A group counseling emphasis at a university counseling center.

Abstract

A service delivery system with a group personal counseling emphasis is described, based on two years of experience at a university counseling center. After discussing the local background and rationale for this system, the practical logistics, the operational policies, and the group ground rules are presented. Utilization data are summarized: for ex- ample, 36% of all clients and 88% of clients with eight or more sessions were group members; groups typically grew to nine clients and had 60% attend- ance. Results for a self-report outcome survey of 128 participants are exemplified by the 95.1% who re- ported some level of improvement and the 92.2% who rated their psychologist very to exceptionally effective. A variety of observations and conclusions are offered. Two years ago the staff of the Northern Michigan University Counseling Center de- signed a service delivery system which em- phasizes group personal counseling. To the extent that any treatment program, viewed as a whole, can be seen as successful, we have been satisfied with the results of our expe- rience. For counseling services potentially faced with client needs that outstrip available resources, this report describes one possible response to limited budgets. Further, our two years of experience has obliged a fertile con- frontation and reevaluation of many of our

Keywords

Affiliated Institutions

• Northern Michigan University US

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