week 7

Group Design

James C. McGoogan

Grand Canyon University: PCN 520

September 20, 2016

Introduction

There are various challenges that group leaders have to grapple with during various stages of group development. For instance, some participants may feel uncomfortable with the idea of sharing their personal problems with strangers. This may drive them towards the idea of avoiding groups. Other members may confront challenges such as sexual abuse, illegal drug use, as well as abortion. As a group leader, I may also face the challenge of seeking an effective way of terminating a group. All these problems need to be addressed for a group to be effective and successful.

Dealing with Uncomfortable Group Participant

In some situations, a participant may feel uncomfortable being in groups. This feeling is not unusual. Some members may also feel embarrassed when they join groups for the first time. However, they will soon become comfortable and show feelings of interest and trust. As a group leader, I would address this problem using two strategies. When newcomers to therapy feel uncomfortable and not at ease with the idea of sharing views within a group, it would be prudent to put the member through a two-step strategy in which the member starts with individual sessions with the therapist, and then proceeds to the actual group therapy sessions. Individual therapy sessions have various positive impacts on group therapy. This is especially for a participant who expresses discomfort in joining groups. Individual therapy has the impact of preventing group therapy dropouts. When a new or impulsive group member expresses discomfort or strong negative response towards a group session, I would take the participant through an individual session. Individual sessions offer support and further explorations, thereby averting group dropout cases.

In light of the above situation, I believe that concurrent individual treatment reduces the possibility of dropouts from a group therapy. The reason why I would recommend concurrent group therapy for an uncomfortable member is that it cuts the dropout rates from the group to nearly a third of the rate without the individual treatment. Whenever a group member feels uncomfortable in groups, there are always various reasons that may drive this discomfort. For instance, a group member may develop distrust of other participants. Another possible reason is that the participant may be afraid of sharing personal problems in front of strangers. To tackle this challenge, I would establish programs geared towards building trust and creating friendship among all group members in order to ensure that they feel at ease with each other.

Dealing with the Challenging Issues

Illegal Use of Drugs

In order to address the problem of illegal use of drugs, I would employ strategies such as affiliation, support, as well as peer confrontation. Peer group support for sobriety can be crucial in preventing drug use and intervening early during first stages. In order to ensure that this challenge is tackled effectively, I would put in place awareness initiatives that enable members to recognize drug abuse as a challenge. This makes the peers to gain knowledge about the early signs of drug-related challenges, and gain skills to deal with the individuals in a firm but supportive manner. Thus, peer support is a powerful mechanism for minimizing the prevalence of illegal drug use among members. Peer groups are often made up of individuals who are like-minded. Putting them together enables them to effectively share and support each other in tackling the challenges that they face. An example of a peer group that is necessary for illegal drug users is use of fellow drug users. Support can come in many ways. Examples may include spiritual and sponsor support, depending on the strategy that works well with the group members. Per support and confrontation should be accompanied by providing sessions for reflecting about family of origin issues and allowing the group members to practice the newly learned interpersonal skills.

Sexual Abuse

In order to address the challenge of sexual abuse, I would follow three main steps. The first stage entails care and control of the body. This must be done by undertaking assessment of the client in terms of food, drugs, alcohol, and medicinal history. Treatment should then be done for co-morbidity issues, particularly when it comes to evaluation, monitoring and treatment of depression. The second step will include establishing a secure environment for the victims. The safety of the environment will encompass elements such as living, work, school, financial, physical and self-protection. This should then be followed by replacing the self-harming climate with a self-monitoring and self-soothing protection. Thereafter, it is important to offer social support systems. These may include self-help groups, spiritual support, as well as weight watchers.

The locus of control should remain with the patient. The proceeds should be uncovered in small and progressive phases. This is because the victim may desire to get over some challenges. Therefore, slowing down is normally important to ensure that the patient is safe and not overburdened by intrusive thoughts and feelings. The progress may be characterized by intense grief and mourning. Thus, integrating the affect, memory and mourning is needed. New meaning should also be created as other resolutions to existential despair are done. Furthermore, the various triggers of memory should be identifies.

There are several situations that may arise in sexual abuse cases. These unique cases must be handled in different ways. As a leader, I would provide professional understanding into the causes of sexual abuse that are specific to the case. This begins by providing the mother or the victims materials to read. This should be followed by group involvement. When seeking to address this issue, I would ensure that the victim’s disclosure is believable. This is because many people will try to explain the issue away. Thereafter, the victim is taken through a group session in which he or she is supposed to understand her role in the abuse, in case she has one. The non-offending parent is not supposed to be blamed for the victimization. In the group sessions, I would strengthen the victim-mother relationship in order to assist the mother to come have empathy for the victim. This can be done by enhancing this communication and assisting them to address the ongoing challenges in the relationship.

Abortion

For abortion, group counseling and support is recommended. Therefore, I would establish group counseling and support services, particularly for married women who are okay with the idea of sharing their personal issues openly. For young girls and women who still show hesitance towards the idea of sharing their problems in open group discussions, I would place them in structured recovery support groups. This is good for women who feel guilty after doing abortions. Such groups will work by telling one’s story; dealing with responsibility and blames, managing anger, forgiveness, as well as dealing with the challenge of losing a potential baby. This involves discussing what someone feels towards the loss of the baby. Thereafter, the participants communicate with the loss. This entails working on communicating with the entities that one feels the loss for. Other components of such support groups include remembrance activities and moving forward.

Transition Plan for Ending the Group

In order to have a smooth transition process towards the successful completion of a group, several approaches will be followed. First, the issue of group termination will be raised early. This will be done when there are three to five sessions remaining. This makes the group members ready to get comfortable with the idea of ending the group. A final date will then be picked for the group termination process. The date chosen will be based on the agreements made with the group members. This will be a date that does not interfere with other individuals’ commitments and work. The clients will then be allowed to provide their views and feelings towards the termination process. Some may have emotions to work through. For that reason, time will be spent in acknowledging and processing such emotions. When a client is referred to an ongoing service, I would have an open-door policy. My availability will depend on the commitments that I have. Therefore, if I am free, I will continue with individual services. In case I am not free, I would refer the client to another group.