Group Therapy

I had the privilege of attending a group therapy workshop today and thought I'll jot down some points which I hope to remember.

1. It's not easy being a facilitator in the forming stage of group work. Neither is it easy on the participant. I think the personality of the participant plays a big part in how the group starts off. If they know each other very well and if they're the loud, boisterous kind, then you're in for a good time. But it is more likely that you'll get a mixture of loud and quiet ppl; and even the loud ones can be quiet until they feel comfortable being themselves. How can members be made to feel comfortable?

2. Creating a safe environment helps. Expectations are rapidly being formed by members once the group process begins. The facilitator can help build the group's culture by setting norms, rules & standards. Once the members knows that it's safe to share and that it's natural to contribute, the group process should be smoother.

3. The most effective way to convince/teach a member about something, is if another group members does the convincing. This is one of the most important factors of group work - the power that arises within the group and the power that only a fellow member can give; members are unlikely to be as convinced if told so by the facilitator.

4. Essential therapeutic factors:
- Insight (interpersonal and genetic)
- LIA (Learning through Interpersonal Action)
- Acceptance & Cohesiveness
- Self disclosure

I managed to participate in a role play exercise whereby we were given traits that were written on cards and placed on our foreheads (like Indian Poker). We couldn't see what was written on our cards but had to relate to each other using the 'labels' that we could see on each other's foreheads.

It was pretty interesting for me. Cos before I realised what my trait was, I brought my own personality in my interaction in that group; but when I realised that everyone was looking at me, showing their concern. I felt uneasy and all of the sudden, I didn't wanna talk and just wanted to shift the attention away to another group member. They kept asking me, "Do you need help?" In a sense, I couldn't guess what my trait was but I ended up claming up somewhat. The same happened to some of the others in the groups, in particular, the ones who got "Insignificant. Ignore me" and "Stupid. Give me a sneer". After awhile, they just gave up trying to give their opinions.

I think it's a very powerful exercise because it made me realise certain things -

sometimes when we have preconceived notions of certain members, you tend to act in a certain way to them which kinda makes them act in that way; thus, it's important for us to be open and not judge or label our clients. In fact, I was toying with the idea of how we can give positive labels to a member, in the hope that s/he will take up that trait. Sounds good eh? But applying it in practice is not easy. In fact, all that I mentioned might expose a big gap between theory and application. Well, I'm gonna try anyway and I hope to be able to explore some of these when I start to co-facilitate groups :)

How did what happened today, happen?

That's my hw qn...I'm still thinking about it...