"The best way to predict the future
is to create it."

-Abraham Lincoln

Chapter 2
The Types of Counseling Practice

Counselors work on multiple levels. Sometimes they work with individuals, sometimes with groups, sometimes with couples and families, and sometimes online with any of the previously mentioned populations. However, to help you best understand the work of counselors, we will focus on the four main types of counseling: individual, couples, group, and family.

What Is Individual Counseling?

Individual counseling is what most people think about when they consider going for counseling. Quite succinctly, individual counseling is a one-on-one session between a counselor and a client. Many people think of individual counseling as having a Freudian aspect to it where clients lie down on a couch and tell their counselors everything about their childhoods and their hang-ups. (Kevin cooked cakes in his sister's Easy-Bake Oven as a kid, which was unusual at the time, but nonetheless turned out fairly "normal." You would like him! Sam played with sticks because his family was not affluent, and now he is into tree conservation. You would like him too! Both of us benefitted from our childhoods in different ways.) Although some history, especially if it concerns obsessions and phobias, may be conveyed in individual counseling, sessions are usually about present concerns. They are conducted with both people sitting in chairs and talking.

What Is Couples Counseling?

Couples counseling consists of a couple, whether married or not, seeing a counselor to overcome some difficulties they are experiencing in their relationship. Common couples' problems are matters related to money, sex, communication, and control. Counselors treat couples as equal partners and solicit ideas from each about how their situation could be improved. It is essential that counselors see couples together and not separately. The reason is to ensure they hear both sides of the story, they are not favoring one member of the relationship over the other, and they do not get trapped into keeping secrets or information that one member of the couple does not want the other to know.

What Is Group Counseling?

Group counseling is just like it sounds: You are in a group with other clients. In some groups, everyone has the same problem (e.g., everyone in the group has social anxiety). However, some groups operate where the clients have different problems (e.g., some individuals are depressed whereas others are dealing with anxiety). Another distinguishing feature is some groups are open, meaning that a new client can begin at any time, while other groups are closed, meaning that once the group starts no one else can join. Many interpersonal dynamics occur in a group. The counselor must be alert to the verbal and nonverbal messages (e.g., body posture, facial expressions, eye contact) sent by group members. (Sam has run more groups than Kevin. That is why he has more grey hair.)

What Is Family Counseling?

Family counseling, as its name implies, is seeing a family together instead of individual members separately. The reason is not only to hear concerns from each family member but also to look at the dynamics of the family in action. Often, family members have different perspectives about a situation.

To conduct family counseling, a counselor has to think of the family as the client. Otherwise, the counselor can get trapped into thinking there are "heroes" and "zeroes" (or "villains") in the family. When that happens, some members may be scapegoated and seen as "the problem," while others may be given "a pass," regardless of what they do.

There is an important theory that guides family counseling. It is called systems theory. The idea behind systems theory is that if one person in a family changes, it will affect others in the family. For example, if parents are not getting along, it may affect the behavior of one or more of their children. Children might act out the conflict that their parents are experiencing. If the parents are fighting, a son might start fighting at school. It is as though his behavior represents the problem that is occurring between his parents. In this example, it is likely that the child's problem will diminish or end once the parents have resolved their difficulty.

How Do I Know Which Type of Counseling Is Best for My Situation?

There is no hard-and-fast rule to know which type of counseling is best for you or if you should engage in more than one form of counseling (e.g., simultaneous individual and group counseling). Nevertheless, a helpful strategy is to look at who owns the problem. Ask yourself, "What do I need?" and "What type of counseling will be most effective in meeting that need?"

For some problems, it is clear-cut that individual counseling is best. If you are in school and experience exam anxiety, it is most likely you who own the problem, so individual counseling is recommended. If the problem is between you and your partner or spouse, you know it takes both of you to resolve the difficulty. A change in only one will often be met with resistance from the other. In this example, we recommend couples counseling. In couples counseling, your significant other is in the room, and you can interact with him or her in front of the counselor so that the counselor can see, not just hear about, how the two of you relate. In such a situation, the counselor observes and can give corrective or positive feedback to both of you without blaming, shaming, or even praising one or the other. In such a situation, the counselor may also assign homework, which allows the couple to practice together what they have learned during a session.

If you are living in a blended family scenario (i.e., two individuals with children from previous relationships are now in a relationship together), the problems that may occur often result from the interaction of several members of this new family constellation. Family counseling will likely create the best remedy.

When a child is having problems, the question is not as straightforward as to which kind of counseling is best. As noted in the previous section, children sometimes mirror the problems experienced by one or both parents or by the interaction of the two parents. In cases such as this, how do you know what to do? Many counselors will provide a brief and free consultation over the telephone, and this is an excellent method to help you determine where to begin resolving a problem.

Furthermore, an individual may decide to engage in two types of counseling at once. For example, a shy woman may wish to explore her shyness with a counselor individually. At the same time, she might choose to participate in a group to practice interpersonal skills in a safe environment where she can take risks and receive helpful feedback from others.

At times, clients receiving group counseling or family counseling may participate in some individual sessions. For the most part, however, if a couple or family is dissatisfied with how their lives are going in the context of these intimate relationships, they are best to work conjointly and systematically with a counselor in seeking resolutions. An individual member of the couple or family is unlikely to find answers to the difficulties they face by engaging exclusively in individual counseling because the counselor only hears one side of the story and is not in a good position to help.

If you decide to engage in two types of counseling at once (e.g., individual and family), it is important that you inform both counselors of what you are doing. That way you and the counselors can coordinate what is happening in counseling and not work at cross-purposes.

What Are the Similarities and Differences Between the Types of Counseling?

Not all counseling is the same. Individual counseling may be the most private and intrapersonal. However, the counselor and client are limited because there are no other people in the room to give feedback and the client's perception of his or her environment may not be accurate. Nevertheless, many people prefer individual counseling because of its intensity and intentionality. In this type of counseling, counselors concentrate on helping a person make intrapersonal changes.

Group counseling is probably the next most popular form of counseling. The reasons relate to the safety of it and the feedback that is available from others. In a group counseling environment, members can learn a lot about how their actions are perceived and learn new ways of behaving. One way to think about group counseling is that members of the group sometimes act as "cocounselors" in aiding other group members. For example, Barbara may be able to give Tammy some guidance and encouragement in making an application for a job because she has been in that situation before. Individuals in groups learn interpersonal skills while working on intrapersonal concerns. This dynamic may play out especially in group counseling that is theme related (e.g., groups devoted to the refining of social skills, groups that are offered for the prevention of anxiety).

However, there are some limitations to group counseling. Individuals might feel a particular need to talk one week, but perhaps someone else's need is considered more critical. At other times, especially if they are a bit shy or reserved, they might not get out their need to talk before someone who is more outgoing dominates the...