1. Chapter 12 Groups for Adolescents
Prepared by: Nathaniel N. Ivers, Wake Forest University

2. Roadmap Groups with Adolescents Types of Groups with Adolescents
Settings of Groups for Adolescents
Role of Leaders in Adolescent Groups
Strengths and Limitations of Adolescent Groups

3. Groups for Adolescents
Adolescence
Age span between 13- and 19-years-old
Can be extended to individuals as old as 25-years-old
A time of rapid change
Groups for adolescents be life saving and life changing
Groups can help adolescents make a successful transition from childhood to adulthood

4. Types of Groups for Adolescents
Developmental Psychoeducational Groups
Nondevelopmental Counseling/Psychotherapy Groups

5. Developmental Psychoeducational Groups
Focus on common concerns of young people, such as
Identity
Sexuality
Self-management
Self-advocacy
Depression
Parents
Career goals
Educational and institutional problems (Dagley & English, 2014; DeLucia-Waack, 2006)

6. Counseling/Psychotherapy Groups
Nondevelopmental Counseling/Psychotherapy Groups
Tend to concentrate more on concerns adolescents have with adults and society
Drug and alcohol use
School Problems
Deviant behavior
May be voluntary or mandated

7. Counseling/Psychotherapy Groups
Constructive ways of handling adolescents’ negative feelings and resistance:
Meet with adolescents individually before the group starts
Work with the resistance that uncooperative adolescents bring rather than fighting it
Respond to adolescents’ sarcasm or silence with honest, firm, and caring statements
(Corey et al., 2014)

8. Setting Up Groups for Adolescents
Factors to consider:
Nonverbal versus verbal communication
Group structure and materials
Recruiting members and screening
Group session length and number in group
Gender and age issues

9. Role of the Group Leader
Multidimensional
Determined by the type of group
Group leaders
Model appropriate behaviors
Stress importance of confidentiality
Express empathy yet are firm
Facilitate and control
Act and trust the process

10. Role of the Group Leader
Six types of responses of effective leaders:
Feeling-focused responses
Clarifying and summarizing responses
Open-questions
Facilitative feedback
Simple acknowledgement
Linking
(Myrick, 2011)

11. Role of the Group Leader
Low facilitative, less effective responses:
Advice/evaluation
Analyzing/interpreting
Reassuring/supportive
(Myrick, 2011)

12. Problems in Adolescents’ Groups
Outright Disruptiveness
Hesitancy to Engage with Others
Polarization
Monopolizing
Inappropriate Risk Taking
Overactivity or Giddiness

13. Strengths of Adolescents’ Groups
Natural environment of learning for adolescents
Can facilitate the development of life skills through modeling, role-playing, group discussions, and brief lectures (Dennis-Small, 1986; Zinck & Littrell, 2000)
Can create a sense of belonging and generalizable learning
Provide for multiple feedback
Provide opportunities for adolescents to help out each other

14. Limitations of Adolescents’ Groups
May lack appeal to motivate participants
May add pressure to conform to behaviors in which adolescents do not believe
May not give group members enough attention
If screening is not done with care, the groups may have poor group communication and interaction
Legal and ethical concerns regarding parental and adolescent consent