Group Counseling Skills: Vignette Exercise
For BOTH vignettes: in 400-500 words each describe your solution to the problem. Be sure to answer the questions posed at the end of each vignette as part of your answer.
1. The Silent Member. Rose rarely says much in her group. Other members have caringly confronted her about how they were affected by her silence. Rose eventually says, “Everyone in here wants more from me than I am willing to give. It’s not that I am not interested, but I have always been more of a listener than one to speak up. I figure that if I have something to say, I’ll say it, but I don’t want to talk just to hear my voice.”
What are some things you might say to Rose? In what ways can she control the group through her silence? Can you think of some strategies for exploring her silence with her that would not lead to her becoming even more silent?
2. Dealing with Dependency. Jessica keeps pressing you as the leader to give her advice on how she should solve her problems. She seems very impatient with feedback from other group members, because she wants your “expert” help. She tells you that in her culture, she has been taught to respect authority and to seek out experts such as yourself for the answers to her problems. In spite of the fact that you have done your best to help members find their own answers, Jessica continues to rely on you for her solutions.
Knowing that Jessica has a cultural background that has reinforced her pattern of seeking solutions from experts, how might you proceed with her? Would you interpret her behavior as dependency? Do you see her behavior as a response to her cultural conditioning, or as a defense?
