Intervention

Table 4.1 A Functional Classification of Group Leadership Skills

Facilitating Group

Processes

Data Gathering and

Assessment

Action

1. Involving group

members

2. Attending to

others

3. Expressing self

4. Responding to

others

5. Focusing

group

communication

6. Making group

processes

explicit

7. Clarifying

content

8. Cuing,

blocking, and

guiding group

interactions

1. Identifying

and

describing

thoughts,

feelings, and

behaviors

2. Requesting

information,

questioning,

and probing

3. Summarizing

and

partializing

information

4. Synthesizing

thoughts,

feelings, and

actions

5. Analyzing

information

1. Supporting

2. Reframing and

redefining

3. Linking

members’

communications

4. Directing

5. Giving advice,

suggestions, or

instructions

6. Providing

resources

7. Disclosure

8. Modeling, role

playing,

rehearsing, and

coaching

9. Confronting

10. Resolving

conflicts

member’s actions or words facilitates communication, responding may also lead to additional

data gathering, assessment, or action.

Facilitating Group Processes

Table 4.1 lists several different skills in the category of facilitating group processes. All of these skills can be used by workers differentially, depending on their intentions when attempting to influence various group processes. In general, however, skills in facilitating group processes contribute to positive group outcomes when they improve understanding among group members, build open communication channels, and encourage the development of trust so that all members are willing to contribute as much as they can to the problem on which the group is working.

Involving Group Members

Ideally, all members should be involved and interested in what is being discussed in the

group. Yalom (2005) has called this universalizing a group member’s experience. Involving members who have been silent helps identify commonalities and differences in their life

experiences. As members become involved, they realize how particular problems affect them and

how a solution to one member’s problem can directly or indirectly help them. Involving others is

also essential for building group cohesiveness, developing a sense of mutual aid, and

encouraging shared decision-making.

Involving group members also means helping them take on leadership roles within the group.

The worker should be cautious about doing too much for members and thereby stifling individual

initiative. Instead of jealously guarding the leadership role, workers should encourage members

to contribute to the content of group meetings and help shape group dynamic processes. This can

be done by providing members with opportunities for leadership roles during program activities,

by praising members for their leadership efforts, and by inviting and encouraging members’

participation and initiative during group interaction. For example, the worker might say, “Mary, I

know that you are knowledgeable about that; do you have anything to add to what Tom has

said?” Similarly, the worker might say, “Tom, you did such an excellent job in the role play last

week. Would you be willing to play the part of the angry storekeeper?”

Attending Skills

Attending skills are nonverbal behaviors, such as eye contact and body position, and verbal behaviors that convey empathy, respect, warmth, trust, genuineness, and honesty. Attending

skills are useful in establishing rapport as well as a climate of acceptance and cohesiveness

among group members. Egan (2013) suggests that, in addition to body position and eye contact, skills that indicate that a worker has heard and understood a member are part of effective

attending. Research has shown that effective attending skills are an important characteristic of

successful leaders (Luke, 2014). Effective attending skills include repeating or paraphrasing what a member says and responding empathically and enthusiastically to the meaning behind

members’ communications. They also include what Middleman (1978) has referred to as “scanning” skills. When scanning the group, the worker makes eye contact with all group

members, which lets them know that the worker is concerned about them as individuals.

Scanning helps reduce the tendency of workers to focus on one or two group members.

Expressive Skills

Expressive skills are also important for facilitating group processes. Workers should be able to

help participants express thoughts and feelings about important problems, tasks, or issues facing

the group and to reiterate and summarize them when necessary. Members should also be helped

to express their thoughts and feelings as freely as possible in an appropriate and goal-oriented

manner. Members of task and treatment groups can often benefit from an open discussion of

formerly taboo areas that affect the group or its members. Self-disclosure is an expressive skill

that can be used effectively for this purpose. Although self-disclosures should be made

judiciously, according to their appropriateness for particular situations, they can often be useful

in helping the worker promote open communication about difficult subjects. For example, a

worker might say, “I just lost my mother, who also had been ill for a long time. I know what you

mean, Bea, when you say that watching a loved one slowly decline right before your eyes is so

hard. Your situation is different from mine, because it is your husband, but I can just imagine

how terribly difficult it is for you. Do you want to share with us how you have been coping?”

Responding Skills

Skillful responses help the group as a whole and individual members accomplish tasks. The

worker might, for example, amplify subtle messages or soften overpowering messages (Luke, 2014). The worker can also redirect messages that may be more appropriate for a particular member or the group as a whole.

Workers can use responding skills selectively to elicit specific reactions that will affect future

group processes. For example, if a worker’s response supports a group member’s efforts, the

member is more likely to continue to work on a task or a concern. If the worker disagrees with a

member’s statement or action, the member is likely to react either by responding to the worker’s

statement or by remaining silent. The member is not likely to continue to pursue the original

statement. Thus, by responding selectively to particular communications, the worker can exert

influence over subsequent communication patterns.

Focusing Skills

The worker can facilitate group processes by focusing them in a particular direction. This can be

done by clarifying, asking a member to elaborate, repeating a particular communication or

sequence of communications, or suggesting that group members limit their discussion to a

particular topic. Helping the group maintain its focus can promote efficient work by reducing

irrelevant communications and by encouraging a full exploration of issues and

problems. Tropman (2014), for example, describes the importance of focusing on task groups agendas.

Making Group Processes Explicit

The skill of making group processes explicit helps members to become aware of how they are

interacting. For example, a worker may point out implicit group norms, particular member roles,

or specific interaction patterns. The worker may ask members whether they observed a particular

pattern or type of interaction, whether they are comfortable with the interaction, and whether

they would like to see changes in the ways members interact. Ward (2014) points out that it is important for the worker to verbalize therapeutic group norms and to encourage the development

of traditions and rituals. For example, point out that at the beginning of each meeting members

seem to take turns “telling their story” and receiving feedback about how they handled a

particular situation. This encourages members to consider whether they want to continue this

pattern of interaction.

Case Example Pointing out Group Dynamics

In order to help members understand how their interactions affected the group-as-a-whole, the

leader of a support group for recovering alcoholics often took time out from the discussion of

members’ issues to bring up group dynamics and processes. He noted that members sometimes

ignored nonverbal reactions of other members and often asked members to observe what was

going on with the group-as-a-whole. Eventually, members became more skilled at observing this

and other communication dynamics within the group. The leader frequently asked members to

evaluate the leadership behavior of other members, using this “processing” time to discuss both

member and group strengths. As the group progressed, the leader and members structured these

discussions into the final few minutes of the session, giving them time each week to discuss

group processes.

Pointing out the here-and-now of group interaction is an underused skill (Ward, 2014). Sometimes, workers are so caught up in the content of interaction that they forget to pay

attention to group processes. Other workers are reluctant to make their observations public.

Workers who have difficulty directing the group’s attention to group processes should consider

practicing this skill by setting aside a few minutes at the beginning or end of each meeting for a

discussion of group processes or by making a conscious effort to point out group processes in

brief summary statements at intervals during meetings. Clinical and supervisory experience

suggests that the process of pointing out here-and-now group interaction becomes easier with

practice. A brief example of how to point out here-and-now interactions during group meetings

is presented in the case example.

Clarifying Content

Just as it can be beneficial to make group processes explicit, it can also be beneficial to point out

the content of members’ interactions. The worker’s purpose in clarifying content is to help

members communicate effectively. The skill of clarifying content includes checking that a

particular message was understood by members of the group and helping members express

themselves more clearly. It also includes pointing out when group interaction has become

unfocused or sidetracked by an irrelevant issue.

The skill of clarifying content can also be used to point out the possible avoidance of taboo

subjects. For example, in a support group for caregivers of the frail elderly, the worker might

point out that the subject of nursing home placement has not arisen.

Cuing, Blocking, and Guiding Group Interactions

To help a group accomplish the goals it has set for itself, the worker will often find it helpful to

guide the group’s interaction in a particular direction. To start this process it is helpful to scan the

group to look for verbal and nonverbal cues about group processes. The worker should avoid

getting too caught up in the content of the group and instead should focus on the processes that

are occurring among members. Cuing can be used to invite a member to speak so that the group

stays focused on a topic. It can also be used when the worker wants to move the group in a new

direction by focusing on or cuing a member who has brought up an important new topic for the

group to discuss. Blocking can also be used when a member is getting off topic or is saying

something that is inappropriate. By encouraging a member to speak or by limiting or blocking a

group member’s communication, the worker can guide the group’s interaction patterns. Thus,

blocking can both protect and energize members (Barlow, 2013). Blocking and drawing out members can be used to select communications patterns purposely to help groups to work with

purpose and stay on goal (Barlow, 2013; Luke, 2014).

Case Example A Bereavement Support Group

In a support group for recently widowed persons, members are talking about what to do about

the personal belongings of their loved one who has died. One member, John, starts to talk about

giving things to the Salvation Army. However, the worker scanning the group notices that two of

the other members, Mary and Helen, are having strong personal reactions to the topic of

disposing of their loved ones’ personal belongings. The worker turns to John who had started to

talk about the Salvation Army, mentions that that is a good resource, but asks if he would mind

holding on to that thought until later in the group. The worker then asks if Mary, Helen, or

anyone else would like to share what they are feeling or thinking before getting into the specifics

of how to dispose of the belongings.

The skill of guiding group interactions has many uses. For example, the worker may want to

correct a dysfunctional aspect of the group’s process, such as the development of a subgroup that

disrupts other members. A worker who can skillfully guide group interaction patterns can limit

the communication between subgroup members and increase their communication with other

group members. The worker may also want to use guiding skills to explore a particular problem

or help members sustain their efforts in solving a problem or completing a task. At other times,

the worker may want to encourage open communication. For example, by redirecting a

communication, the worker can help members speak to one another. The worker might say,

“John, your message is really intended for Jill. Why don’t you share your message directly with

her rather than through me?”

Data-Gathering and Assessment

Data-gathering and assessment skills are useful in developing a plan for influencing

communication patterns as well as in deciding on the action skills to use to accomplish the

group’s purposes. These skills provide a bridge between the process-oriented approach of

facilitating group processes and the task-oriented approach of using action skills to achieve goals

and satisfy members’ needs. Without effective data-gathering and assessment skills, workers’

interventions are not grounded in a complete understanding of the situation. This can result in the

use of premature, oversimplified, or previously attempted solutions that have not been carefully

analyzed and weighed.

Engagement

Behavior: Use empathy, reflection and interpersonal skills to effectively engage diverse clients and

constituencies

Critical Thinking Question: 1. Group leaders continually gather information in the group. What skills are particularly

important for gathering data about the group?

Identifying and Describing Skills

Perhaps the most basic data-gathering skill is helping members identify and describe a particular

situation. This skill allows elaboration of pertinent factors influencing a problem or task facing

the group. In using this skill, workers should attempt to elicit descriptions that specify the

problem attributes as clearly and concretely as possible. To understand the problem, it is often

useful for the worker to identify or describe historical as well as current aspects of the problem.

It may also be helpful to share alternative ways of viewing the situation to obtain diverse frames

of reference, alternative interpretations of events, and potential solutions to a problem. For

example, the worker might say, “You have given us a pretty complete description of what

happened, Amy, but I wonder, what do you think Jim would say if I asked him to give an

account of the same situation? How do you think he would view this?”

Requesting Information, Questioning, and Probing

The skills of identifying and describing a situation are essential to workers’ attempts to gather

data by requesting information, questioning, and probing. Using these skills, workers can clarify

the problem or concern and broaden the scope of the group’s work by obtaining additional

information that may be useful to all members. The worker should be careful to ask questions

that are clear and answerable. Double questions or value-laden questions may be met with

resistance, passivity, anger, or misunderstanding. For some issues and for some group members,

questioning or probing may be seen as a confrontation or a challenge to what has already been

stated, particularly in areas in which the member is reluctant to give additional information,

because the information is perceived as emotionally charged or potentially damaging to the

member’s status in the group. The worker should be particularly sensitive to these concerns

when seeking additional information from a member. Helping the member explore fears or

concerns about the potentially damaging effect of a disclosure can be a helpful intervention.

Another is asking for feedback from other members about the realistic basis of personal fears.

Summarizing and Partializing

When information about the problems or concerns facing the group has been discussed, a worker

can use summarizing or partializing skills. Summarizing skills enable a worker to present the

core of what has been said in the group. It also provides members an opportunity to reflect on the

problem. Summarizing skills give members and the worker an opportunity to consider the next

steps in solving the problem and allow members to compare with the worker’s summary their

perceptions about what has gone on in the group. Partializing skills are useful for breaking down

a complex problem or issue into manageable bits. Partializing is also helpful in determining

group members’ motivation to work on various aspects of the problem. For example, the worker

might say, “John, I heard you talk a lot about your frustration with the group’s not sticking to its

purpose here. Would you tell us briefly, what you would like to see the group do that we are not

doing right now? . . . Okay, so you are suggesting that we could take three steps to stay on track

better during future discussions. . . . Am I paraphrasing you correctly? Are these the three things

you think would keep us on track?”

Case Example A Single Parents Group

In a single parents group, the worker asks John, a member of the group with partial custody of an

11-year-old son who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to elaborate on his feelings

about his son who has many behavior problems both at school and at home. In response, John

says spontaneously, “Sometimes I get so frustrated I just feel like bashing his head in,” but then

immediately says he would not do such a thing. Sensing that John feels awkward about what he

just said, the worker asks other members if they have had similar feelings in dealing with their

own children. Several members talk about their frustrations and how they sometimes feel like

they are about to lose control. A good interaction follows when members talk about how they

handle situations when they fear they may lose control. The worker decides to join in and self-

disclose a particular occasion on which she became so frustrated with her child that she had to

leave the room before she did or said something she would regret later. In this way, John and the

other members were able to disclose strong feelings without fear of how they would be perceived

in the group.

Synthesizing

Another useful data-gathering and assessment skill is synthesizing verbal and nonverbal

communications. Examples of synthesizing skills include making connections among the

meanings behind a member’s actions or words, expressing hidden agendas, making implicit

feelings or thoughts explicit, and making connections between communications to point out

themes and trends in members’ actions or words.

Synthesizing skills can be useful in providing feedback to members about how they are

perceived by others. Because these skills often involve a considerable amount of judgment and

conjecture about the facts available to the worker, they should be used cautiously, and all

members should have the opportunity for input into the synthesis. Ideally, when the worker

synthesizes a number of interactions or points out similarities in group problem solving or in

group communication patterns, all members should be able to give feedback about their

perceptions of the situation. For example, during a weekly staff meeting of an adolescent unit in

a state mental hospital, a worker might mention the patterns of interactions that have developed

among team members. In describing these patterns, the worker would ask members for feedback

on how they perceived the group’s interaction.

Analyzing Skills

Once the data have been gathered and organized, the worker can use analyzing skills to

synthesize the information and assess how to proceed (Ward, 2014). Analyzing skills include pointing out patterns in the data, identifying gaps in the data, and establishing mechanisms or

plans for obtaining data to complete an assessment (Tropman, 2014). For example, in a treatment conference at a group home for adolescents, the worker can use analyzing skills to

point out patterns used by staff members in previous work with a particular youngster. The group

can then explore new methods and techniques for future efforts to work with the youngster. In an

educational treatment group for potentially abusive parents, the worker can use analyzing skills

to link parents’ behavior patterns to the onset of physical abuse of their children.

Action Skills

Supporting Group Members

Action skills are most often used by the worker to help the group accomplish its tasks. Perhaps

the most basic skill in this area is supporting group members in their efforts to help themselves

and each other. There is also evidence that providing support to others increases one’s own

meaning and self-esteem (Sarason & Sarason, 2009) and mutual aid in the whole group (Shulman, 2014). Skills to support group members will not be effective unless members perceive the group to be a safe place in which their thoughts and feelings will be accepted. Thus,

it is essential to begin by helping the group develop a culture in which all members’ experiences

and opinions are valued. The worker supports members by encouraging them to express their

thoughts and feelings on topics relevant to the group, by providing them the opportunity to

ventilate their concerns, by soliciting their opinions, and by responding to their requests and

comments.

Support also means helping members respond empathically to each other, validating and

affirming shared experiences. Skills in supporting members often involve pointing out their

strengths and indicating how their participation in the group can help to resolve their problems. It

also means providing hope for continued progress or success.

Ventilation and support are the primary goals of some groups. For example, support groups are

sometimes formed for the staff of neonatal intensive care units and burn units of regional

hospitals. Such groups give staff a chance to talk about and reflect on the emotionally draining

situations they frequently face. Medical social workers who form and facilitate these groups

encourage staff to ventilate pent-up emotions and provide peer support for one another.

Similarly, the therapeutic elements of a treatment group for recently widowed people include the

ventilation of feelings about the loss of a loved one, the affirmation of similar feelings and

experiences, and the encouragement to cope effectively with the transition despite feelings of

grief.

Reframing and Redefining

Often, one of the greatest obstacles to the work of a group or an individual is failure to view a

problem from different perspectives to find a creative solution (Forsyth, 2014; Tropman, 2014). Redefining and reframing the problem can help members examine the problem from a new perspective. Thus, a worker may want to reframe or redefine an issue or concern facing the

group. For example, in a group in which one member is being made a scapegoat, the worker

might help members redefine their relationship to that member. Redefining can be done by

having members talk about how they relate to the person who is being scapegoated and how they

might improve their relationship with that person. In this case, reframing the problem from one

that focuses on the scapegoated member to one that is shared by all members is a useful way to

change members’ interactions with this particular member. As the problem is redefined and

group members change their relationship with the member being scapegoated, the problem often

diminishes or disappears.

Linking Members’ Communications

The skill of linking members’ communications involves asking members to share their reactions

to the messages communicated by others in the group. Middleman and Wood (1990) refer to this skill as reaching for a feeling link or an information link. Members have a tendency to

communicate with the worker rather than with other members, especially in early group

meetings. The worker can prevent this from becoming a pattern by asking members about their

reactions to a particular communication. For example, in a group in a psychiatric inpatient setting

designed to prepare the members for independent living, the worker might say, “Mary, how do

you feel about what Joe just said? I recall that during our last meeting, you expressed feeling

anxious about living on your own.” Alternatively, the worker might say, “Have any of you had

the same feeling?” When members of the group validate and affirm each other’s experiences and

feelings, they develop a sense of belonging. Members no longer feel isolated or alone with their

concerns. They stop questioning and doubting their own interpretations of a situation and their

own reactions to it.

The skill of linking members’ communications also involves asking members to respond to

requests for help by other members. Helping members respond to each other fosters information

sharing, mutual aid, and the building of a consensus about how to approach a particular problem.

For example, in response to a query from a group member about whether the worker knows of a

resource for helping him or her take care of his or her frail father while he or she is at work, the

worker might ask whether any other members have used adult day care or respite care. Workers

find that members are often more receptive to using a service or a resource when they hear

positive reports about it from other members of the group.

Particularly when working with mandated and reluctant clients, workers who suggest the use of a

particular resource may be viewed with skepticism. Members sometimes believe that the worker

has a stake in getting them to use a particular service. In contrast, the testimonials of one or more

group members about the benefits of a particular service are often viewed with less skepticism.

Workers should also be aware that once they provide a response, other members are less likely to

provide their own perspective. Thus, although a direct response to a member’s communication is

often warranted, it is often a good practice for workers to turn to other members of the group for

their input before jumping in with their own responses.

Directing

Whether the worker is clarifying the group’s goal, helping members participate in a particular

program activity, leading a discussion, sharing new information, or assessing a particular

problem, the worker is directing the group’s action. Directing skills are most effective when

coupled with efforts to increase members’ participation and input (Chen & Rybak, 2004; Saleebey, 2013). The worker should not use directing skills without obtaining members’ approval or without involving them in decisions about the direction the group should

take to accomplish its goals. The worker should be aware of how each member reacts to being

directed in a new component of the group’s work. For example, when directing a role play in a

remedial group designed to help teenagers learn how to handle angry feelings more effectively,

the worker should be aware of how the action will affect each member. Depending on the way

they express their anger, some group members may benefit more than others from playing

certain roles.

Advice, Suggestions, and Instructions

Workers give advice, suggestions, and instructions to help group members acquire new

behaviors, understand problems, or change problematic situations. Advice should only be given,

however, after a careful assessment of what the member has tried in a situation. This avoids

awkward situations when the worker provides advice or suggestions only to find that it has been

tried without success. Advice should also be given in a tentative manner, such as “have you

considered . . .” This type of phrasing enables members to express their opinion about the advice

and whether they are ready to accept it. Group work experts have suggested being cautious about

giving advice, especially if it is not solicited by a member (Kottler & Englar-Carlson, 2015), and process analyses of treatment and support groups indicate that it is not given often by

professionals (Smith, Tobin, & Toseland, 1992). Nonetheless, advice is expected and wanted by many clients, especially those of lower socioeconomic status (Aronson & Overall,

1966; Davis, 1975; Mayer & Timms, 1970). Further, these skills appear to have some beneficial effect in helping clients formulate new ideas and approaches to resolving problems

(Davis, 1975; Ewalt & Kutz, 1976; Fortune, 1979; Reid & Shapiro, 1969; Smith, Tobin, & Toseland, 1992). For example, in a review of studies of various therapeutic mechanisms of change, Emrick, Lassen, and Edwards (1977)reported that advice giving was strongly associated with positive changes in clients. Effective ways to give advice, suggestions, and

instructions follow.

Giving Advice, Suggestions, and Instructions • Should be appropriately timed

• Should be clear and geared to comprehension level of members

• Should be sensitive to the language and culture of members

• Should encourage members to share in the process

• Should facilitate helping networks among members

Advice, suggestions, and instructions should be timed appropriately so that group members are

ready to accept them. They should also be clear and geared to the comprehension level of the

members for whom they are intended. A group of teenage parents who have not completed high

school requires a presentation of ideas, advice, suggestions, and instructions quite different from

a presentation to a group of highly educated women who have delayed child rearing until their

early thirties.

Workers should also be sensitive to the language and culture of the members of their groups.

Certain words in English might not translate appropriately or with the same meaning in another

language. Further, the cultural heritage of a population may influence how such individuals

receive and decode messages sent from the worker.

The worker should not act alone in giving advice, suggestions, and instructions. This sets the

worker off as an expert who may be seen as too directive. The worker should encourage

members to share information, advice, and instructions with each other. Shulman (2014, 2016) refers to this as the worker’s reaching for feelings and information that members may be hesitant to disclose. The aim is to deepen the level of disclosure in the group, thereby

enhancing cohesion. It is also to empower members so that they get in touch with their own

strengths and resiliencies and take ownership of the change process.

To encourage members to share information and advice with each other, the worker should

facilitate the development of helping networks where members feel free to share their life

experiences, information, and resources, as well as their opinions and views. One of the distinct

advantages of group work over individual work is the ability of group members to rely on one

another for help in solving problems and accomplishing goals. Experience suggests that well-

established helping networks often continue outside the group long after the group experience

has ended. For example, a worker who formed a support and parenting skills education group for

single parents in an inner city later helped the group members form a child-care cooperative that

flourished for years after the 12-week parenting skills group ended. Similarly, the members of a

support group for family members of patients recently discharged from inpatient settings in the

inner city were helped by a worker to form a local chapter of a national welfare rights

organization.

Providing Resources

Organizations that sponsor groups have access to a wide variety of resources, such as medical

treatment, home health care, financial assistance, job and rehabilitation counseling, family

planning, and financial management consultation that the worker can make available to

members. Making skillful use of these resources through accurate assessment and referral can be

helpful to members. The worker can also encourage members to talk about the resources and

services they have found to be effective. In this way, the cumulative knowledge of all group

members can be used for mutual aid. Members who talk enthusiastically about a resource or

service can be more convincing than a worker providing the very same information.

In task groups, workers can also provide a variety of resources for members. They can influence

the environment in which a group works, either directly or indirectly, to make it easier for the

group to accomplish its tasks. Workers may have access to important people or action groups

that can give the group’s work proper consideration. In addition, because task groups are often

composed of members with a variety of skills and resources, members can also help one another

achieve the group’s goals.

Disclosure

Disclosure is an action skill that should be used sparingly by the worker for the specific purpose

of deepening the communication within the group. Too often, novice workers disclose to join in

and be a part of the group. Workers should remember, however, that their main role is to

facilitate communication among members. Therefore, it is often more important to pay attention

to the processes that are occurring in the group among members rather than to get involved

directly in the content of the discussion. Being pulled into the content can have negative

consequences, as the worker can be seen to be taking sides. It also distracts the worker from

focusing on the verbal and nonverbal interaction occurring among members. The value of

disclosure is in deepening communication occurring in the group, empathizing with members,

and letting the members know that the worker understands their situation. Disclosure can also

model openness and risk-taking, demonstrating that the group is a safe place to talk about

difficult emotional issues.

Modeling, Role Playing, Rehearsing, and Coaching

The action skills of modeling, role playing, and rehearsing situations in the group can be helpful in both task and treatment groups. Modelingrefers to the worker or a member demonstrating behaviors in a particular situation so that others in the group can observe what to do and how to do it. For example, the worker in an assertion training group might demonstrate how to respond to a spouse who has become quite angry. In another group, the worker might model caring and concern by going over to a group member who has begun to cry and placing an arm around the member’s shoulder.

Case Example Disclosure in a Couple’s Group

During the interaction in a couple’s group, members began to talk about how difficult it was for

them to take responsibility for their own actions within their marriage and how it was easier to

blame their partner for situations. Members went on to talk about how they could carry around

anger at their spouse for hours and even days at a time. At one point, the worker stepped in and

said that he had had similar experiences in his own relationship with his wife and how hard it

was for him to step back and think about his role in the situation. The worker then asked the

members to think about what happened when they stepped back and examined the situation and

their role in it. This led to a productive discussion of how to step back from situations when one

blamed one’s partner for a situation and how this could be done without holding the anger in for

hours or even days.

Role playing refers to having group members act out a situation with each other’s help. The two primary purposes of role playing are to assess members’ skill in responding to an interpersonal situation and to help members improve particular responses. Responses can be improved through feedback, rehearsal of a new response, or coaching. Role playing can be a very useful tool when trying to help members improve their responses to stressful situations. For example, in a group for couples trying to improve their relationships, the worker might ask each couple to role play an argument they had during the past week. During the role play, the worker asks each couple to switch roles so that each partner could experience how the other felt, thought, and acted in the situation. Role plays can help members understand their partner’s behavior in relationship to their own behavior. The couples can use the feedback they received to experiment with new and better ways to communicate during an argument. In this way, the couples learn new communication skills and begin to use improved ways of responding to each other during disagreements.

Rehearsing refers to practicing a new behavior or response based on the feedback received after a role play. Because it is difficult to learn new behaviors or to diminish less adaptive but

habituated behavior patterns, a member may have to practice a new response several times.

Coaching is the use of verbal and physical instructions to help members reproduce a particular response. For example, members of a group for the mentally retarded might practice expressing

their feelings during interpersonal interactions. As members practice, the worker coaches them

by giving instructions and demonstrating how to improve their responses. Additional information

about different role-playing techniques is presented in Chapter 9.

Confrontation Skills

Confrontation is a useful action skill for overcoming resistance and motivating members.

Confrontation is the ability to clarify, examine, and challenge behaviors to help members

overcome distortions and discrepancies among behaviors, thoughts, and feelings (Chen & Rybak, 2004; Egan, 2013). Confrontation skills should be used only when the worker has carefully assessed the situation and decided that what is said will not be rejected by a member. If

a member is not ready to examine thoughts, behaviors, or feelings, the member may react

negatively to a confrontation by becoming passive, angry, or hostile.

Because confrontations are potent and emotionally charged, workers should be prepared for

strong reactions. In certain circumstances, workers may want to make gentle or tentative

confrontations to explore a member’s reactions before making direct, full-scale confrontation.

Although confrontations are often associated with pointing out a member’s flaws or weaknesses,

they can be used to help members recognize strengths and assets. For example, in a remedial

group for psychiatric inpatients, a depressed group member who is self-deprecating might be

confronted and challenged to begin to recognize his or her strengths and assets. Similarly, a

member of a growth group might be confronted by pointing out how her words differ from her

actions.

Resolving Conflicts

One of the most important action skills is helping resolve conflicts among the members of the

group and with individuals and social systems outside the group. Group members may conflict

with one another for a variety of reasons. For example, in a delegate council, members may

represent constituencies that have quite different concerns, interests, and goals. In a treatment

team, group members’ responsibilities for different work functions and tasks may cause conflict

or competition, particularly if resources for accomplishing a task are limited.

Many of the models of group development described in the previous chapter indicate that

conflict may arise among members as the group develops. The worker should help the group

view conflict as a healthy process that can clarify the purposes and goals of the group and the

way members can work together.

Although conflicts inevitably arise, skillful group facilitation can help avoid unnecessary

conflicts and resolve disagreements before they turn into hostile disputes. To help avoid

unnecessary conflicts, workers can suggest that the group develop and maintain rules for

participation. These rules are frequently expressed in early contractual discussions with

members. Sometimes these rules, which should be developed with the participation of all

Figure 4.3 Rules for Group Participation

I, the undersigned, agree to:

1. Attend each group session or call one day before the group meeting to explain my

absence.

2. Not talk about anything that occurs in the group to anyone outside the group, unless it

applies only to me and no other group member.

3. Carry out all assignments agreed to in the group between group sessions.

4. Speak in turn, so that everyone gets a chance to talk.

5. Give the group two weeks’ notice before terminating my participation.

Name Date

group members, are stated in a written agreement that all members sign at the beginning of a new

group. An example of such a written agreement is shown in Figure4.3. Having agreed-on rules clearly written and displayed on a blackboard or flip chart is particularly helpful in children’s

groups. Children enjoy setting rules for their group, and, with the guidance of a leader, they can

help each other follow rules they have made.

When conflicts arise among members, the worker may also use moderating, negotiating,

mediating, or arbitrating skills to resolve disagreements before they turn into hostile disputes.

Moderating skills help workers keep meetings within specified bounds so that conflict is

avoided. Negotiating skills are used to help members come to an agreement or an understanding

when initial opinions differ. Mediating skills are used when two or more members are in conflict,

and action is necessary to help them reach an agreement and resolve the dispute. Arbitration

skills involve having an authoritative third person meet with the group. This person listens to the

dispute and binds the members to a settlement. Arbitration is sometimes used in task groups that

have reached an impasse when working on a labor contract. Specific methods that workers can

use to help resolve conflicts in groups are described in detail in Chapters 9 and 11. Members may also come into conflict with forces outside the group. The members of therapy

groups, for example, often expect workers to provide guidance about how to resolve conflicts

with spouses, other family members, friends, fellow workers, and acquaintances. In attempting to

be more assertive, a member of a therapy group might receive hostile, angry, or aggressive

responses from family members or friends. In such a case, the worker might attempt to reduce

the conflict by intervening directly in the situation or by helping the member develop the skills

necessary to overcome the conflict alone. When the conflict is an inevitable by-product of a

change the member wishes to make outside the group, the worker can help the member feel

comfortable with the conflict until a new state of equilibrium is achieved.

Sometimes it is helpful for the worker to meet with people outside the group to resolve a

member’s conflict. For example, a worker might meet with the parents of an adolescent group

member to discuss how the parents set limits and rules for their child. In other cases, workers can

prepare members for the reactions they may encounter outside the group. For example, a worker

can help members learn how to respond to potential rejection or hostility when they are more

assertive than usual with a particular person. Preparing members for what to expect in a wide

range of situations and settings also helps ensure their success when they are using newly learned

behaviors in unfamiliar settings or situations.

Workers may also need to resolve conflicts between the group as a whole and the larger society.

For example, workers may help resolve conflicts between tenants’ associations and housing

authorities, welfare rights groups and county departments of social services, or support groups

for individuals with chronic illnesses and health-care providers. Moderating, negotiating,

mediating, and arbitrating skills can often be used successfully in these situations. However, in

some situations, mobilization and social action skills (described in Chapter11) may have to be used to resolve a conflict.