Superiority of group counseling to individual coaching for parents of children with learning disabilities

Two interventions for parents of children with learning disabilities (LD)-individual coaching and group counseling-were compared. Participants were 169 parents, non-randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: coaching (n=45), group counseling (n=93) and control (n=31). Variables included outcomes (parental stress and parental coping), personal (perceived social support) and process (bonding with therapist/group). Findings indicated more favorable outcomes for parents in both treatment conditions compared to control, more favorable outcomes on the stress index for parents treated in groups compared to individual coaching, and bonding was the most consistent predictor of outcomes. The discussion focuses on the power of group counseling for parents of children with LD.