The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the current literature on group leadership in the counseling situation. To this end, the review covers the literature in the areas of: (1) Ways of viewing leadership; (2) Attributes of leadership; and (3) Leadership skills.
Views of Group Counseling Leadership
Most authors agree that group counselors are leaders (e.g. Polcin, 1991; Conyne, Harvill, Morganett & Morran, 1990). However, there is disagreement regarding views of counselors as leaders. For example, Hansen, Warner, and Smith (1986) have pointed out that some authors feel that counselors should be authoritarian leaders (exerting control from a position of status) while others believe group leaders should take a more democratic leadership role (group-centered, non-directive role). Such views are developed from a focus that is fixed on the position of the counselor as a leader.
Still other views focus on counselor leadership behavior from the standpoint of relationship. According to Peterson and Nisenholz (1987), such views focus on the interpersonal skills of group counselors, emphasizing those leadership tasks (e.g. self-disclosure, giving and receiving feedback, and so forth) that assist in forming an effective helping relationship.
Other authors' views of leadership focus on leader actions. Such views emphasize the functions of the group leader through specification of those actions attendant to each function. For example, Yalom (1985) has delineated the following functions as characteristic of effective group leaders:
(1) Emotional stimulation (challenging, confronting, modeling through risk-taking, and high self-disclosure);
(2) Caring (offering support, affection, praise, protection, warmth, acceptance, genuineness, and concern);
(3) Meaning attribution (explaining, clarifying, interpreting, providing a cognitive framework for change, translating feelings and experiences into ideas); and
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