Patterns & Metaphors

Co-counsel conferencing

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The meeting in a conference situation of two groups with the aim of mutual help and guidance. Derived from the "self-help therapy" groups where individuals in a group situation gather in pairs and take turns to be "client" and "counsellor". In the conference situation the groups pair off and adopt similar roles of "client" and "counsellor". The "counsellor" group listens to the "client" group; and through a questioning process that can be more or less structured allows the "client" to "talk-through" its situation and gather strength from its internal resources. The two groups then reverse roles and the other group has the chance to "talk-through" the issues or the crisis it is facing. The groups can belong to the same organization or be completely different organizations. The keys to the process include: (a) the active listening which probes for the hidden distress within the organization and encourages its expression; (b) the positive feedback that emphasizes the positive qualities exhibited by the group, which also tends to encourage the release and expression of feelings; and (c) the proposal and rehearsing of alternatives to the rigid patterns of behaviour they had become locked into.
[Advantages] Rapid creation of a therapeutic situation. The groups know why they are there and the process is understood. The reversing of the counsellor/client roles enables the establishment of trust between the groups. Re-activation of the stress and tension in the group allows for a breakthrough in the rigid patterns of behaviour that were adopted to cope with tension. This gives the possibility to widen the group system giving a more open structure of choice for assessment and action on their situation.
[Disadvantages] There is the danger that the "distress" of the "client" group can stimulate the experience of similar tension in the "counsellor" to the extent that it can no longer listen, but becomes caught up with its own internal issues. The process depends on the sensitivity of the members of the counsellor group to allow the expression of the distress of the "client" group and not to simply attempt to impose its patterns in place of the old patterns.