Feedback (Working Stage)
Associated with increased motivation for change, greater insight into how one's behavior affects others, increased willingness to take risks, and group members evaluating their group experience more positively.
Hope (working stage)
is the belief that change is possible
Catharsis (working stage)
energy is tied up in withholding threatening feelings
Working Stage Characteristics
-Level of Trust and Cohesion is high
-Communication within the group is open and involves an accurate expression of what is being expressed.
-Members interact with one another freely and directly
-A willingness to take risks and to make oneself known to others; members bring to the group personal topcis they want to explore and understand better.
Themes of working group
-disclosure vs. anonymity
-authenticity vs. guardedness
-spontaneity vs. control
-acceptance vs. rejection
-unity vs. fragmentation
Co-leader responsibilities (working stage)
ongoing evaluation of the group
discussion of techniques and learning styles
Address any self-disclosure issues
Address confrontation issues
Leaders responsibilities (working stage)
-continue to model appropriate behavior
-support the willingness to take risks and assist them in caring confrontation
-support the members' willingness to take risks and assist them in carrying this into their daily living
-interpret the meaning of behavior patterns at appropriate times so that members will be able to engage in a deeper level of self-exploration
-Encourage members to practice new skills
Disclosure vs. Anonymity
members can decide to disclose themselves in a significant and appropriate way or they can choose to remain hidden out of fear.
Authenticity vs. Guardedness
Authenticity prevail and that members do not feel as if they have to disguise or hide their true selves in order to be accepted.
Spontaneity vs. Control
Expect group participants to make the choice to relinquish some of their controlled and rehearsed ways and allow themselves to respond more spontaneously to events of the moment.
Unity vs. Fragmentation
unity is largely the result of the group's choice to work actively at developing a sense of community and establishing bonds with each other.
Evaluation (Final Stage)
A basic aspect of any group experience, and it can benefit both members and the leader.
An ongoing process throughout the life of a group or at least at important turning points in the group that tracks the process of individual members and the group as a whole.
Leader Responsibilities (Final Stage)
Provide a structure that enables participants to clarify the meaning of their experiences in the group and to assist members in generalizing their learning from the group to everyday life.
-Assist members with feelings they may have about termination.
-Provide members with an opportunity to express an deal with any unfinished business within the group
Co-leader Responsibilities (Final Stage)
Meet to discuss their experience in leading with each other and to put the entire history of the group in perspective.
-Discuss perceptions and reactions
Final Stage
The time for members to consolidate their learning and develop strategies for transferring what they learned in the group to daily life.
Closed Group
Has the same members for all sessions
Open Group
Has different challenges because members leave the group and new members are incorporated into the group at various times.
Transition Stage
A phase of a group's development is marked by feelings of anxiety and defenses in the form of various behavior patterns.
Characteristics:
Groups are often described as being "resistive"
-establishing trust
-Defensiveness and Reluctant Behavior
Leaders Responsibilities (transition stage)
-Provide a safe environemtn with clear boundaries
-Teach members the value of recognizing and dealing with conflict situations.
-Assist members in recognizing their own patterns of defensiveness.
-Provide a model for members by dealing directly and tactfully with any challenges, either personal or professional.
-Avoid labeling members, but learn how to understand certain problematic behaviors
-Encourage members to express reactions that pertain to here-and-now happenings in the sessions.
Co-leader Issues (transition stage)
Negative reactions toward one leader
challenges to both leaders
dealing with problem behaviors
dealing with countertransference
Transference
consists of the feelings clients project onto the counselor
Countertransference
occurs when counselors project their own unresolved conflicts onto the client
Initial Stage
Orientation and exploration stage
-members expressing fears and hesitations as well as hopes and expectations
-Identifying personal goals, and determining whether this group is safe.
Hidden Agenda (initial stage)
An issue that is not openly acknowledged and discussed
Leader Responsibilities (initial stage)
Display the following...
Modeling
Attending and Listening
Creating trust
Understanding nonverbal behavior
empathy
genuineness
self-disclosure
teach the basics of group process
Develop ground rules and set norms
Group process
Activities such as establishing norms and group cohesion, learning to work cooperatively, establishing ways of solving problems, and learning to express conflict openly.
Group Norms
Are the shared beliefs about expected behaviors aimed at making groups function effectively.
Implicit Norms
preconceived ideas about what takes place in a group
Explicit Norms
Standards of behavior that are common in many groups
Group Cohesion
Is a sense of togetherness, or community within a group
Co-leader Responsibilities (initial stage)
balance of responsibility between members and the leaders
working stage
is characterized by a deeper level of exploration, which builds on the significant work done in the initial and transition stages.
pregroup stage
consist of all the factors involved in the formation of a group