Group Interview Reflection

I learned two significant things about group counseling in this course. The first thing that I learned is the importance of setting up a treatment plan. The intention is to follow the client from their entrance into the program until the client is discharged. In this process the clients’ problems are identified through various assessments and as each problem is addressed, it is checked off of the list. Once all of the problems are checked off of the list, the client is considered as having completed the plan. This plan is especially important because it evokes thoughtful conversation between the client and the counselor and is the best method to gain information from the client regarding the help they want to receive. The second most significant thing that I learned about group counseling is how to design a group from start to finish. From pre group design, planning the goals of the group and determining the members to setting up the environment and structuring the sessions, each step adds its own important components to designing group counseling.

When conducting an interview I carefully read the contact with other. I knew I was interviewing someone from a different culture so I had to understand the ethnic community she was from which was Hispanic. I also was very focused on the professional self-disclosure because we were talking about a lot of personal things. I tried to humanize our relationship before I asked tough questions, this helps to create a sense of bonding. I was also very careful of my communication style, I always wanted to ask her questions in a positive manner and I was always actively listening to her responses.

The Sierra Academy serves student with learning disabilities. They have variety of programs which include speech therapy, occupational therapy, small class sizes, counselling services, small group instruction/specialized programming. I was privileged to observe and interview Maria Gonzalez’s class for six hours. I had a good experience with the class and felt that I should share my story. Eighty percent of the class needs where mild to moderate. Although, I saw a couple of those who could function pretty well on their own with little or no supervision.

In order to obtain a more rounded response, I interviewed my 16-year-old daughter Sarah, and a long-time friend Stephanie, who is 45 years old. The different perspective of the two interviews was impressive.

Through conducting this informational interview, I have learned to have a successful and great experience for it, you will need to do a little research ahead. For instance, this assigment asked to research about the person and the company that the person worked for. When I did my research on the person and gathered information, I was able to connect with her as we were both born in India. Even though, we are years apart in age, there still seemed to be similarties in our personalities as we are interested in the same career field. This helped me connect with her personally which is more important as it will help her recognize me instantly. In addition, researching about her company helped as I was engage in more detailed conversation about

I interviewed a good friend of my best friends aunt. I was extremely comfortable asking the question that were noted in the assignment along with the additional follow up questions. I explained that if there was anything that I asked that she did not feel comfortable answering she could let me know. I also explained that she could give me as little or as much information she felt comfortable speaking about. My goal was to show the almost respect and empathy towards the individual I was interviewing because of the natural of the topic.

Meeting with my small group was frustrating at first, simply because I thought that my group didn't show up. I sat at Heritage confused and slightly frustrated that my group had forgot to meet. But after waiting about twenty minutes, I checked my calendar and instantly realized that I was the one who went to the wrong place. My group was patiently waiting for me when I walked up to meet them at Common Grounds. At first the conversation was slow, because we all avoided asking the provided questions. Soon the small talk ended and we started asking each other the provided questions in a circle. Although I was not nervous to share, I was uneasy to discuss certain topics. I was unsure about how much I should reveal about my life, simply because I do not trust my group yet. They have done nothing to make me distrust them, I just barely met them. The deeper questions were more difficult, such as sharing my testimony with

Role-playing, simulations and program activities allow the group leader/ staff the opportunity to provide the group members with situations that require them to engage in a process where the leader/ staff can make observations and assess the member’s behaviors. For example, role-playing allows the group leaders and other members the opportunity to watch the group members work through various scenarios, taking note of the ways they respond to the given scenario as well as the ways in which they interact with the other members. This also allows the staff/ leader and providing them with feedback and the opportunity to process with the group. Simulations and program activities also allow all members to participate in the given activity as well as the chance to work through the simulation. In doing so, the members are given an opportunity to explore the new skills, which in turn provides the group leader the opportunity to assess nonverbal behavior as well as their interactions with others and their

I was a part of a group interview, which actually didn’t drown everyone's voices. She would talk to us kindly, clarifying what we needed clarification of.

3. What is your experience teaching in a school primarily made up of students from underrepresented groups (i.e. race, ethnicity, language, or class)?

The team meeting was changed to several different days by the guardian. I was trying to attend via phone but due to the meeting starting late had to obtain an update after the meeting. The following is the update from Ms. Mullough internal case manager from Rainbow.

My first interaction with my field instructor was a little awkward. Not in a bad way, just because we were new there and Elizabeth had never had interns before, so there was a little confusing across the board. She was very kind to Alexis and I. We had been on a couple tours and she knew that so she only went over the basics the first day that we already knew just to make sure. We cover safety and how it would be best to not be alone when going to the men’s shelter. We went over confidentiality, seeing as to how we have been sitting in on meetings when personal information is disclosed, and reading files with all of their information on it. We learned the basic rules of the Rescue Mission and learned others as we go. It would take a long time working there to be able to remember all of the rules by heart. There are people that have been working there for years that still have to refer back to the list of rules to check themselves.

As instructed early on in this course, I contacted my faculty advisor, Dr. Alyssa Weiss-Quittner, and scheduled an appointment with her for September 22nd, 2016. Around 8am that morning, we both joined a conference call in order for me to conduct my interview as well as for her to conduct an Academic Learner Review. Not only did I ask her eight questions during my initial interview, we also talked about possibilities and opportunities while pursuing a degree in Marriage and Family Counseling/Therapy.

Another experience I really would like to discuss is how to act and react to diversity in the workplace. I was so impressed by some points Miya Ju shared upon her study and working experience in New Zealand, the guest speaker invited by Professor Orgad. One is always taking initiatives and another is being open-minded. In the workplace, doing so will help you stand out from your co-workers, make your organization more successful in the market. Moreover, it will help you build self-confidence and spot more opportunities and potential improvements. For instance, in my group, I take initiative several times even though sometimes I encourage other members to do so but not always succeed. Like in the Lego play exercise, after several minutes’ discussion when we got the assigned toy bricks, others were confused and expressed no idea, so I took the initiative to structure and present the story about an alumnus graduated from the University of Waikato. I demonstrated my concept to other group members and encouraged them to cooperate in subgroups to build up all bricks as what the story demanded. Ultimately, Professor Orgad commented our group story was interesting and creative. For me, the important issue was we all contributed to the group, for the reason that we have same goals to fulfil every task and achieve good results. Moreover, every time I take initiative is not only for my group but also for myself progress as a team player and even as a team leader. Therefore, in future,

Knowing how to facilitate a group is a vital skill for social workers to have, as there are very few branches of social work that will not require the skills to be used at some point. Throughout the course of the semester, Social Work With Groups has taught us how to lead groups through the use of theory and practice. For the practical element of the class, we were given the opportunity to facilitate a group on the topic of stress for university students. My partners, Ashley and Megan, and I decided that we wanted to focus our specific group on healthy living and its relationship with stress. We all chose different aspects of healthy living for each of us to facilitate. We led our group on Monday, November 13th. While I feel that my facilitation did not go as well as I had hoped, I learned a lot from my experience of facilitating, participating and observing, from the material provided in the course, and now I am able to understand the implications of what I have learned on my future as a social worker.