REFLECTIVE ESSAY 1
Reflective Essay
Amanda Littlefield
School of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University
Reflective Essay
Theoretical Application
For this assignment I chose a group that I have facilitated. I facilitate group therapy
sessions every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday within a middle school. The purpose of this
group is to help students, ages 12 to 14, develop and appropriately use social skills, gain
knowledge in building and maintaining relationships, recognizing triggers and identifying coping
REFLECTIVE ESSAY 2
strategies to be used, and also developing a more in-depth vocabulary when expressing
emotions rather than sad, happy, and mad. As mentioned before this group caters to students in
grades six, seven, and eight, ages 12 to 14 and both male and female.
The structure of the group varies session to session and topic to topic. A few things that
remain the same with each session is the greeting and the ending. With the start of every group
session, students complete a check-in sheet and then spend the first five to eight minutes
discussing their responses. With ten minutes left, students fill out a “ticket out the door”
worksheet, listing three things they learned from this group session. Once students complete
the worksheet, I allow open discussion about what they learned during group and how they
would apply that to their everyday life.
One thing that I encourage in my group therapy sessions is for the students to
respectfully engage with one another. Just as the example of Betty in Yalom and Leszcz (2020), I
have noticed that when the students are positively engaging with one another and they are able
to relate to one another, those in the group who may have felt skeptical about it, open up. I also
consider it a successful group when I can sit back and mediate the group but the students are
the ones that are unintentionally leading it. This is not to say that all group sessions run
smoothly, there are many when the students begin to “flex” their trauma and it begins to
become more of who’s trauma is worse. At that point I remind the students of the rules and
expectations of the group that they developed at the start of group and all signed and to be
respectful.
Personal Reflection
When reflecting on my role as the therapist leading the group, I will admit there are
times when my communication style could have been better and led to group sessions that
were a little more chaotic than others or less engaging than others. I have also recognized that
the students feed off my energy, so if they walk into my room and can sense stress, frustration,
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or any negativity coming from me, the entire group dynamic shifts and the students reflect that
in discussion. Due to recognizing this, I am sure to pray before the bell rings for the students to
come to my room and I walk out of my classroom and back in, letting it at the door. The same
goes for when the kids sense positivity from me, they are energetic and more willing to engage
in the group session.
When working with middle school students, sometimes the topic at hand gets off track
as students are communicating with one another and I do allow that to happen if I see it is
headed into a meaningful direction. These are students that are building social skills, they are in
the group therapy because they struggle with social skills, so I feel allowing them to
appropriately socialize with one another on topics that they may not feel comfortable otherwise
talking to someone about helps to increase these social skills. However, I could improve on
instilling hope for students and recognize progress of students more. I also struggle with gentle
confrontation, this is something I am currently working on in my personal life. I am comfortable
with confrontation; however, I am not gentle about it and often come across as aggressive due
to my tone. When confronting a situation or student I literally stop and think about my tone
before I speak.
Three areas of professional disposition that I need to work on not only in a group
therapy setting but as a therapist in general would be empathy, professionalism, and
communication. One would think a therapist of all people would not struggle to be empathetic
towards others. That is not the case for me. This is another thing I have been working on for
years and struggle daily with (that topic could be an essay in itself). I am able to verbally express
empathy when I know empathy is needed, feeling it on the inside is a different story. For me
empathy and professionalism go hand in hand and I will do my best to briefly explain.
I can be professional, I know how to be professional. Not only was I raised to be
professional, (military family) I was in the military before I became a therapist and I developed
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the skills to being reliable, being self-aware, time-management, respectful, and how to look
professional. I can do all of those things; my struggle is with my facial expressions. I am often
told to “check your face” by coworkers, family, my supervisor. I have practiced looking in the
mirror with different expressions and with a lot of focus I can recognize what my eyebrows are
doing. Communication can also go along with professionalism. I tend to dominate conversations
with others and tend to take charge. I do feel as though I do well to actively listen, I just like to
do a lot of the talking as well.
References
Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2020). The Theory and practice of group psychotherapy.
