Social Confidence Groups 1.

Abstract

As a counsellor in a busy university health centre, I noticed many students presenting with social anxiety-related difficulties. I wondered how best to help people feeling socially anxious, different, shy, or alone, so I decided to be innovative and to trial a group programme. Though initially entitled "The Social Anxiety Group," it was later renamed "The Social Confidence Group" as a more positive title. Counselling can help clients with healing and developing their self-worth, but groups have the power to create a greater sense of belonging. This article describes how the group programme evolved and explains how it works, in the hope that other educational institutions might consider running similar groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Journal of Counselling is the property of New Zealand Association of Counsellors and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)