• Lack of attending and empathy. Of

• Lack of attending and empathy. Often these prospective group leaders show
that they don’t really listen; they are preoccupied with a message that they
want to impart to their groups and use the group as a vehicle for indoctrination.
Or they ask many closed questions and are preoccupied with problem
solving rather than problem understanding. They often take on too much
responsibility for making things happen. In short, beginning group counselors
sometimes talk too much and listen too little.
• Absence of counselor self-disclosure. Some agencies and institutions foster,
even require, an aloof and undisclosing leader role. Group counselors may
be given these messages: “Avoid being personal,” “Don’t get involved,” and
“Avoid sharing anything about yourself, even if it affects the relationship.”
Leaders are expected to change the behavior of members yet keep themselves
out of their interactions with group members—clearly an unreasonable
and self-defeating expectation.
• Lack of positive regard, warmth, and acceptance. Some group counselors are
intolerant of the people they are supposedly helping and cling to assumptions
that keep their clientele in stereotyped categories. Such prejudice
makes client change diffi cult, if not impossible. Admittedly, it may be hard
to maintain positive regard, warmth, and acceptance toward people who are
in a treatment program for spousal abuse, child abuse, or murder. Although
these actions are not condoned, it is important for leaders to be able to set
aside their reactions to these behaviors at least during the course of the
group. If that is not possible, leaders need to disqualify themselves from the
role of leader.
• Lack of belief in the therapeutic process. Underlying the concepts of positive
regard and acceptance is the belief that people can change and improve
their personal condition. In our in-service group process workshops, we frequently
meet practitioners and students who lead groups only because they
are required to do so and who question the effectiveness of group therapy.
In a climate in which enthusiasm, motivation, and faith in groups is absent,
is it surprising that leaders fi nd that their groups are somewhat less than