Week 4

       Jack Nowicki paid our class a visit last week and gave a lecture on his methods and theories of Solution-Focused Group work.  During his lecture, he gave us a number of "nuggets of information" that are essential to successfully facilitating a solution-focused group.
       There were many strategies and skills that he brought forth, and many of them will certainly come with practice.  I feel like a lot of the skills have a lot to do with knowing the right comments to make and questions to ask.  As with any group facilitation, timing seems to be everything.  That is one area that definitely intimidates me.  I worry that I might feel rushed or flustered, and might interject at the right time.  Facilitating a group must be like playing a game of double-dutch; the timing has to be precise and deliberate for the group to go smoothly.  Another skill that might pose a challenge is the necessity to find positive spins on presenting problems.  I think that finding strengths is wonderful and useful, but I worry that there may come a time when I simply cannot find a way to take a positive spin.  What if I ask someone about exceptions to the event, and they don't have any?  What if i simply do not have the skills to help certain individuals?
        I understand that the concerns above are, for the most part, illogical.  I also understand that much of my clients' success is dependent on their personal efforts, in and out of session.  I just worry sometimes that I won't be able to help my clients, or that I'll hit a roadblock.  Leading a group, especially a solution-focused group, seems like much more pressure.  It's that many more opportunities to succeed, but that could go the other way as well.
        We participated in an activity that required us to think of creative, encouraging names and slogans for groups that might otherwise have a negative connotation.  I really enjoyed that activity, and I felt like it was something I was good at.  Even though this is simply the planning stage of a group, I like to think of it as something I can scratch off the list.  Perhaps being creative and honing skills like that will motivate me to be more excited about running groups.

Week 3

           I think that group work requires a certain skill set that is almost completely unique to the work.   I just finished observing children for another class, and just being there made me realize how very uncomfortable around small kids, and I always felt like I would not be very good at working with kids.  I worry that the same anxiety associated with the unfamiliar might come up when I have to work with groups.
         I think that one strength I have is simply being approachable and like-able. I feel like a lot of people trust me and can sense overall benevolence, which is good for me as a therapist, but is also true.  I have very good intentions, especially professionally. Another strength I have is that I am able to listen to people speak and actually take in everything they are saying, and I'm getting good at reflecting back to people.  I think that is really important to show clients that they have your attention, and I feel proficient at doing that. 
         One of my biggest worries, based on previous experiences, is being able to keep a group under control and efficient.  In the past, I had to lead these awfully planned groups of young adults, and the chaos was absolutely horrifying to me. I felt helpless at some points, and I would really like to develop skills that would help me gain confidence, which in turn would help me gain control of the groups.
         I feel like solution-focused groups might be a little more... focused.  Naturally.  So I'm hoping that maybe my listening and clarifying skills might be helpful and put to use,  and that maybe I wouldn't have to do as much crowd control and refocusing with my constituents.

Week 2

            One thing that the reading provided in terms of planning a group is hints about the process of selecting the constituents for each group you facilitate.  Yalom talks about how deselection is much more effective and time-efficient than pure selection.  Even though this method seems slightly harsh, it does make a lot of sense.  Instead of trying to find all these people to fit into a certain mold, you can simply remove people that do not fit the characteristics.  I think this method would also give you more options and allow you to be as specific or general as you need to be when forming a group.

            A second useful tip I learned was the idea of having a preparation session for clients before the group begins that involves more than history-taking and all of the usual questions.  When I was in group therapy, the facilitator began by extensively screening me and my objectives as well as giving me an overview of how the group would operate and rules to follow.  Unfortunately, that specific group never came to fruition, but I felt, after that, that I would be very comfortable within the group.  Or, I at least felt prepared for what was in store if the group ever happened.  I think this is a great way to foster comfort and trust, which are very important for group members, before the group even begins.

            One aspect that seems very daunting when I consider facilitating my own group work is the chance of my participants dropping out.  Even though high drop out rates are fairly common, and there are a number of reasons for participants to do so, I can’t imagine that I wouldn’t take it personally if my group began to shrink.  Actually, I have been told many times by many professional social workers that very often, things might not work out for your clients, and you may have to fail many times before you gain success with a client.  The idea of this is understandable, because there are always going to be a number of factors at play. However, I can imagine that, if I’m not prepared to take some hits, I could take that pretty hard.  Perhaps my attitude will have to adjust if and when participants drop out of my groups.  As long as I feel that I am doing the absolute best job I can do, then I’ll just have to roll with the punches.

Week 1

I personally feel very intimidated by the idea of working with groups.  I understand the efficiency of the idea, but I anticipate feeling a lot of pressure to produce results with group work, which is intimidating regardless of the circumstance.  Basically, I would probably be more confident with so much responsibility once I had more experience.  If I could get to a place where I was completely confident running groups, I think I could do very well and be successful.

The students in the Sweifach/Heft-LaPorte study were motivated to do group work by a number of factors, including perceived self-efficacy, prior experiences, the expectation to succeed and be successful as a facilitator, and the intrinsic satisfaction that they found in their work.
The finding implicated that the field and job opportunities are requiring more and more group work based on factors like cost efficiency, and even though social group work education has declined, it is necessary to maintain a solid base of group work in education, because it will still be needed in the future.  Perhaps if students felt more confident in their skills as facilitators, they would consider investing more in group work.

As I mentioned about, I find groups to be very intimidating, but I would like very much to be able to confidently and effectively run my own groups.  I personally see a lot of value in this skill, and even though my main interest is working with individual clients in a 1-on-1 setting, I would still like to be able to work well in any circumstance.

I honestly do not remember very much from my undergraduate group work course, so my hope is that this class will provide more lasting information and skills that I can directly translate into my field work and career.