Small-Group Experience I
The small in-class groups were composed of social work graduate students taking Advanced Groups class. Our in-class small groups represented formed groups because we came together “through some outside influence or intervention.... for a particular purpose” (Toseland & Rivas, 2012, p. 13). The purpose of our groups which “identifies the reasons for bringing members together” (Toseland & Rivas, 2012, p. 13) was to accomplish a task assigned to us by our professor. I participated in several task groups, where “the overriding purpose is to accomplish a goal that is neither intrinsically nor immediately linked to the needs of the members of the group” (Toseland & Rivas, 2012, p. 13).
When the group is forming, members
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It focused on the topic of recent legalization of gay marriage in the U.S. We are all Christians, so we emphasized the need to separate our religious beliefs from the principles of social justice and equality. Our common religious beliefs significantly influenced our group’s culture, defined as “values, beliefs, customs, and traditions held in common by group members” (Toseland & Rivas, 2012, p. 87). As it turned out, AR and SH had family members directly affected by the recent Supreme Court decision, so they engaged in personal conversation. Formation of their subgroup significantly affected interaction patterns during this session since “subgroups form the emotional bonds and interest alliances among subsets of group members” (Toseland & Rivas, 2012, p. 75). As a result, AP felt left out of the discussion. In order to feel useful for the group, AP decided to be a timekeeper. Although Toseland and Rivas (2012), stressed that “it is particularly important for the worker to pay attention to the nonverbal messages that are communicated by members” (p. 71), AP’s nonverbal signals indicating her exclusion from the group process were ignored by the …show more content…
Three Caucasian female members (AP, BH, and CT) discussed the group’s middle stage skills. Because CT had never facilitated any in-class small group, she wanted to be a facilitator. “Round robin” (Toseland & Rivas, 2012, p. 74) represented our interaction pattern. When we took turns to talk about specialized intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental interventions, we also included examples from our field placements. We paid attention to the time management and included termination stage during which we summarized the readings and field experiences. Effects of our group’s cohesion were especially evident in areas of perseverance toward goals and taking responsibility for group functioning (Toseland & Rivas, 2012). Fortunately, we did not experience the “group think” phenomenon where “groups become close minded and the pressure for conformity limits methodical search and appraisal procedures” (Toseland & Rivas, 2012, p.
I will be discussing about my reflection on the Six Week Group Content/Intervention Mid-term project and my internship. The assignment is on Psychoeducational and Counseling Groups for adolescents who are encountering dating violence from their partner. I will be discussing the paper and the critical knowledge that I obtained after completing the assignment.
According to Halter (2014), all groups go through three phases of development which includes the orientation (introductory) phase, working phase and termination phase. As facilitators, we used motivational interviewing skills such as open-ended questions so that participants could engage in the discussion and share their experiences. Reflective listening and summary were used to recap some of the points discussed by the participants after each question. The group plan was very helpful in helping us keep up with the time.
Similarly, inferiority feelings may be challenged to offset the negative concepts and values that form the roots of social and emotional issues. Group therapy can facilitate the social context in which the participants may develop the sense of belonging and community. Some of the beneficial dynamics of the group are the identification between group members’ behavior, participants can benefit from others group members’ feedback, ability to help other and receive support from others members. The group enables the possibility of trying new behaviors and encourages the other students to take action over their lives. There are four stages in group therapy that correspond to four goals in counseling: first establishing and maintaining interconnected relationships with another student of the group; the therapy is based on the idea of equality between members, mutual respect, and identical involvement. The introduction of self-rule bases from the counselor, who is the mediator, is important. Both, students and counselor work together in the process to explore and look for positive change during the sessions (Corey,
...s well which can assist in boosting self-esteem. The context of the group should be one goal attainment and positivity. This encourages members to commit to taking action in their lives. It is important that the group be focused on the here and now with members staying present. Although the group is concerned with a members past experiences and lifestyle of members, that is for the purpose of gaining insight into current maladaptive thoughts and behaviors. In addition, it is important to maintain an empathetic relationship which is based on mutual respect and trust so that members feel understood and accepted by the facilitator. The group leader challenges group member’s goals and beliefs about themselves and the world around them to help them to translate what was learned during the process of group and turn what was learned into new ideas and new beliefs.
There were individuals in the group who were there by orders but there were some there because they were eager to grow and learn. As the sessions went on those who were eager showed the enthusiasm in their participation and the leader fed off of their energy. Both facilitators were seasoned leaders but their approach to the session drastically different. Although drastically different styles were on display, both facilitators seem to have received positive feedback. Another natural consequence of group work in contrast from individual counseling is that feedback is very powerful informational tool when several of the group members are saying the same things with accuracy. (Jacobs, 2012) In all four sessions members provided feedback that encouraged the leader of the group. Session three was particularly interesting in that the entire group were all Caucasian adolescents between the ages of 15 to 17. They were nice respectful young men who did not fit the stereotypical teenager who had no respect for adults or authority. This group were court ordered due to being caught using marijuana. This particular group of males really provided feedback in the group so much so that the facilitator praised the members for responding positively in the group. Group one had the dominant female who was always had an opinion about the material and had a story for every point the facilitator
Topics explored with this group included; conversational skills, internet safety, bullying, conflict resolution, social media, and personal appearance. Accordingly, I was able to gain insight on how to plan activities tailored to the needs of the group as well as obtain tips on conducting groups effectively. Additionally, I was able to get a sense of the group dynamics, attain knowledge on the stages of a group through observing all the individuals belonging to the group, their uniqueness and how their personality impacted the group itself. Individuals were able to join the group at different stages hence; the forming stage was repeated each time a new member was recruited. This also provided me with the opportunity of gaining first-hand experience of the interaction on the basic dynamics on group stages of forming, norming, storming and
After watching the Pixar film “Inside Out”, it is easy to see how this film relates to small group communication. This film focuses on a twelve year old girl name Riley and how the emotions in her brain work throughout everyday experiences. The emotions Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust work inside headquarters of Riley’s brain, that is until Joy and Sadness accidentally wind up far from headquarters into long-term memory. I will be analyzing this film using concepts from the textbook such as group communication, group development, group membership, and diversity in groups.
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 part 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.
Group processing is the fifth essential element of cooperative learning. Group processing is defined as reflecting on a group session to help students: (1) describe what member actions were helpful and unhelpful; and (2) make decisions about what actions to continue or change (Johnson et al., 1994, p.33). To achieve the group’s goals via reflection on the learning process, group processing helps improve the effectiveness of the members in contributing to the shared efforts (Yamarik, 2007). In other words, the aim of group processing is to define clearly and improve the effectiveness of the members in contributing to the joint efforts to achieve the group’s goals. There are two levels of processing: small-group and whole class. At the level
Toseland, R & Rivas, R 2012, An Introduction to group work practice, 7th edn, Allyn & Bacon, Massachusetts.
pp. 309-329, 371-393, 241-259. Engleberg, I., Wynn, D., & Schuttler, R., (2003). Working in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies (3rd ed.) Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
The group couldn't seem to find time for us to meet and plan our presentation, the first and only time all group members were present to work on the presentation was on the morning of the presentation. We worked on it and at the time I believed we had agreed on our final product, I personally felt all the slides needed at this point was editing and final touches to make it visually appealing for the audience. I went online to the google presentation we were using as a group to prepare our presentation and was surprised to see a different layout, additional slides, and contents which were different from what we as a group had worked on and approved as the final work we were going to present. I confronted the group members as to the changes on the slides and we had a conflict of what our
Our group has worked together pretty well during the entirety of the semester. We are fortunate to have the ability to work well together and compromise, without arguing. The red group is always open for new ideas and ways that we can improve. Emily has definitely been our leader through the whole project, however we all took on different leadership styles. Emily has been a democratic leader from day one, she takes charge but she let’s us do our own thing.
Tuckman, B., & Jensen, M. (2010). Stages of small-group development revisited. Group Facilitation, (10), 43-48. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Global.
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