Toseland and Rivas (2012) describes group work as a goal directed process, where planned and orderly worker activities are carried out in the context of professional practice with people. These authors also describe a dual focus of group work, both on the individual tasks and on the group tasks. In my experience, group work is collaborating with others to create something meaningful. It is necessary in group work, in my opinion, to utilize your strengths in a purposeful way to best complete the task at hand. Thus far in our group work project, it has been invaluable to witness these processes unfold first hand; it has also been just as easy to see the confusion and difficulties that accompany such endeavours both on an individual level and on a group level. For our group work project, we are assigned to complete both a task group and a treatment group. Our task group is responsible for the development of a plan for a self care treatment group. Then, we are to facilitate the self care group in conjunction with the development of a treatment group where the premise for our self care group unfolds. It was easy to see, at the initial ‘forming’ stage of our process, that this project would require us to work closely and creatively with our group members and would open up the opportunity for growth in knowledge and in conflict resolution. In our initial group meetings, we focussed on gathering information in order to contribute ideas for the composition of our self care
Thus the role of group work can be seen as one which places emphasis on sharing of thoughts, ideas, problems and activities.
Groups may be defined in many ways, indeed providing an absolute definition of a group, as with much of the theory around group work, is highly problematic and contestable. However for the purposes of discussing groupwork within a context of working with young people we may define a group as a small gathering of young people. Group work may simplistically be described as the study and application of the processes and outcomes experienced when a small group comes together.
Association for Specialists in Group Work (2007). Best practice guidelines 2007 revision. Retrieved from http://asgw.org/pdf/Best_Practices.pdf
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t have a clue as regards “Forbidden Island” and wasn’t too familiar with many board or card games. My initial
Since much of our time is spend in groups, it is helpful to work in groups because it will give an opportunity to improve their human functioning. Group work helps to develop individual skills in communication, relationship building and asserting oneself
Group work has been a cornerstone of the social work profession and requires a variety of facilitator skills and awareness of group processes. The SSLDTM Group Program for People with Difficulties in Social Situations (Socialwork1914, 2017) provides an excellent example of a psycho-educational group co-facilitated by two female social workers, Jane and Karen. After viewing the 6th session of this 8-week program, I began to understand how the concepts of group formation/development, interpersonal dynamics, and leadership styles contribute to successful group work outcomes.
Groups talk about goals in different ways, using different words. Some groups have major and minor goals or meta- and micro-goals; others divide goals into mission, purpose or goal, and objectives, while other groups talk about aims and expectations. A group is strengthened to the extent it has clear goals and all members know what their roles are in helping to achieve them (Dimock and Kass, 2008, p.62-63). My placement is currently in the Mental Health field and as mental health workers we have groups that are organized to promote to mental health of all and to support the resilience and recovery of people experiencing mental illness.
of the members were given and we were asked to finish a project on a
Purpose of the group counseling varies from group to group. It can be therapeutic, educational, or helping people to make fundamental changes in their way of thinking, feeling and behaving (Corey, 2004, p. 7). Group counseling/therapy has the advantage of being more effective than individual therapy because, it more closely stimulates social interactions and interpersonal communication patterns than does individual counseling (Kottler, 2004, p. 260). The techniques and strategies use in group counseling are to help resolve members’ interpersonal conflict, promote greater self-awareness and insight, and help them work to eliminate their self-defeating
At one point in a person life, they will participated in a group whether it is part of a specific committee, therapy, or social group. In recent years, there has been a rise in counseling within a group forum veering from the tradition individual counseling. Therapists, physiologist, and counselors believe that form of counseling is beneficial to both counselor and client. This allows the counselor to help several clients at once rather than one at a time decreasing their strenuous workload and demanding work hours. This form of counseling integrate individual that share similar issues, struggles, and experiences into one forum. This not only allows the clients to learn from the therapist but from their fellow group members. The group experience
In this essay I am going to reflect on my experience working as part of a team and the preparation on an oral presentation I had to do in class with people from different courses, as part of the Foundations for Practice in Health and Social Care module. Reflection is educational and is used as a means of self-knowledge and to develop using a process of feeling and learning by thinking about what happened and what could have been done differently. (Rolfe, 2011, p.8-12) I will be using the Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle to do this. In this model there are 6 different stages to look at to help structure reflection, the description of the event, your feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and an action plan. There is more than one model
I make schoolwork my priority along with getting involved in high school clubs and activities. I am an organized, hard-working person and I am always willing to take on a challenge to gain more experience and knowledge. Once I put my mind to something, I stick with it until I am completely satisfied with my result. I am always searching for other tasks and opportunities because I know that there is more out there for me to reach my fullest potential. I keep myself open to new ideas and I am always willing to share what I have learned.
This chapter reviewed many different aspects of group work such as different processes and skills required to run several different groups. The groups discussed were open-ended group, groups hosted in residential settings, single-session groups, and large activity groups.
Learning how to work effectively in a group situation is key to success in many professions as well as in social situations. Groups vary from each other based on the individuals that make up each group, all of us belong to various groups at one time or another. The roles that we fulfill vary from group to
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.