Experiential group training and group leadership development in Taiwanese school counsellor trainees

Experiential group training is a vital aspect of group leadership development for counsellors. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine experiences, perceptions and group leadership development of school counsellor trainees in Taiwan participating in one of two types of experiential training groups, externally led and peer-led. Participants were 77 school counsellor trainees enrolled in an undergraduate group counselling course with a required 12-hour experiential component. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analysed. No significant differences between the externally led and peer-led groups were found in group leadership development, empathy and group climate. However, participants’ affective empathy in both training groups were significantly improved post-training, and in the externally led group, there was a significant gain in participants’ confidence in using group work skills. While qualitative analysis yielded the same major themes for participants’ experiences and perceptions in both training groups, differences in subthemes in the two groups were noted. Implications and suggestions for group and counsellor training as well as future research are discussed.