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Complete 8 page APA formatted essay: Advanced Nursing Skills.

it is imperative that nurses assume the role of nurse therapists and offer group therapies to the needy patients making use of their theoretical insights in group process and group dynamics. However, it is important that the group members are selected after careful screening so that the group leader (therapist or counselor) can address the psychiatric problems of group members who share certain common problems. Group therapy is aimed at offering empathy and support to all the group members by creating an atmosphere of trust that leads to sharing and exploring of each one’s concerns (Corey, 2008, p. 4). The skills of the group members are strengthened in group therapy with a view to enabling them to face future problems of similar nature. The scope of group therapy in mental healthcare setting is greater as this would enable a psychiatric patient to correct emotional and behavioral disorders that impede one’s functioning or to remediate in-depth psychological problems” (Corey, 2008, p. 7). However, it is essential that the group therapists guard themselves against any sorts of cultural or racial stereotyping and cultural encapsulation within a multicultural group setting.

As pointed out by Corey (2008, p. 4), group therapies and counseling have “preventive as well as remedial aims.” However, one needs to differentiate between counseling groups and therapy groups. Group counseling is often problem oriented and addresses a specific educational, vocational, social, or personal issue. Similarly, group counseling is “growth oriented in that the emphasis is on discovering internal resources of strength” to face situational crises, temporary conflicts, or self-defeating behaviors (Corey, 2008, p. 4). On the other hand, interpersonal relationships are very much significant in group therapies and as such, these therapies stress the thoughts, feelings and behavior patterns of the participants as well. In this respect, Corey (2008, p. 7) observes that