The group I attended was Weight Watchers, its purpose is to provide support and resources to members looking to lead healthier lives and lose weight. It is a health based self-help group, facilitated by a member who has had success on the Weight Watcher’s program (Kurtz, 2004). All meetings are open and information regarding times and locations can be easily found on their website. Weight Watchers offers individuals to attend the first meeting for free. After which, participation is on a paid basis and varies depending on the plan purchased. In addition, Weight Watchers also supports an online forum, as well as a telephone application, to support members that “are not able or willing to travel to the sites they meet” (Kurtz, 2004) I chose …show more content…
The facilitator was very kind, welcomed me to the group, and let me know she was available after if I had any questions. Before the meeting began, attendants stood in line to be weighed in. The weigh in was private and confidential but those who had reached a milestone (i.e. 5% weight loss) received stickers and congratulations for their success. While chatting with people in line, I quickly received feedback that this was the “biggest” part of the meeting and the weekly weigh in was a big motivator for most to stay on track. During the meeting, there was a group leader, or facilitator, who began by telling us a story about her week and some of her challenges. There were lots of head nods and small talk amongst the members, giving the impression that most had faced the same dilemmas or similar challenges throughout their week. During this portion of the meeting, members had a chance to share with the group in a check-in kind of way. After a few people shared their stories the facilitator took over the group with a period of recognition to those achieving the milestones mentioned during check-in. Participating in this was voluntary; with the group leader announcing an accomplishment and those who wished could stand up and be publically recognized. These all seemed like positive ways to promote group bonding and
The first meeting was large with approximately 12 members, including the facilitator. My initial emotion internalized was amazement in the structure of the group. The structure of the group provides structure for the members which is crucial for those struggling with alcoholism. The initial sharing was from a young member of 26 who was struggling with sobriety and shared that he recently lost a child through miscarriage. I immediately became overwhelmed in the rawness of his visible emotions (crying). As I observed other members while he was sharing his story, they were intently listening to him. When the sharer finished, the group acknowledged him and another sharer started with his name and “I am an alcoholic”. I appreciated the structure of this transition. The emotion seemed to fill the room and it impacted how everyone addressed their next sharing. The following members shared in the direction of the first sharer and related to the difficulties and provided advise. During the exchange of emotion between members, I continued to be overwhelmed with the emotions internally. The second meeting that I attended was smaller but still provided that set structure and “family” feel of group members. Emotion and exchange of emotion was present as well. I chose to attend this meeting twice because I was impressed and overwhelmed by the first meeting, I had to attend again to gain more
Some of these groups are self-directed, while others are led and facilitated by a therapist or counselor.
Narcotics Anonymous is a group that has taught me many values. They have twelve values, twelve traditions, and twelve steps. As a group we learn to accept all of the above for mentioned beliefs. There is what you call a home group. That is your main meeting session with your sponsor, (if you choose to have one which is recommended), sharing time, to talk about whatever you choose i.e. your day, if there was a relapse, a stressful day, and just trying to talk to others who understand every struggle we have on a daily basis to stay clean.
Self-help group, is like going to a weight watchers meeting online. At a weight watchers meeting online a person can find others with the same weight-loss issues. However, with these particular meetings online a person is on their own obtain their weight loss. There is not any direct contact with a clinician, nevertheless, there is support from other members in the same boat. Family therapy, is like Sunday dinner at my mother’s house, and she is the family therapist. She meets with all of us at one time to discuss any issues that may need
It's also important to note how important group settings can be on the outside. Many people in recovery make significant process by going to 12-Step meetings. Again, these meetings offer much more than a forum for having coffee and discussing problems. These meetings offer people a chance to make new friends and develop lasting relationships. That's a very important attribute because most people in recovery have to say goodbye to the old friends they had while living life with an
I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting I attended. The stories told by the members took courage and strength. Alcoholics Anonymous appears to be an effective form of treatment for alcohol addiction. This group, and I would image most groups, showed love, caring, and concern for each person. They all expressed their love for God and a determination to stay sober. Yoko reminded me that addiction is not subjective. It can affect any one at any age. One gentleman, James, is coming up on his three-month anniversary of sobriety after being an alcoholic for 45 years! God Bless him and all the members of the Olive Branch Alcoholic Anonymous Group. I learned a great deal.
My experience was unique in that I observed 4 sessions with two different facilitators. Both facilitators covered substance abuse as a support group session. One session covered anger management as the topic for support. For the purposes of consistency, this
This meeting lasted about 1 hour and I felt very welcomed in this warm, compassionate setting. Attending this meeting, I knew that I wasn’t going to be judged or looked down upon because of my situation or issues. Everyone who attended this meeting has a story to tell, and that is why they chose to come. I chose to attend this meeting because of my past struggles, so I felt that I could relate to the material that was presented. The group size was small with mainly women between the ages of 19-45, who were either extremely overweight, average weight, underweight, still maintaining control over their eating behaviors, or unable to control their compulsive eating patterns.
They ranged from the length of the meeting to specific problems faced by some of the members. He told me not to be surprised if there were some members who were admitted to be alcoholics and narcotic addicts. As I questioned him further, he said that many of the people in that predicament were also former criminals. One person in particular was so involved with both drugs and alcohol that he nearly died in the emergency room from an alcohol overdose. Now that my questions were answered, I felt much more at ease and ready to go to the meeting.
For my clinical experience I visited the Gratitude Alcoholic Anonymous group at Living Hope church. What I found to be most clinically and professionally meaningful in attending this meeting was the safe zone it created for individuals who are struggling with substance abuse. An Alcoholic Anonymous group is a meeting I could send my patients to get the social support and care they need to recover from substance abuse. The most assuring aspect of the meeting that I believe is the most beneficial to my future patients is being surrounded by a community of individuals who are going through the same struggles and have the same goals. If I ever recommend a patient go to Alcoholic Anonymous, I can confidently say that they will be encouraged by
This was my first time to work within a group academically; during my degree my grades had always been dependant on my own personal work and effort, but now for the first time my grade relied on the work and effort of others also. This was a little worrying at first as I was unsure how I and my group would work collaboratively, and how we would manage to create a coherent module design. As I had also started building many good relationships with the members of my group over the last four months, I feared the collaborative project may negatively impact on this, if any conflict was to occur. Thankfully this did not become an issue and working collaboratively turned out to be more beneficial than I had first anticipated.
As an assignment for sociology class, I had the opportunity to keep in mind to play the role as an observer -to understand the dynamics behind social interaction- when I attended my family-friend’s twelfth birthday party (Nina). To keep my observation under radar, I decided to tell everyone I encountered that my voice was silent due to my common cold, which I did have that day. The interactions and systems of behaviors are what make up group dynamics in a social setting, such as those I analyzed at a birthday party, all fell into place. The characterizations of the many sub groups within the party became notable on what set them apart by the following: religious beliefs, work groups, school groups, age groups, and etc. while the mother is
The meeting was held on Saturday at 6pm at the Welborne United Methodist Church, 920 Maybeaury Drive Richmond VA 23229 at Patterson Avenue, which is 5.1 miles away from my house. The meeting was titled “Living in the Solution.” I utilized the Metro Richmond Narcotics Anonymous website http://metrorichna.org/drupal/. I chose this meeting because it was near my home and the timing was convenient. I knew that I wanted to attend a meeting during the April 23rd weekend. When I realized that “Living Solutions” was in a neighborhood that I was familiar with, I felt more comfortable about attending. I also wanted to go to a meeting before the sunset, so at 4pm I decided to go the 6pm meeting.
In reflection on my learning experience in the group class, I have gained clarity on what sorts of competencies of facilitating group therapy, as well as in what areas social workers and students tend to feel most strong in my practice. Regarding my specific gains in competencies, I feel that I learned the most and was most likely to gain specific group facilitating competencies at the weekly class. Learning in group class is taught me the tools to use to work with groups therapy, communities and also with individuals through the process of changes. In this past three months I think a lot of opportunities have been created to shadowing with (beside and behind) and being a part of group members to learn. In addition, this class has taught me about the skills and how effectively help
I’m tired, a little stressed and disappointed with some of the group members this week. This has been the most challenging time in group so far. Everything is usually fine, but something is off this week. Although, we have group chats, our group cohesion is off. After, deciding to do the outline one way, we ended up doing it another way. That was cool until individuals brought the confusion. One person thought this way, the other thought that way. It was a mess. Our group dynamics were all over the place. The impact this had on me was very negative. With your help Mrs. Evans, we eventually decided to keep the outline simple. The other group members picked their duties, while mine were assigned to me. It did not bother me that I was assigned duties. Actually, my absence from the meeting helped to decide what I was to do. When it comes to the norming and forming of this group, I find myself at a loss for words. The norming process is off. There is less cohesion than usual; we have not been as effect this week. Also, relationships do not seem to be strengthening. This makes me angry because it affects us all. Unlike the norming stage, the forming stage is pretty solid. All of us are comfortable (in my opinion) giving our opinions, and we understand what is required of us. There is no need to form rules they are already in place. In my opinion, some of the members did not follow the rules. I for one broke a rule.