Social Workers must be knowledgeable on how to facilitate and lead group sessions with clients. They must be cognizant on their responsibilities as a facilitator, and diligently work to meet the needs of all group members collectively and individually. According to Toseland, Ronald, & Rivas, Robert (2009) group work practice focuses on Social Work practice with a broad range of treatment and task groups and the group’s environment (pg. 2.). It is significant for Social Workers to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to be able to properly assess and assist in group atmospheres. At my field placement which is at the Covenant House, a homeless shelter in Detroit that services youth from ages 18-24. I am responsible for co-facilitating along with the agency’s Social Worker, a …show more content…
Toseland & Rivas (2009) expressed how the psychodynamic theory focuses primarily on the individual, group members act out in the group unresolved conflicts from early life experiences (p.59). The group focused on past life experiences while exploring the cognitive moral reasoning behind their actions and how to cope positively from the injustices that occurred. As we divulged into heavy topics some group members enforced defense mechanisms that had formed earlier in their lives. Thus, the Social Worker and I had to link group members past behaviors to their current ones to help them solve conflict and hinderances in their behavior and positive way of thinking. Overall, the members of the group progressed tremendously from their negative coping behaviors. The treatment group has increased their self-confidence on their ability to persevere after enduring trauma and substance abuse issues. They have also gained a deeper respect for one another, and created a positive social support group outside of the treatment group
Psychoanalysis is a unique form of psychological treatment founded by Sigmund Freud and later modified by his followers including Alfred Adler, Carl Jung, and Harry Stack-Sullivan (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Although there is no one psychoanalytic theory Wedding and Corsini (2013) tell us that there are basic principles that tend to be found throughout different psychoanalytic perspectives. They note that psychodynamic perspectives emphasize ideas of the unconscious and the ability to increase choice by facilitating an awareness of unconscious motivations. Psychodynamic perspectives tend to focus on the client’s use of defense mechanisms like projection, reaction formation, splitting, intellectualization, repression, transference, and resistance as a way of avoiding painful fantasies, feelings, and thoughts (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Such perspectives embrace the assumption that people are ambivalent about change and emphasize the importance of exploring that ambivalence (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). In addition, the therapeutic relationship is viewed as a vehicle of change; one that can be used for exploring both unconscious (primary) and conscious (secondary) self-defeating processes and actions (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Transference and countertransference are viewed as essential therapeutic tools (Wedding & Corsini, 2013). Psyc...
A member of an REBT group therapy experience a variety of cognitive, emotive, and behavioral interventions. From a cognitive perspective, REBT reveals to group members that their beliefs and self-talk keep them disturbed. In this approach to group, cognitive methods emphasis is on thinking, disputing, debating, interpreting, explaining, and teaching. Group leaders expect members to know Ellis’s signature ABCDE approach and how to dispute irrational thinking after a brief period of being in the group. A few of the cognitive techniques used are teaching the A-B-Cs of REBT, active disputation of faulty beliefs, teaching coping self-statements, and psychoeducational methods. Additionally, the REBT Self-help form is used as
In the health care field, social workers are faced with one of the most difficult and conflict social problem. Patients who are chronically ill have on occasion if they can end their life at their decision. As a social work, you must follow your code of ethics and the law by denying their right to the end-of-life decision. This is called euthanasia, a practice used to end the life of a seriously ill male or female. There is a conflicting issue on the interplay of person and professional views social workers given to patients who are experiencing or experienced end-of-life decisions. There are multiple conflicts with the use of euthanasia and assisted suicide, one major factor is the lack of training needed to successfully handle the situation. Another factor is that the constitutional laws conflict with the actions of agreeing to end someone’s life. For instance, Dr. Jack Kevorkian performed the act of euthanasia on a chronically ill man and publicly videotaped the procedure. He was at the time in the state of Michigan, a state that bans euthanasia and assisted suicide. He was charged with murder and sent to jail for his
Social workers are well-versed, resourceful, and upbeat in responding to developing organizational, community and societal contexts at all levels of practice. Social workers distinguish that the framework of practice is vigorous, and use knowledge and skill to respond proactively. In generalist training, social workers practice at whatever level is required with whatever style system, depending on the complications and powers in focus as considered from an ecological-systems perspective. The generalist may be working at a particular practice level at a given time or with more than one level simultaneously or sequentially.
A brief review of literature and research highlights the limited works uniting group work theory and approaches to interprofessional practice. San Martín-Rodríguez, Beaulieu, D’Amour, and Ferrada-Videla (2005) emphasize interactional, organizational, and systemic themes as the determinants of successful interprofessional collaboration. These themes are discussed in the context of effective group process then linked to social work practice, a context for inclusive collaboration, and achieving organizational outcomes.
Social workers in the healthcare field can be very beneficial to an interdisciplinary team. Throughout the semester we have looked at how social workers bring their professional and distinct skill set and beliefs to these teams. There are many stereotypes and biases surrounding social workers and other professionals on interdisciplinary teams. Social workers also have different views than other healthcare professionals and use their skills in communication to help the clients they serve, along with various other skills that are unique to social workers differing from other professional in the healthcare field. A social worker’s skill set can be extremely useful when working with specific populations at risk. The relationship between health and the role of the social worker can be different from other social worker roles in different fields. However, it is clear that social workers and interdisciplinary teams can be beneficial for everyone.
The American Counseling Association (ACA, 2005) and the American Psychological Association (APA, 2002) established the basic codes of conduct, or ethical guidelines, that are followed by mental health professionals who provide therapy. In 1989, however, the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW, 1989), a division of the ACA, published a comprehensive set of Ethical Guidelines specifically put forth, “to promote quality group training, practice, and research through enhancing the awareness of ethical issues associated with groups” (Durr, n.d., p. 2). And as a therapeutic group leader, one must be conversant with the contents of these rules and procedu...
Lindsay, T., & Orton, S. (2008). Groupwork practice in social work (2nd ed.). Exeter: Learning Matters.
When I first started this assignment, I was a little lost. I did not know how many services that are provided on a daily could be considered types of groups in social work. According to Johnson and Johnson, a group may be defined as two or more individuals in face to face interaction, each aware of positive interdependence as they strive to achieve mutual goals, each aware of his or her membership in the group, and each aware of the others who belong to the group. (2009) I am in the field of education, so I chose to do my research in this area. I spent my time within the Bowman school district with Ms. TG, who is over the early childhood department. Ms. TG is responsible for getting together monthly with parents who have children
Social Workers are very important to everyday life. They are the ones that help people in need when they have nobody else to turn too. Also, they provide resources and better understanding of predicaments that you could be experiencing. I will reflect on how the class has affected me, my own experiences and how some theories have connected to my life experiences, and lastly, if the class helped toward my major. This class is important for someone that wants to become a social worker and wants to learn about the different theories used. Also, learning about me during this process of completing this class is fun and a way to see if the social work profession is right for me. There was many theories explained throughout this class but many will not be said because it wasn’t the main points that I was trying to get across. There are two tools that are used that can help a social worker organize a client’s life: Bubble map and Briefcase exercise. There are so many different ways a social worker can help a client deal with their problems and come up with a solution. It is up to that social worker to identify the client’s problem and see what theory fits.
According to Toseland and Rivas (2005), group dynamics are “the forces that result from the interactions of group members” (p. 64). These forces refer to either the negative or positive influences towards meeting members’ socioemotional needs as well as goal attainment within a group (Toseland & Rivas, 2005), like within my class work group experience. Some of dynamics that continue to emerge and develop in my group is the effective interaction patterns and strong group cohesion, which has generated positive outcomes and group achievement thus far.
After completing the group task of preparing a presentation on, transferring individual facilitation skills into a group work setting, I will critically reflect upon my own participation. I will evaluate my self-awareness while working in the group, as well as those around me. The way that I personally dealt with any issues that arose within the group and how that affected the group dynamics. I will also briefly discuss the roles in which each member of the group took part and how role allocation affected, the group dynamics and the working relationships. Finally, I will evaluate my work having discussed it with my fellow group members.
Please explain some of the ethical considerations needed to develop, manage, and conclude a group. (25 points)
Working together with other people for an assignment can be a challenging task in some cases but luckily, I worked well with my group members. The decisions we made were anonymous although we paced ourselves individually when it came to completing our separate parts of the essay. As a group I believe that we connected well on an interpersonal level as all four of us were able to make alterations to any problem together . Furthermore, we did not give each other a chance to get angry at one another as we knew that this would only cause conflict that would disrupt our flow as a group. There was an equal divide in the amount of work that we all did; our contributions were fair and no one was lacking behind. In addition, my group members were great at keeping each other informed if one of us were not able to attend a group meeting; emails were sent out informing us what we missed and ideas that were formulated. Everyone in my group worked according to deadlines and in synchronization with each other; we did not have to nag anyone to complete work or wait on a member to complete their task.
In reflection on my learning experience in the group class, I have gained clarity on what sorts of competencies of facilitating group therapy, as well as in what areas social workers and students tend to feel most strong in my practice. Regarding my specific gains in competencies, I feel that I learned the most and was most likely to gain specific group facilitating competencies at the weekly class. Learning in group class is taught me the tools to use to work with groups therapy, communities and also with individuals through the process of changes. In this past three months I think a lot of opportunities have been created to shadowing with (beside and behind) and being a part of group members to learn. In addition, this class has taught me about the skills and how effectively help