Group Purpose
The goal that you want group members to achieve by participating in your group
What is the group purpose?
Race, gender, ethnicity, age, cultural background
What are descriptive characteristics to consider in deciding on group composition or group facilitator choice?
A group stage that emphasizes group cohesion and higher worker control
What is "Beginning" or "Ending" Stage?
Permissive or Authoritarian
What are Leadership Styles (or facilitation styles)?
"To help youth gain social skills and reduce isolation while in remote learning" is an example of this
What is "a purpose statement for a possible group during quarantine or lockdown"?
Capacity to relate, capacity to use the group, motivation to be there
What are behavioral characteristics of the group members (and at least some of the factors in deciding if someone is appropriate for a group)?
A time period in group when there is ideally less worker control and more tendency for the group members to take over the group decisions
What is "Middle Stage"?
"Amplifying subtle messages," "Scanning," or "Reaching for feelings"
What are Examples of group work skills used by facilitators?
Something we have been saying to avoid when creating and sharing our group purpose with group members
What are "HIDDEN AGENDAS"?
Assessing and reaching out to potential group members
What is PRE-GROUP CONTACT?
A simple question you can ask the group to invite them to reflect on their group dynamics
What is "What's going on?"
Different ideas about authority, levels of cooperation or competition, division of labor, different identities and backgrounds, different levels of experience
What are important factors for co-leaders to reflect on when co-leading a group?
What are "Individual and Collective goals?"
A group that allows people to join at various times not just at the beginning stage
What is an OPEN GROUP?
A stage where it's easy for group members and the group facilitator to want to avoid emotional content
What is "Ending stage?"
When the group facilitator intentionally uses their own feelings or shares something about themselves for the purpose of connecting to group members or helping build trust
What is "Use of Self" or "Self-Disclosure"?
Something people commonly confuse when describing to someone what a group's purpose is?
What is "saying what we DO in the group rather than WHY the group is formed"?
A group norm and philosophy that emphasizes that group members choose to stretch themselves outside their comfort zone in order to grow
What is "Challenge by Choice"?
Term that describes when a person is physically present but psychologically absent (as in dementia or drug addiction), and the second is when a person is physically absent but psychologically present (as in foster care/adoption)
What is "Ambiguous Loss?"
Phrase to described that group members learn more from how we act than what we say
What is "Caught not Taught"?
More than self-care alone, this term coined by social movement actors in the past decade, emphasizes how embodied, contemplative, and interpersonal healing work can transform historical trauma and internalized oppression within social movements. As activist Angela Davis said, it means “thinking deeply about the connection between interior life and what happens in the social world.”