HUS 20

GROUP LEADERSHIP THE MOST EFFECTIVE GROUP DIRECTION IS FOUND IN THE KIND OF LIFE THE GROUP MEMBERS SEE THE LEADER DEMONSTRATING AND NOT IN THE WORDS THEY HEAR THE LEADER SAYING.

PERSONALITY AND CHARACTER ● ● Constancy ● Active Listening ● Firm Identity ● Confidence ● Spontaneity ● Integrity ● Trust ● Humor ● Empathy (Shame)

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GROUP LEADERSHIP SKILLS ● Active Listening ● Restating ● Clarifying ● Summarizing ● Questioning ● Interpreting ● Confronting ● Reflecting Feelings ● Supporting ● Empathizing ● Facilitating

● Initiating ● Setting Goals ● Evaluating ● Giving Feedback ● Suggesting ● Protecting ● Disclosing Oneself ● Modeling ● Linking ● Blocking ● Terminating ● Don’t Overwhelm Yourself!

Leading Groups

- You should not be the center of attention - Vary therapeutic styles with the needs of group members - Model behavior - Leaders can be co-therapists - Ethical issues can arise

- -Overriding group agreements - -Informing group members of options - -Prevent enmeshment - -Act in each group member’s best interest - -Handle emotional contagion

- - -

Leading Groups

- Ethical issues can arise (cont) - -Ensure role flexibility - -Avoid role conflict - -Improve motivation - -Overcome resistance - -Defend Limits

- Maintain safe therapeutic setting - Substance Use - Boundaries and physical contact - Help cool down affect - Encourage communication within the group -

Avoid a Leader-centered group

AVOID DOING FOR THE GROUP WHAT

IT CAN DO FOR ITSELF!

CONFRONTATION

HELP CLIENTS SEE AND ACCEPT REALITY SO THEY CAN CHANGE ACCORDINGLY (Miller

and Rollnick, 1991)

BE MINDFUL

TRANSFERENCE - group member projects parts of important relationships from the past into relationships in

the present

COUNTERTRANSFERENCE - the therapists emotional response to a group member’s transference

RESISTANCE - there is an unconscious defense to protect the group member from the pain of self-examination.

BE MINDFUL

CONFIDENTIALITY - a group leader must strictly adhere to confidentiality regulations to build trust.

Some issues include: use of personal information in a group session, a group leader’s relationships with

clients and clients with one another and when group member discusses information from the group beyond

its bounds (ethical and legal issues).

PROBLEMS FOR NEW GROUP LEADERS ●Initial Anxiety (internal dialogue) ●

○ What do the participants really expect of me? ○ Will I be able to get the group started? How? ○ Will I run out of things to say or do before the end of the session? ○ What if members of the group find out that I really don’t know what I’m

doing? ○ Should I take an active role, or should I wait for the group to start on its

own? ○ Should I have an agenda, or should I let the group members decide what

they want to talk about? ○ Do I possess the cultural competence to lead this group? ○ What if nobody wants to participate? ○ Will the group members want to come back?

PROBLEMS FOR NEW GROUP LEADERS (CONT’)

●Self-Disclosure ●

○ Too Little Self-Disclosure ○ Too Much Self-Disclosure ○ Appropriate Self- Disclosure

PROBLEMS FOR NEW GROUP LEADERS (CONT’)

●Challenges with Facilitating a Group

All group members arriving on time. Setting up and running the session. Variability among group members. Gain full alignment and engagement from group members Documentation of session Keeping outcomes on par, or better

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DIVERSITY-COMPETENT GROUP COUNSELOR ● Reflect on these questions:

● Are you aware of how your own culture influences the way you think, feel, and act?

● What could you do to broaden your understanding of both your own culture and other cultures?

● Are you able to identify your basic assumption, especially as they apply to diversity in culture, ethnicity, race, gender, class, religion and sexual orientation?

● How prepared are you to understand and work with with individuals from different cultural backgrounds in a group?

● Can you identify any areas of cultural bias that could inhibit your ability to work effectively with people who are different from you

MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING COMPETENCIES D.W. SUE, ARRENDONDO, AND MCDACIS (1992) ●Diversity-competent group leaders: ●Beliefs and Attitudes – recognize and understand their own values,

biases, ethnocentric attitudes and assumptions about human behavior.

●Knowledge – know specifically about their own racial and cultural heritage and how it affects them personally and professionally. They strive to understand the worldview of their clients.

●Skills/Intervention Strategies – have acquired certain skills in working with culturally diverse populations.

Association for Multicultural Counseling and Developments (AMCD) notes: ●

-Counselor awareness of cultural values and biases - recognize and understand their own values, biases, ethnocentric attitudes and assumptions about human behavior.

-Counselor awareness of client worldview - recognize that a group member’s world view may be different that your own

-Culturally appropriate intervention strategies - always must respect the group members religious views, values, beliefs, indigenous practices and languages.

RECOGNIZE YOUR LIMITATIONS

It is not realistic to expect that you will know everything about the cultural background of all of the group members.

RESPECTFUL MODEL recognize multidimensionality of all clients in a comprehensive way

R - RELIGIOUS

E - ECONOMIC

S- SEXUAL

P - PSYCHOLOGICAL

E - ETHNIC

C - CHRONOLOGICAL

T - TRAUMA

F - FAMILY

U - UNIQUE

L - LOCATION

PROCEDURES FOR OPENING SESSIONS 1. Participants can be asked to briefly state what they want to get from the session. 2. 3. Give members. Chance to express any thought they may have had about the

previous session or to bring up for consideration any unresolved issues from an earlier session.

4. 5. Participants can be asked to report on the progress or difficulties they

experienced during the week. 6. 7. The group leader may want to make some observations about 8. the previous meeting or relate some thoughts that have occurred to him/her 9.

10. In an open group encourage those members who have been part of the group for a while to share with newcomers what the group has meant to them.

11.

PROCEDURES FOR CLOSING SESSIONS

●Group leaders should strive to close the session without closing the issues raised during the session.

●Summarizing can be effective at the end of the session. Summarize group process and their own progress toward their goals.

●Participants can be asked to tell the group how they perceived the session, to offer comments and feedback to other members, and to make a statement about their level of investment in the session.

●Focus on positive feedback.

PROCEDURES FOR CLOSING SESSIONS (CONT)

●Allow members to report on homework assignments, insights and how they have applied what they have learned.

●If there were any problems or topics participants would like to discuss, put it on the agenda for the next session.

●Group leaders may want to express their own reactions to the session and make some observations.

Good idea to remind members a week before that certain members will be leaving the group.

GROUP LEADER COMPETENCE

It is good policy for leaders to have a clear theoretical and therapeutic rationale for any technique they use.

GROUP LEADER COMPETENCE ●Professional competence is not arrived at once and for all, but is an

ongoing developmental process for the duration of your career. The “Best Practice Guidelines” (ASGW, 1998) suggests ways to enhance your level of competence as a group leader involve the following: ○Remain current and increase your knowledge and skill competencies

through activities such as continuing education, consultation, supervision, and participation in personal and PD.

○Be open to getting professional assistance for your own personal problems or conflicts that may impair your professional judgement.

○Utilize consultation and supervision to ensure effective practice when you are working with a group for which you need to acquire more knowledge and skill competencies.