Critical Commentary On Group Work

Unit Title: 521 Facilitate and development of effective group practice in health and social care or children and young people’s setting

The process of running a group therapy session is a unique time to tests a person’s skills abilities when it comes to facilitating that group. This paper will mainly look at ways when it comes to my learning's of this class that I took ways; I will also show examples and skills to run a good group therapy session. This whole paper is a reflection of the many things that I took was on being an active group counselor facilitator.

After completing the group task of preparing a presentation on, transferring individual facilitation skills into a group work setting I will critically reflect upon my own participation. I will evaluate my self-awareness while working in the group, as well as those around me. The way that I personally dealt with any issues that arose within the group and how that affected the group dynamics. I will also briefly discuss the roles in which each member of the group took and how role allocation affected, the group dynamics and the working relationships. Finally I will evaluate my work having discussed it with my fellow group members.

The majority of small groups usage in the social work profession were used at the mezzo level. The small groups varied based on the needs of the clients involved. According to Hutchison (2015) those small groups were friendship groups, self-help groups, task groups and others. The dynamic of the groups was to ensure clients that they were not alone in their problems. Each client in a particular group, shared the similar issues or needs. Hutchison (2015) stated that small groups were designed to also allow clients to meet others and allowed them to work together to accomplish a mutual goal. Brown et al, (2015) argued that it was not about the accomplishment of mutual goals, but the social exchanges between clients.

Group work is important in social work as it promotes understanding of the social contexts of people’s lives and identifies strengths of the oppressed to pursue social change (Dominelli 2008).

Haggedorn (2005) defines group work as any activity that involves three or more individuals. The use of therapeutic groups has been a popular intervention technique in Occupational Therapy practice since the 1920’s (Duncan, 2008). Over time and with the influence of varying health care requirements, the nature of group intervention has evolved from activity-focused programmes to groups that implement evidence based practice (Duncan, 2008). The types of groups that are run by Occupational Therapists are many and varied (Bullock & Bannigan, 2011). This is because Occupational Therapists have recognized the numerous therapeutic benefits of group work (Cole, 2012). The purpose is for group members to not only gain from the therapist, but also from interactions with other group members (Creek, 2008). This relates to occupational therapy as group work enables clients to engage in social interactions, develop skills and participate in meaningful occupations; all which are core domains of occupational therapy practice (Bullock & Bannigan, 2011).

Group therapy for me was a very new concept. My understanding towards group therapy was that every one share their concern issues and goup members discuss about that issue and get different perspectives about how to deal with that issue by building cohession and trust among the members. According to zander (1968) a group is a collection of individuals who have relation to one another that make them interdependent to some significant degree. , Group therapy is a type of psychotherapy that involves one or more therapists working with several people at the same time.Generally, the counselling group has a speific focus, which may be educational, vocational, social or

In this paper I will identify the need for the group that was chosen. Part of the discussion will concentrate on the three key values used in the group approach with this population. The other will address models and theories of group practice, and the approach used by this group. The paper will also look at the key challenges or obstacles in group interventions with this population. Using the worksheet planning guide for social work group’s eight headings will be discussed. Briefly the readings from the course syllabus will be used in the development plan and incorporated in the paper will be the plans for an initial group session. Based on the skills inventory three critical skills will be addressed. Lastly a critique of a proposed group will be conducted.

This work will focus on the meaning, the five stages of Tuckman’s theory, the approaches and the uses of group work. Group work refers to a method of social work practice which is concerned with the recognition and use of processes which occur when three or more people work together towards a common purpose (Trevithick, 2005).

As social workers, we want to learn about how to develop a mutual aid group together. Our group chose to do this in a mutual aid group focused on managing stress, as well as recording group process and development. This group analysis and reflection paper will be based on the description of the participants as well as identifying, describing, and explaining the analyzing of the group processes and key concepts. Included will also be a facilitator’s reflection from my behalf of the third session of the mutual aid group.

Zastrow, Charles H. (2015). Social work with groups: A comprehensive worktext (9th ed.). Stamford, CT: Delmar Cengage Learning.

This group experience has taught me many new things, all these things will help me as a future social worker. I also learned to meet the objectives need it when we work with clients.

Social group work emerged after the first world war and started out as method committed to empowering individuals though the interaction of others going through similar situtions. While it emerged after the first world war Clara Kaiser (1959) explains that there is not actual birth date to social group work (citied in Glasser & Mayadas, 1986). During the 1920’s group work posed 3 major strands; the individual growing as part of the group, the group developing through specific goals and a way of changing the views of society through group experiences (Glasser & Mayadas,1986). These strands are things that have been reworked in different ways over the years. In 1959 the “National Group Work Practice Committee of the National Association of Social Workers formualted a Frame of Reference” (Glasser & Mayadas, 1986, p.13) for group social work.

The Small Group Observation assignment provided the opportunity to experience a self-help group and better understand the intentions, purpose, and functions of support groups. The particular group that I observed was provided through my field agency, Richland 2 School District, for all interns serving as school social workers. The small group is considered a task group that is centered around giving an additional layer of support for graduate students during their field placement experience. In addition, the group addresses the school setting, district expectations, processes events, and assists when any stressful or unanticipated occasions occur throughout the semester. The group meets once monthly in a school conference room and continues for two hours. Furthermore, two school social workers from the district facilitate the support groups for interns throughout their year of field placement. The facilitators are not supervisors or preceptors for any of the group members. Each group consists of five group participants, all graduate students in a Social Work Program. Although the students are each completing internships as school social workers, their standing and stages in the coursework vary as some are part-time, full time, or advanced year. The group is established every year at the start of the fall semester and will conclude at the end of the spring semester.

I am Zeeshan Ali; I am working as a Computer teacher for Classes VI-X-M in Canal Side Boys Campus. I have done Masters in Computer Science (MCS) from Punjab University College of Information and Technology (PUCIT) Lahore. The students are the main focus of every teacher and our entire teaching efforts circle round our students to achieve the set targets. Effective Teaching includes many useful teaching strategies that a teacher chooses according to the requirement of his/her respective subject and topic as well. In result of my years of experience and as a Computer teacher I find Group Work as the most effective and fruitful technique at every level.