cause depression among people (Ma et al., 2016).. There can be trust issues because
people sometimes feel uncomfortable regarding revealing their issues and breaking the
trust having shared and forwarded the personal ideas. This will in turn cause huge
trouble for people because they are obliged to their feelings. Notably, the group
counselling opens the way for the fear of rejection.
Limitations Of Group Counselling On Elderly People -300 words

There are inherent risks because few members in the group can have aggressive
behaviour within themselves and can cause clashes. It should be analysed further
whether the group has become damaged confidentially. Again, there are the social
phobias because some people in the group are nervous during speaking before another
person. This needs a person to come in front addressing about them. It should be
addressed in front of the whole group because it can lead to a research on the phobias
which are spoken in front of other.
Group counselling against individual counselling- 300 words
As far as the comparison between the group counseling and individual
counseling is concerned, it is found that in the group counselling the individual start
understanding that they are not alone in the issue and there are other people who have
similar challenges. This comes out as a development of the sense of belongingness,
identity along with the removal of tension and stress. The therapeutic alliance between
the therapist and the client helps to address the issues of the client quite effectively.
This is one extremely significant factor for gaining the positive results of the therapeutic
treatment. The people in the group counselling further support other people and receive
support also developing a broader therapeutic bond along with the shared sense of
objectives for strong improvement in the service providing (Şahin, Özer&Yanardağ,
2019).. The people in the group counselling gain the scope of having insight into the
issues along with greater self-awareness through listening to other people having
similar problems. This helps the client who is an older adult to get motivated and have
strong will power in fighting with the challenges. However, there are some

disadvantages of the group counselling such as few people are highly aggressive,
manipulate, impulsive and suffering from the active psychosis inappropriate for the
groups. Additionally few people are not properly fitted into certain types of groups
(Rostami, Rasouli&Kasaee, 2019).. Also, few people in the group might not be enough
motivated participating and letting others to contribute in the group. On the other hand,
the individual therapy helps the older adults facing isolation to receive the full attention
of the therapist and work with the therapist on the basis of one on one. This comes out
as an intense therapeutic experience for the client. Also the adult client receives direct
feedback regarding the progress from the single therapist or the counselor and
counselor in turn has a complete understanding of the progress of the client. In these
cases, the therapeutic alliance is the strongest between the client and the counsellor.
Also there are some disadvantages of the individual counselling of the older adults such
as the individual sessions are costly than the group sessions. There might be some
individuals who are not alright with motivation and may face difficulty in handling the
situation with complete focus and complete attention. The older adult client is restricted
to the perspective of a single counselor and doesn't get the scope of having multiple
perspectives.
Why use Existential TheoryFor Elderly?-100 words
(Only emphasize why do you use this theory and strategy for the elderly?)
The existential theory in counselling focuses on the addressing of a situation of a
person's individual life and situations of the person within the predictable challenges. On
the other hand, the intervention strategy in counselling is an orchestrated attempt of

many people where a family and the friends of the client are involved. It is about getting
a person seeking for professional help for many types of dramatic crisis or event or
some other serious problem (Shrestha, Karki&Ghimire, 2019).. The term intervention is
usually used the time when the traumatic event includes addiction to the drugs or some
other things. The intervention can further refer to the act of using a particular technique
in a therapy session. Existential theory revolves around the personal choices of an
individual and the personal experiences. It is about being aware of the death and non-
being accepting anxiety being a condition of living. This theory is used as it helps in
developing the psychological aspect of the older adult facing isolation having intervened
into his or her personal life and experiences (Sutipan, Intarakamhang&Macaskill,
2017).. The intervention strategy helps an individual to listen with focus observe
understand respond with the empathy respect genuineness and acceptance with
sensitivity. On a concluding note, it can be said that the choice for involving in group
counseling or individual counseling depends on the number of various factors such as
one's comfort level, the affordability, the problems discussing in front of people and the
type of intervention used.

References
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Family Medicine, 99(5480), 1-9.
Delavar, F., Pashaeypoor, S., &Negarandeh, R. (2020). The effects of self-management
education tailored to health literacy on medication adherence and blood pressure control
among elderly people with primary hypertension: A randomized controlled trial. Patient
Education and Counseling, 103(2), 336-342.
Ghazi Mohseni, M., Soleimanian, A. A., &Heidarnia, A. (2016). Examining the effectiveness of
hope-based group training on the life quality of the elderly People. Iranian Journal of
Ageing, 11(2), 300-309.
Ma, X. Z., Pan, Z. Y., Xu, R. M., Han, Z. Q., & Song, Q. H. (2016). Treatment of elderly
patients with anxiety order by psychological counseling combined with auricular plaster
therapy. Int J ClinExp Med, 9(3), 6669-74.
Rostami, M., Rasouli, M., &Kasaee, A. (2019). Comparison of the effect of group counseling
based on spirituality-based therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on
improving the quality of life the elderly. Journal of Applied Counseling, 9(1), 87-110.
Şahin, D. S., Özer, Ö.,&Yanardağ, M. Z. (2019). Perceived social support, quality of life and
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Shrestha, S., Karki, R., &Ghimire, M. (2019). Impact of Pharmacist Counselling on Medication
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Sutipan, P., Intarakamhang, U., &Macaskill, A. (2017). The impact of positive psychological
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