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Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

Watch “Leading in the Here and Now: The Initial Stage”

Note: Type in "University of Phoenix" in the appropriate box on the above link. You will then be able to access the video.

This groups represents the Forming (or Initial) Stage of Group Development. After reading your text, respond to the following questions:

1. What did you see as the role of the leader?

2. What did you see happening in the group that was indicative of the forming stage?

3. What process observations did you see?

Cite one scholarly source according to APA standards.

J.R. Response

1. What did you see as the role of the leader? In the recording the leader kept the group focused and structured on the here and now. She also facilitated the interactions within the group. When someone would begin to speak, she asked that they select someone to speak to directly while the rest of the group listened. At the same time, she was speaking about confidentiality and concerns that the members have. She also made sure that everyone had a turn to speak.

2. What did you see happening in the group that was indicative of the forming stage? According to this week reading and the newly acquired information about the steps in the forming stage I would say that this was a screening and pre-training process. I state this because the people in the inner circle seem to be the patients while the others on the outside seem to be going through the pre-training aspect of the forming stage. The leader may be selecting the group members based on this screening process.

3. What process observations did you see? Commonality and universality are two processing skills that I see evolving within the group. The members begin to see that they are like others in the group and that they are accepted for who they are here and now. The members seem to be more relaxed and open to the dialogue. 

Chia-Ping Yu, & Feng-Yang Kuo. (2012). Investigating the Development of Work-oriented Groups in an e-Learning Environment. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 15(3), 164–175.

H.G. Response

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During the initial stage, the leader set the stage of expectations as to what they agreed upon. The leader reviewed the informed consent - in that they will be there for approximately six hours and that confidentiality of the group is extremely important. She reminded the group members that anything that was shared and discussed in the group session, must not be shared with other individuals. Many of the group members spoke up that they felt more safe to share knowing that this was a confidential environment. This was the group's process of building the safe space. The leader also asked beneficial questions and was very inclusive in that I heard her say many time "I would like to hear from each of you on this". I think that was beneficial because it sets up the stage to let others know that it expected for them to contribute to the group and to also feel included. One of the members spoke up and shared that she didn't know how she felt about the group session being filmed. This allowed many others to share that they too didn't know how they felt about being taped. This was beneficial to watch transpire, because I began to see that there was this universal component in that being filmed felt un-natural to the group, but because everyone felt that way, it began to feel a bit easier to relate and share on other topics. The leader asked the individuals who they felt most connected to and used her executive functioning to ask follow up questions, such as "have we heard from everyone in this group". The role of the leader overall felt very safe, confident, and knowledgable of how to hold the space of the group effectively. This was overall a beneficial video to see how to navigate and hold space in a therapeutic setting.

The forming stage was particularly interesting to read about. Almost all functional groups go through developmental stages. There are a significant amount of models for group therapy and development that exist, but the generally agreed-on number of stages in their evolution is between four and five, with Tuckman and Jensen’s (1977) five-stage model—forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning—being the most widely recognized (Young, 2017). The forming stage (which can also be referred to as the orientation stage), is the period of initial caution associated with a new experience (the new setting of the forming of the group). This is when group members are freshly beginning to understand one another, exchange names, and develop the goal of the group. Personal relations are characterized by dependence and individuals within the group attempt to connect to one another, so that they can be accepted and feel safe within the group, while also trying to avoid controversy and avoid being rejected. I thought this was interesting because it is typically in future group setting when the "heavy" and "deep" sharing and conversations can occur, not usually within the beginning or initial sessions due to this "forming" concept. During the forming stage, discussions can typically appear more superficial, as the group is getting to know another another. I thought some of the things that I observed that was indicative of the forming stage, was the hesitation to share in the beginning, individual's reported feeling they felt shy, and having conversations that were surface level.

Resources:

Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (1977). Stages of small-group development revisited. Group and Organizational Studies, 2, 419–427.

Young, M. E. (2017). Learning the art & helping: Building blocks and techniques (6th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

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Edited by Havilande Green on Oct 20, 2020, 10:24:30 AM