Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Exploration of Support Behavior in Counseling Groups With Counseling Trainees

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 37; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01933922.2011.646087

1549-6295

Yoni Harel, Zipora Shechtman, Carolyn E. Cutrona,

Counseling Practices and Supervision

The study explores the types of support expressed in counseling groups attended by trainee counselors. Support is a crucial factor in human life in general, and in groups in particular, yet little is known about the type of support presented in counseling groups. Type of support was categorized by means of the Social Support Behavior Code (SSBC; Cutrona & Suhr, 1992 Cutrona , C. E. , & Suhr , J. A. ( 1992 ). Controllability of stressful events and satisfaction with spouse support behaviors . Communication Research: Special Approaches to the Study of Communication, Social Support and Helping Relationships , 19 , 154 – 174 . [Google Scholar], 1994 Cutrona , C. E. , & Suhr , J. A. (1994). Social support communication in the context of marriage: An analysis of couples' supportive interactions. In B. Burleson , T. Albrecht , & I. Sarason (Eds.), The communication of social support: Messages, interactions, relationships, and community (pp. 113–135). Newbury , CA : Sage. [Google Scholar]; Suhr, 1990 Suhr , J. A. ( 1990 ). Development of the social support behavior code. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. [Google Scholar]). The study included 216 counseling trainees in 14 groups led by 6 therapists. Results indicated a high level of support provided by both group members and therapists, with an increase in positive support and a reduction of negative behavior over time. The most frequent types of support were Esteem Support and Emotional Support by group members, and Attentiveness and Esteem support by therapists. Reciprocity in support was found; especially troubling is reciprocity in Negative Behavior, found among group members.