Ethical, Legal, and Cultural Competence in Group Work

Cohort Group Proposal Project Guidelines The Cohort Group Proposal Project is designed as a collaborative group effort to design a group proposal as you might develop to present to your agency for development or to submit as a grant proposal. The group should be one applicable to a mental health agency or practice setting. In Week 2, your Instructor will assign you to a small group (3-4 people) with whom you will be collaborating on the Cohort Group Proposal Project in the discussions in Weeks 3 and 4 to conceptualize your proposed group. You are encouraged to engage with your group members synchronously using Collaborate, Skype, OneDrive, Google Docs, or other tools that allow for participation in real time by multiple group members. This collaborative effort offers you the opportunity to share ideas and work in a small group setting as you discuss options for an empirically based counseling group. You will share your ideas and learn from each and receive faculty guidance and feedback in the discussions as you compile your ideas.

In Week 3, you will develop the rationale and objectives for your group proposal. This will require you to consider and respond to the following:

• Identify a population who may benefit from your proposed group. Explain the prevalence of the problem and associated risk factors. (No children’s or addiction groups please.)

• Identify the type of group that you believe will best serve the population’s need.

• Each member should select at least one recent (published in the past 5–10 years), peer-reviewed journal article in APA formatting that supports the rationale for the group. Provide a brief summary (1–3 sentences) for your article(s) explaining why it supports your rationale. Be sure to include the Walden Library permalink or DOI so your colleagues and faculty may review the article.

• If possible, find articles that are specific to group counseling for your chosen population.

• State your initial objectives/goals in measurable terms (What can group members expect to change as a result of participating in your group?)

In Week 4, you continue to develop your group proposal. You may continue to search the Walden Library databases for peer-reviewed articles that support the rationale for your Group Proposal. You will develop a Literature Review as the foundation for the group. You may begin a shared rough draft of your literature review (on Google docs) or use an outline form which organizes your main points supported by the literature. Week 4 requires you to respond to the following:

• Outline the practical considerations for your group. This should include group size, screening procedure, location of meetings, and necessary informed consent. Determine if the group is to be an open or closed group, how you plan to recruit members, the number of expected sessions, and the group structure.

• Consider potential inclusion and diversity themes, such as how diversity may impact early group process or how you might address bias.

• Add any proposed curriculum or theoretical underpinning that would be appropriate for your group. (This may emerge from the literature.)

• Explain how you will terminate your group. Be specific in describing the strategies you would use.

• Provide at least two supports or resources that you would provide to members in need of help outside the group.

• Explain how you would evaluate the group experience. (This can be a more subjective gauge of group satisfaction.)

• Explain how you would measure progress toward group goals. (This should be an objective measure of group outcomes, such as a rating scale, standardized instrument, a questionnaire.)

Continue to refine your ideas with your cohort members throughout Week 4. This is your opportunity to have a dialog with your faculty in developing your group proposal. After your cohort completes the conceptualization stage of the proposal at the end of Week 4, you will each have the opportunity to use the concept created by your cohort group and finalize the proposal using the template provided for submission in Week 5. While there will be similarities on the final cohort submissions, each cohort member will have the academic freedom to edit the project to their satisfaction for their final grade. In addition to Cohort Group Proposal Project, you will submit your Cohort Peer Evaluation as a separate document. This will provide you the experience of assessing your group participation and that of your peers based on your awareness of small group process and dynamics, as well as the integration of the SOC Professional Dispositions. You are to provide a numerical rating as well as a narrative describing the collaborative efforts of you and your peers as a means of enhancing awareness of small group process and dynamics. This does not impact your project grade, rather is intended at further knowledge for your growth and awareness as a group member and a group leader.

Be sure to take notes on your cohort experience with an emphasis on your role as the small group dynamics unfold. Continue to make notes on your small group dynamics and process as you prepare for the Group Leadership Self-Assessment Assignment in Week 11.

The Cohort Group Proposal Project is due on Day 7 of Week 5.

The Cohort Group Proposal Project should be no more than 3-5 pages (not including cover or reference pages). APA 7th edition formatting is required. Grading of the group proposal will be based the level of development and effective presentation of the following areas:

• Rationale including: o Description of the population o Prevalence of the problem, including risk factors o Type of group proposed.

• Literature review: A brief well-organized review of the current literature indicating best practices (This should provide the empirical evidence for your proposal in a scholarly style.) Your rationale and the literature review should compose about 1 to 1 ½ pages of the proposal. The rest of your project may be in an abbreviated or outline format.

• Objectives: Clearly stated specific and measurable goals, both subjective and objective

• Practical considerations, including: o Screening procedures o Informed consent & cancellation policy o Group rules o Time, location, and frequency of meetings o Necessary community resources

• An outline or brief narrative of planned strategies or interventions that may move the group to reach the group goal(s)

• Diversity: Explain how diversity might be addressed in the group

• Termination procedures

• Evaluation of the group experience (subjective)

• Evaluation of measured progress toward group goals (objective)

• APA reference page

Be sure to complete all sections as indicated in the Cohort Group Proposal Template and check the Group Proposal rubric, which contains the criteria your Instructor will be looking for when grading the assignment.