Icebreaker: Facilitation Exercise

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An icebreaker is a facilitation exercise intended to help a group begin the process of forming themselves into a team (Furman, Bender, & Rowan, 2014). ‘If Questions’ is an icebreaker activity that breaks group barriers through questions that elicit responses that can start conversations between the group members. Being an observer of the icebreaker activity, it seemed as though the questions of the game allowed people to get to know each other intimately in a short time period. The questions elicited an array of responses such as one’s favorite movie genres to their preferred superpower and their religious convictions. At the time of my observation, I remember feeling excited and nervous to what would be the next thought provoking question. …show more content…

Ackerman suggests that the individual has both a private “inner self” and a social "outer self” that emphasizes externally oriented aspects of his or her personality (Shulman, 2009). When clients are in a group setting, they present their outer self as a way of adapting to the pressures and demands of the group context (Shulman, 2009). For instance, when the question was picked ‘if you can be with anyone in the world, who would it be?’ the participant answered that she would want to be with her grandmother who passed away. This answer could mean that the participant misses her grandmother, or that she feels sad about …show more content…

The majority of the participants were involved aside from one member who refused to participate due to feelings of uncomfortability. When it came to the participants turn, they said ‘these questions are too personal I do not want to pick a card’. Nevertheless, the facilitator remained calm and reassured the member that if they do not answer the question nothing will happen, but just to simply pick up a card. The participant conformed to the information but after looking at her card question, the member did not feel comfortable in answering and put the card back in the pile. Rifka Hanfling, the facilitator of the activity, demonstrated the protecting characteristic of a leader, where she prevented the member from taking unnecessary psychological risks in the group (Capuzzi & Gross, 2002, p. 60). The group leader demonstrated validation, open mindedness and reassurance by allowing for the participant to choose not to answer but still participating by picking a

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