Jeffrey A. Kottler

Realities of Teaching Group Counseling

In this critical response, the author discusses some of the realities of teaching group counseling that reflect the different professional contexts for our work.Ethical conflicts, abuse of power, dual relationships, and informed consent are mentioned.

The development of guidelines for training group leaders: A synergistic model

Abstract Training guidelines created for ASGW members are presented along with their rationale and philosophy. The article puts emphasis on synthesizing existing knowledge about group leader training and competencies and underlying assumptions that most practitioners would agree are universally desirable.

Transformative Travel as the Antidote for Acute Burnout and Professional Despair

This is the third column devoted to the power of transformative travel in the lives of counselors. It seems fitting that in a journal devoted to professional issues in an international context that we once again revisit the theme of the ways that travel can enhance our professional practice and personal functioning. I have long been a fan of the value that workshops, advanced training, books, and graduate degrees play in the development of counselors (this is a good thing considering I am a counselor educator, supervisor, and author). Similarly, supervision and personal therapy also play important roles in our continued development. But I remain convinced that if what we are after in our lives is a huge jolt of inspiration, a dose of powerful brief therapy, there is no substitute for the power of what can happen when you are traveling in a novel environment. I first discovered the potential of transformative travel in the life of a depleted counselor when I was a graduate student. I was lost, confused, and torn between my old world and my new life as a helper. I took off for a Caribbean Island for a week loaded with counseling books and used the time and secluded place to separate myself and adopt my new identity. By the time I came back I was a whole new person. Fifteen years later, I was now the director of a psychiatric clinic, responsible for 15 therapists in a setting that had more than its fair share of systemic dysfunction. In the story that unfolds, it may seem that I am describing a fictional situation comedy, but believe me when I tell you that every detail is utterly true. This will help you to understand what led me, several months later, to spend my time living in igloos in the Rocky Mountain wilderness, trying to put some distance again between a new life and an old one. But first the story.

Unethical behaviors we all do and pretend we do not

Abstract The author highlights common unethical behaviors that occur in groups and argues for more honest self-monitoring in group work practice.