YEDITEPE UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING & GUIDANCE
ED 364
GROUP COUNSELING
(AN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY)
WHICH ONE IS BETTER FOR ADOLESCENTS WITH RISKY BEHAVIORS:
GROUP COUNSELING OR INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING
BURCIN HASANOGLU
ASSIST. PROF. AYSE BASEL
2012 SPRING
Adolescent Time: A Risky Period
Adolescence can be a difficult time. It is an important time in life for making many decisions that are made during this time including education, friends, dating, and sex. Some of which can affect teens for the rest of their life. For example, research shows that one in four adolescents has an STD3, there are major risks associated withtobacco and drug use, and reports show that risks such as homicide and suicide are very high in the teen years
(Newby& Snyder, 2009).
Why Adolescents Tent to Erroneous Decision
As stated in an adolescent’s brain especially often the last part of the brain to develop is the frontal cortex, aka the section of the brain that aids in decision-making and impulse control is not complete. This may lead many teens—who are trying to learn a new world of complex decisions—to make choices quickly or impulsively without a lot of critical thought. In addition, these decisions can also be influenced by a variety of things including parents, peers, siblings, and sports and extracurricular activities.
Youth Risk Behavior in Key Domains
Tobacco Use
According to the findings of a research named Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) mentioned in Newby & Snyder’s article (2009), the data presents that
· About 13% of all students in 2007 reported smoking before age 13, nearly 20% smoked in the past 30 days, and 6.5% report using other tobacco products.
· A higher percent of males report engaging in all three measures of tobacco use.
· Racial and ethnic differences in those currently smoking and those using other kinds of tobacco are especiallypronounced.
· The percent of non-Hispanic whites who report current smoking and other tobacco is
significantly more than that of non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics.
· A higher percent of non-Hispanic whites engage in all three indicators of tobacco use (YRBSS, 2007).
Violence
Violent behavior is not a new problem, nor is it unique to this age period, however, during adolescence incidences of violence across demographics tend to be heightened. Violence, which is potentially life threatening to teens, can be very dangerous. It is problematic in any context, but especially in a schoolsetting. According to the findings found in 2007 by YRBSS:
· Most students do not engage in overt acts of violence at school.
· Males engage in more violent behavior than females. They are more than twice as likely to get in a fight, and are almost five times as likely to bring a weapon to school as females.
· There are some racial and ethnic differences in school violence. The percent who report bringing weapons to school is similar across groups; however, fighting is higher among non-Hispanic blacks (YRBSS, 2007).
Drinking and Marijuana
Drinking and marijuana use are unsafe for teenagers (Newby& Snyder, 2009). So it has been shown that teens who drink before 15 are more likely to develop dependence than those who start drinking after 21. Alcohol is the leading factor in the three leading causes of death for teenagers: Automobile crashes, homicide, and suicide. Additionally, prolonged alcohol and marijuana use has harmful health effects. And the findings of drinking and marijuana are:
· Overall upwards of 20% of students report engaging in all three behaviors.
· More males report engaging in all three risk behaviors than females, which is consistent with earliertrends.
· Marijuana use is almost evenly distributed across whites, blacks, and Hispanics.
· Non-Hispanic blacks are much less likely to binge drink than Hispanic or white teens.
· Non-Hispanic whites represented the lowest amount of early initiation drinking among other males; however, they score the highest in binge drinking (YRBSS, 2007).
Sexual Behavior
And the final risky behaviors are sexual behaviors. One in three girls will get pregnant before they are 20 years old. Compared to other industrialized countries, the United States has the highest teen birth rate, having one and half times more than the United Kingdom, coming in second. Mothers who have children before 18 are less likely to graduate from high school and their children are more likely to grow up in poverty and the earlier a person initiates sexual behavior, the more sexual partners they are likely to have. Furthermore, the more sexual partners a person has, the more at risk he or she is for contracting a sexually transmitted disease, with the risks increasing exponentially (Newby& Snyder, 2009). And the findings of sexual behavior show that:
- Almost half of all students in 2007 report ever having sex, 17.1% report four or more past partners, and 7.1% has sex before they were age 13.
- Males and females are almost equally as likely to have had sex, though males are more likely to have sex before the age of 13.
- A higher percent of non-Hispanic blacks report having had sex and having four or more partners.
- Non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanic teens are more likely to have sex before 13 (YRBSS, 2007).
What is Counseling
As stated in UT Counseling and Mental Health Center (n.d.) website counseling is a process that can help people identify more effective strategies both to cope with difficult situations such as chronic emotional difficulties and to achieve their goals and this process is conducted by the counselors who are objective listeners - someone who doesn't judge and who can help them see new alternatives.
According to Southern Connecticut State University Counseling Service (n.d.) individual counseling is a collaborative process in which a unique, confidential helping relationship is developed between a counselor and a willing client and in this relationship, the counselor acts as a facilitator who aims to help the client to understand more accurately themselves and the world around themselves. During the sessions the counselor and client, together, explore the client's feelings and behaviors, relationships with others, choices and decisions, as well as the client's current situation.
Group therapy is a type of psychotherapy that involves one or more therapists working with several people at the same time (Cherry, n.d). Group Counseling (therapy) also has some principles which are the important components of this counseling process (Cherry, n.d):
- The Instillation of Hope: Since group has many members with different stages of treatment process, new members have the chance to see how people cope and feel in this process which give hope to the new ones,
- Universality: Seeing people who suffer from the same problems makes people feel that they are not alone,
- Imparting Information: Experiences are shared so that group members learn from each other,
- Alturism: Sharing strenghts and helping each other in the group can boost self-esteem and confidence,
- The Corrective Recapitulation of the Primary Family Group: The group is like a family so that members can explore their childhood experiences and avoid behaviors that are harmful in their real life,
- Development of Socialization Techniques: The group setting is a safe place for practicing new behaviors that help them socialize,
- Imitative behavior: Individuals can imitate both each other and the therapist’s behaviors.
- Interpersonal learning: Getting feedback from each other as the result of the interaction, the individuals can gain a grater understanding of themselves,
- Group cohesiveness: Having a common goal makes people gain a sense of belonging and acceptance,
- Catharsis: Sharing feelings and experiences enables people vent their pains and guilt,
- Existential factors: Through support and guidance in the group, group therapy helps the group members realize that they are responsible for their own lives.
What is the Best for the Adolescents with Risky Behaviors: Individual or Group Counseling
Teens and young adults face many pressures and decisions involving alcohol, drugs, and sexual activity—decisions that often occur simultaneously and research has shown that many health risk behaviors occur in combination with one another, yet it is often unclear which behavior comes first ( www.kff.org, 2002). Substance use increases the probability that an adolescent will initiate sexual activity, and relatedly, sexually experienced adolescents are more likely to initiate substance use. And also,alcohol and drug use by young people may lead to earlier sexual initiation, unprotected sexual intercourse, and multiple partners as well as putting young people at risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), unintended pregnancy, and sexual violence ( www.kff.org, 2002).
According to what is mentioned above here, I believe that individual counseling works best, because risky behviours are triggered by substance use and I believe that adolescent are unable to communicate their issues to the people who are close to them. For that reason, they feel upset and lonely which results in substance use. Such issues (problems, unsolved and unfinished business, etc.) must be dealt with the adolescent in individual counseling first. The therapist should provide them with the trust which was not provided by their close relatives; they should purge their mind and psychology of their angry, feeling of loneliness or other negative emotions. The individual therapy will help them understand themselves and realize that they have used such risky behaviours to substitude for the emptiness caused by their past experinces.
On the other hand, I do not believe that individual counseling is enough for the full recovery of the adolescents. Since all the adolescent go through the same periods, they should attend group counseling, as well, to see that they are not the only one or they are not alone in this process. When they meet people with the same bad experinces, they will gain self- confidence and self- esteem. Observing people with similar backgrounds will enable them avoid doing the same mistake and learn lessons from the group members.
In conclusion, both individual and group counseling are inseperable to the recovery of adolescents from risky behaviours which help them see that they are not alone in this process and will be able to symphatize with the people having suffered the similar mistakes.
References
Newby, K., Snyder, A. (2009). Fact Sheet: Family Science. Teen Risk Behavior. Retrieved April 25, 2012 from http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/pdf/5240.pdf
Individual Counseling. (n.d). Retrieved April 25, 2012 from http://www.cmhc.utexas.edu/individualcounseling.html
Southern Connecticut State University.(n.d.). Individual Counseling. Retrieved April 25, 2012 from http://www.southernct.edu/counseling/whatiscounseling/
Cherry, K. (n.d). What Is Group Therapy.Retrieved April 25, 2012 from http://psychology.about.com/od/psychotherapy/f/group-therapy.htm
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (Feb., 2002). Substance Use and Risky Sexual Behavior: Attitudes and Practices Among Adolescents and Young Adults Retrieved April 25, 2012 from http://www.kff.org/youthhivstds/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=14907
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