Training

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Comprehensive Exam Review
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Group Work Part 2
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The advantages of group work include
Economy of Approach Interpersonal
Power Effectiveness
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The Economy of Approach advantage is that
group work is cost effective because several
people can be worked with simultaneously by one
or two leaders as opposed to working with each
one separately.
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The Interpersonal Power advantage is that
the group structure is set up naturally to
harness the interactions of each other and
associated interpersonal power. Interpersonal
power is attuned to many problems and needs where
viewpoints and involvement of others is
important, such as improving team functioning or
helping members with a significant personal
problem.
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The Effectiveness advantage is that
group work has been shown to be an effective and
efficacious approach to providing help.
Researchers have demonstrated that group therapy,
for example, is at least as effective an approach
as individual therapy and, in some cases, more
helpful.
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The disadvantages of group work include
Organizing the Group Misapplication of Group Work
Types Complexity Acceptance
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The Organizing the Group disadvantage is that
establishing groups and a group program poses
many challenges, such as finding needed
resources, designing the group, insufficient
skill training of staff, assigning members to
groups, and scheduling.
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The Misapplication of Group Work Types
disadvantage is that
sometimes the group method is not appropriate at
all, but other methods (e.g., individual) are,
while at other times, the wrong group work
methodology might be applied (e.g., using group
counseling in a work setting to attempt to
produce improved productivity).
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The Complexity of Performing Group Work
disadvantage is that
group work is a challenging task that requires
group work training, supervised experience, and
effective and appropriate application of
knowledge and skills to the presenting situation.
The complexity increases in proportion to group
size and difficulty of issues being addressed.
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The Acceptance of Group Work disadvantage is that
group work tends to lag in terms of acceptance by
colleagues and the public. It is too often still
perceived as a second class intervention that
is far too difficult to implement.
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Recruiting and Screening strategies are very
important for counseling, psychotherapy and
psychoeducation groups.
Prospective members may be obtained through
recruitment and marketing methods, BUT the group
must be explained accurately and attractively in
them.
Recruiting can occur through dissemination of
fliers, postings, announcements in media, direct
personal appeal, referral from case loads, and
other ways - if done ethically.
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Screening is the process through which the group
leader determines before the group is started
who is suitable to participate in the group.
The goal of screening is to appropriately match
the group with prospective members.
Informed consent for participation in a group is
always necessary.
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Presenting informed consent information about the
group should include description of
Goals and methods Leader qualifications Time
commitments Meeting location Expectations Fees
(if any) Confidentiality
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Member goals, past experience with groups and
counseling, assessment of functioning,
expectations for group, interest in
participating, contraindicated factors (e.g.,
actively psychotic, homicidal or suicidal, or no
social interest), and fit with time demands of
group are all important considerations to be
discussed in the informed consent process.
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Group leaders and members should understand the
importance of evaluating group performance and
member progress, methods for evaluating
accomplishment, and how to use data to improve
group and group leader performance.
Group process and outcome evaluation are
concerned with how the group is functioning
(process) and with its effectiveness in promoting
group and member goals (outcome).
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Member evaluation should be focused on how
members are involved (process) and on members
goal accomplishment (outcomes).
Examples of process evaluation include assessment
of members levels of participation or
satisfaction with group.
Examples of outcome evaluation include assessment
of perceptions of group effectiveness and
behavior change.
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Core Competency Skills
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The core competency skills for group work are to
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Core skill competencies continued
Ask open-ended questions Empathize with group
members Confront members behavior Help members
attribute meaning to their experience Help
members integrate and apply learning Demonstrate
ethical and professional standards Keep group on
task for accomplishing goals
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In group work, the group leader can encourage
member participation and involvement by
Maintaining eye contact Asking open-ended
questions Using encouraging responses Modeling
effective in-group behaviors Extending sensitive
invitations to talk
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Group process involves the events that occur
within group sessions or meetings, with a focus
on how participants interact with one another
and/or the group work leader.
Group process complements group content, the
latter focusing on what participants discuss in
the group.
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Group process skills include the group leader
attending to
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Group process skills continued
Quantity of verbal involvement Who talks to
whom High participators Low participators Shifts
in participation
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Influence is concerned with the effects of
participation. It is evaluated by the group
leader addressing questions, such as
Who in the group seems influential? Who in the
group seems low in influence? How do other
members respond to high and low
influence group members? Are there shifts in
influence during the group process? Are
conflicts present?
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The group leader must also attend to how
decisions are made in the group, including
processes such as
Majority vote Consensus building Railroading by
one member or by a small subgroup of
members Ignoring some group members
input Maintaining focus or wandering across
topics
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The task functions in a group are focused on goal
accomplishment, staying focused, and getting the
job done.
The task functions are accomplished by attending
to questions such as
How are suggestions made? By whom? Are summaries
provided? By whom? Who keeps the group on
target? Who asks for necessary information? Who
provides necessary information?
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The maintenance functions are intended to promote
cohesion and harmony in the group by attending to
human relations and working relationships.
The maintenance functions are accomplished by
attending to questions such as
What is the quality of listening? Who does and
who doesnt listen? How is support provided? By
whom? Who helps others get into discussions? Is
help provided to members?
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Group atmosphere refers to the general
personality of the group, i.e., its climate.
Evaluating the group atmosphere involves
ad-dressing questions such as
How do members describe the group or
refer to its characteristics? Does the group seem
supportive? Hostile? Warm? Cold?
Productive? Inef- ficient? Active?
Passive? Strong? Weak?
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Membership is concerned with member inclusion and
exclusion in the group and with patterns of
interaction.
Level of membership in the group is evaluated
by addressing questions such as
Is there sub-grouping? Who is involved? Is
anyone outside the group? How are
they treated? Are there in members? What is
the effects of this situation?
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Feelings are an important part of all group life.
They reflect the emotional climate of the
group.
The feelings in the group are evaluated by
addressing questions such as
What level of attention to feelings is justified?
What signs of affect are present (e.g.,
anger, frustration, or excitement)? Is
expression of feelings encouraged or
blocked? How appropriately are feelings being
dealt with?
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Norms are expectations, ground rules, and
standards that emerge through interaction in the
group and may promote or hinder the group and be
either understood by group members or outside of
their awareness.
Group norms are evaluated by addressing questions
such as
Are certain issues avoided? Are members overly
polite? Do members talk about norms?
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Attending to and acknowledging member behavior
can serve as a potent encourager and reinforcer
of desirable group members behaviors.
Clarifying and summarizing statements can help
members to organize information and make it more
understandable, thus alleviating the impact of
members statements that are confusing and lead
to overload.
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Opening and closing sessions effectively is
important for getting work started and for
concluding it (or for linking it to the future).
Imparting information is an important skill and
represents a therapeutic factor through which
members can learn from information provided,
especially in psychoeducation groups.
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Leaders can assist member growth and change by
demonstrating and modeling appropriate and
effective behaviors, such as self-disclosure,
asking open-ended questions, and feedback.
Self-disclosure is generally understood as a
critically important type of information sharing
in personal change groups leaders should model
effective and appropriate self-disclosure to
members.
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Open-ended questions (often beginning with What
or How?) are preferred in group work because
they invite fuller responses.
Closed-ended questions invite brief replies and
do not encourage self-disclosure or feedback.
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Feedback also is generally accepted as a
fundamental part of personal change group work.
Leaders can help members learn the value of
feedback by demonstrating how to give and invite
feedback from others.
Note that cultural sensitivity needs to accompany
expectations about self-disclosure because it is
not valued in some cultures.
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The following are guidelines for giving feedback
to group members
Be descriptive not judgmental. Be specific not
general. Be immediate, not historical. Give
positive feedback first. Be tentative, not
conclusive.
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Being empathic with group members forges a
connection, showing them that the leader
genuinely understands and cares for them.
Demonstration of empathy by leaders is especially
important in the personal change groups of
psychoeducation, counseling, and psychotherapy.
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Confronting, i.e., addressing discrepancies in a
members behavior, assists in helping members to
better understand themselves and to grow and
change.
Confronting does not mean attacking, being
hostile, or aggressive. Rather, it is a
constructive intervention that leaders can learn
and apply with positive results in group work.
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Group Leader Functions
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Attribution of meaning involves helping members
to connect an emotional experience with cognitive
understanding, sometimes called, making sense of
experience.
Caring involves communicating to group members
that the leader has empathy for them individually
and collectively.
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Emotional stimulation is a leader function that
occurs when the leader catalyzes the groups
energy to help move the group forward towards
its goals.
The group leaders executive function involves
management and timing. It enables the group
leader to help the group to maintain its focus
and to continue to make progress towards its
goals.
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Group members need to integrate and apply their
learning in groups.
Integration involves connecting awareness,
concepts, and skills gotten from the group to the
respective members pre-existing repertoires.
Applying learning means transferring what was
learned from the group situation to the outside
world.
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All groups have goals, and the leader should use
executive functioning to help the group keep
focused on its goals, i.e., to remain on task.
Keeping the group in the here-and-now is an
important leader function in the attempt to stay
on task that is, to not allow the group to
wander to past or external considerations.
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This concludes Part 2 of the presentation
on GROUP WORK