Basic group work elements

1. Group Work
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2. Content for this section
was developed by
Robert K. Conyne
Ph.D., NCC
Robert K. Conyne, Ph.D., NCC, is a Professor and Program
Chairperson in the Division of Human Services at the University
of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio.

3. Definition of Group Work
Group work is a broad professional
practice that refers to the giving of help
or the accomplishment of tasks in a
group setting.
Group dynamics refers to the scientific
study of groups and those events that
occur within group sessions. It is an area
of study within social psychology.

4. Group work involves the application of group
theory and process by a capable professional
practitioner to assist an interdependent
collection of people to reach their mutual goals,
which may be personal, interpersonal, or task-
related in nature .
Group work is interdisciplinary, drawn
from many fields (e.g., counseling, psy-
chology, social work, sociology, educa-
tion, and/or psychiatry).

5. Group work occurs intentionally in a
variety of work, educational, mental
health, and community settings.
The main purpose of group work is
to provide help and support.
A second purpose of group work is to
help members and the group to accomp-
lish tasks and goals.

6. Group work leaders must be able to
apply group theory and process ef-
fectively to specific situations.
Group work leaders must be well
trained in application of group theory,
of group work competencies, of
professional judgment, and they must
be personally and interpersonally
competent.

7. Leadership Styles
Several different (group) leadership styles
have been identified:
In the Authoritarian leadership style, the
group leader makes all policy decisions for
the group and generally directs how the
group functions.
In the Democratic leadership style, the
group leader helps the group members to
make policy decisions and generally helps
the group function in a democratic manner.

8. In the Laissez Faire leadership style, the
group leader is minimally involved in
group matters and generally allows the
group to determine and follow its own
“natural” course.
In the Speculative leadership style, the
group leader maintains a heavy empha-
sis on “here-and-now” discussion, par-
ticularly in regard to leader or member
in-group behaviors.

9. In the Confrontive leadership style, the
group leader also focuses on the “here-
and-now,” but attention is directed to
the impact of each member’s in-group
verbalizations and behaviors.
In the Charismatic leadership style, the
group leader capitalizes on personal
power and attractiveness to direct the
group toward its goals and purposes.

10. A group is a social ecological system
containing individual, interpersonal,
and total group elements in which in-
terpersonal connections are important.
The leader needs to recognize and de-
velop interpersonal interdependence,
i.e., the interpersonal connections be-
tween and among members.

11. For the most effective leadership styles,
group work leaders work collaboratively
with group members to establish their
goals.
Goals include combinations of intra-
personal, interpersonal, and task com-
ponents, as well as aspects of both con-
tent and process.

12. Core Competencies
All professional counselors should
possess basic, fundamental know-
ledge and skills in group work.
Advanced group work competencies
build on the core set.

13. Following are the core knowledge com-
petency areas for effective group work
Definition of group work (presented previously)
Purposes for group work types
Definition of four group work specializations
Similarities and differences of types
Basic principles of group dynamics
Therapeutic factors
Important personal characteristics
Ethical issues unique to group work
continued

14. Core knowledge competency areas continued
Group development
Group member roles
Advantages and disadvantages of group work
Research applied to area of focus
Recruiting and screening members
Group and member evaluation

15. Therapeutic Factors
Therapeutic factors are those aspects of
group life that are widely believed to ac-
count for help-giving and personal change.
The following list of therapeutic factors
is based on the work of Yalom (1995):
Instillation of hope
Universality
Imparting information
Altruism continued

16. Yalom’s Therapeutic Factors continued
Corrective recapitulation of primary
family group
Imitative Behavior
Interpersonal learning
Group cohesiveness
Catharsis
Existential factors

17. Instillation of hope
An assumption, belief, or act of faith that
the group will be of therapeutic value.
This position is fundamentally important
for aiding growth, change, and goal
accomplishment.

18. Universality
The awareness that one is not alone, not the
only person in the world to be experiencing
these adverse or difficult circumstances or
feelings. Universality is the “common de-
nominator” of group involvement.
Universality is more achievable through group
participation other forms of help-giving due to
its interdependency.

19. Imparting Information
Provision of didactic information to mem-
bers by the leader or by other members as
a means for promoting learning about one-
self and others.

20. Altruism
The intrinsic act of giving to be helpful
without intending to benefit in any
tangible way.
In a group, members can receive through
such giving, thereby gaining increased
self-awareness, knowledge, and skills.

21. Corrective Recapitulation of
the Primary Family Group
Creating a positive environment within the
group such that members who were partici-
pants in a negative family environment can
correct faulty ways and learn new ways of
functioning.

22. Development of Socializing Techniques
Social learning, or the creation of basic or
new social skills.
Group interaction, with its interpersonal
orientation and/or skill based orientation,
can be a powerful milieu for social skill
development.

23. Imitative Behavior
Members can learn by observing the leader
or other members who model effective and
appropriate behavior.
“Vicarious” or “spectator” therapy is an
important source of learning in groups.

24. Interpersonal Learning
Interpersonal learning is a mediator of
change in groups that is built on the group
serving as a social microcosm in which
corrective emotional experiences can occur.
It includes an “interpersonal sequence”:
Members display behavior
Receive feedback and self-observe
Appreciate own behavior
Appreciate impact on others

25. Group cohesiveness
It is the analogue of “relationship” in indi-
vidual therapy and provides a sense of
“we-ness.”
It reflects the attractiveness of the group for
its members and is a necessary precondition
for effective group therapy.

26. Existential Factors
Development of meaning from experience,
involving such areas as the importance of
assuming personal responsibility, and
recognizing that life can be unfair and
unjust.

27. Personal Characteristics
Group work leaders must be aware of self
and be able to use self as instrument of
positive change.
Knowledge of self includes awareness of
one’s own:
Personal strengths
Personal weaknesses
Biases
Values
Stimulus value (effects on others)

28. Ethical Issues
Knowledge of professional ethics is critically
important (e.g., ACA Code of Ethics and
Standards of Practice).
Knowledge of ethics particular to group
work practice is essential.

29. Ethical concerns particularly
important in group work include:
Confidentiality implications
Voluntary participation
Imposition of leader values
Coercion and pressure
Equitable treatment of members
Leaving a group
Dual relationships techniques
Goal development
Termination and follow-up

30. Group Development
Group development refers to the
progressive evolution of a group generally
expected as being normative.
Over 100 models of group development
exist and most are sequential or cyclical in
nature.
Models help to predict, plan, and guide, but
any particular group may not conform
closely to any one model.

31. A “generic” model of group development
includes at least the following stages:
Group Formation
Control
Work
Termination

32. The Group Formation stage involves
working on the group’s
purposes and goals,
security,
trust,
inclusion,
dependency, and
orientation.

33. The Group Formation stage is sometimes
known to as the Orientation Stage.
The Orientation Stage includes determi-
nation and conveyance of the nature and
structure of the particular group and
members getting acquainted with one
another, exploring each other’s expec-
tations, and generally becoming involved
in the group.

34. The Control Stage involves working
on the group’s
regulation,
conflict,
power, and
organization.

35. The Control Stage is sometimes known
as the Transition Stage.
The Transition Stage often involves
group members “testing” each other
and the group leader, with associated
conflict, resistance, confrontation, and
attempts to dominate among group
members.

36. The Work Stage involves working on
the group’s
open communication,
cohesion,
interdependence,
problem solving,
productivity, and
data flow.

37. The Work Stage is sometimes known
as the Action Stage.
The Action Stage is characterized by
developing cohesiveness and (psycholog-
ical) intimacy among group members
and by productivity and movement
toward the group’s goals and purposes.

38. The Termination stage involves working
on the group’s
integration,
application,
evaluation and summing-up,
unfinished business,
disengagement,
saying good-bye, and
closing.

39. The Termination Stage is sometimes
known as the Completion Stage.
The Completion Stage involves term-
ination of the group’s work, including
attending to a wide variety of group
member emotions that may be asso-
ciated with ending the group.

40. The most valuable resource for a group is
its members. Understanding them and
utilizing their experience and contribu-
tions is essential.
Positive group member roles include those as
client,
helper,
model, and/or
reality checker.

41. Members in counseling, psychotherapy,
and psychoeducation groups are seeking
help and assistance through group parti-
cipation. They profess a desire to change
or to develop.
Members can help each other by giving
feedback, sharing experiences, and model-
ing effective interactions. Doing so can also
help them gain self-understanding and pro-
mote growth and change.

42. Members can demonstrate through their atti-
tude and behavior effective ways to perceive,
think, and act, thereby assisting other members
to grow and change.
Members can serve to provide each other with
guidance about feasibility and appropriateness
of goals and actions through providing feed-
back, raising issues of implementation, and
serving as a “sounding board.”

43. Negative group member roles include
those as
monopolizer,
resister,
silent one,
withdrawer,
intellectualizer,
joker,
manipulator, and/or
attacker.

44. The advantages of group work include
Economy of Approach
Interpersonal Power
Effectiveness

45. The Economy of Approach advantage
is that
group work is cost effective be-
cause several people can be worked
with simultaneously by one or two
leaders as opposed to working with
each one separately.

46. The Interpersonal Power advantage is
that
the group structure is set up naturally to
harness the interactions of each other and
associated interpersonal power. Interper-
sonal power is attuned to many problems
and needs where viewpoints and involve-
ment of others is important, such as im-
proving team functioning or helping mem-
bers with a significant personal problem.

47. The Effectiveness advantage is that
group work has been shown to be an
effective and efficacious approach to
providing help.
Researchers have demonstrated that
group therapy, for example, is at least as
effective an approach as individual
therapy and, in some cases, more helpful.

48. The disadvantages of group work include
Organizing the Group
Misapplication of Group Work Types
Complexity
Acceptance

49. The Organizing the Group disadvantage
is that
establishing groups and a group pro-
gram poses many challenges, such as
finding needed resources, designing the
group, insufficient skill training of staff,
assigning members to groups, and
scheduling.

50. The Misapplication of Group Work
Types disadvantage is that
sometimes the group method is not ap-
propriate at all, but other methods (e.g.,
individual) are, while at other times, the
wrong group work methodology might be
applied (e.g., using group counseling in a
work setting to attempt to produce im-
proved productivity).

51. The Complexity of Performing Group
Work disadvantage is that
group work is a challenging task that
requires group work training, supervised
experience, and effective and appropriate
application of knowledge and skills to the
presenting situation. The complexity
increases in proportion to group size and
difficulty of issues being addressed.

52. The Acceptance of Group Work
disadvantage is that
group work tends to lag in terms of
acceptance by colleagues and the public.
It is too often still perceived as a “second
class” intervention that is far too diffi-
cult to implement.

53. Recruiting and Screening strategies are
very important for counseling, psycho-
therapy and psychoeducation groups.
Prospective members may be obtained
through recruitment and marketing methods.
BUT, the group must be explained
accurately and attractively in them.
Recruiting can occur through dissemination
of fliers, postings, announcements in media,
direct personal appeal, referral from case
loads, and other ways--if done ethically.

54. Screening is the process through which
the group leader determines before the
group is started who is suitable to par-
ticipate in the group.
The goal of screening is to appropriately
match the group with prospective mem-
bers.
Informed consent for participation in
a group is always necessary.

55. Presenting Informed Consent informa-
tion about the group should include
description of
Goals and methods
Leader qualifications
Time commitments
Meeting location
Expectations
Fees (if any)
Confidentiality

56. Member goals, past experience with
groups and counseling, assessment of
functioning, expectations for group,
interest in participating, contrain-
dicated factors (e.g., actively psychotic,
homicidal or suicidal, or no social
interest), and fit with time demands of
group are all important considerations
to be discussed in the Informed Con-
sent process.

57. Group leaders and members should
understand the importance of evaluat-
ing group performance and member
progress, methods for evaluation ac-
complishment, and how to use data to
improve group and group leader
performance.

58. Group process and outcome evaluation
are concerned with how the group is
functioning (process) and with its ef-
fectiveness in promoting group and
member goals (outcome).

59. Member evaluation should be focused on how
members are involved (process) and on mem-
bers’ goal accomplishment (outcomes).
Examples of process evaluation include as-
sessment of members’ levels of participation
or satisfaction with group.
Examples of outcome evaluation include as-
sessment of perceptions of group effective-
ness and behavior change.

60. The core competency skills for group
work are to:
Encourage member participation
Observe and identify group processes
Attend to and acknowledge member behavior
Clarify and summarize member statements
Open and close sessions
Impart information in the group
Model effective group leader behavior
Engage in appropriate self-disclosure
Give and receive feedback
continued

61. Core skill competencies continued
Ask open-ended questions
Empathize with group members
Confront members’ behavior
Help members attribute meaning to their
experience
Help members integrate and apply learning
Demonstrate ethical and professional
standards
Keep group on task for accomplishing goals

62. In group work, the group leader can
encourage member participation and
involvement by
Maintaining eye contact
Asking open-ended questions
Using encouraging responses
Modeling effective in-group behaviors
Extending sensitive invitations to talk

63. Group process involves the events that
occur within group sessions or meetings,
with a focus on how participants inter-
act with one another and/or the group
work leader.
Group process complements group
content, the latter focusing on what
participants discuss in the group.

64. Group process skills include the group
leader attending to
Participation
Influence
Decision making
Task functions
Maintenance functions
Group Atmosphere
Membership
Feelings
Norms
continued

65. Group process skills continued
Quantity of verbal involvement
Who talks to whom
High participators
Low participators
Shifts in participation

66. Influence is concerned with the effects of
participation. It is evaluated by the group
leader addressing questions such as:
Who in the group seems influential?
Who in the group seems low in influence?
How do other members respond to high and
low influence group members?
Are there shifts in influence during the group
process?
Are conflicts present?

67. The group leader must also attend to how
decisions are made in the group, including
processes such as
Majority vote
Consensus building
“Railroading” by one member or by a
small subgroup of members
“Ignoring” some group members’ input
Maintaining focus or wandering across
topics

68. The task functions in a group are focused
on goal accomplishment, staying focused,
and getting the job done.
The task functions are accomplished by
attending to questions such as:
How are suggestions made? By whom?
Are summaries provided? By whom?
Who keeps the group on target?
Who asks for necessary information?
Who provides necessary information?

69. The maintenance functions are intended
to promote cohesion and harmony in the
group by attending to human relations
and working relationships.
The maintenance functions are accomplished
by attending to questions such as:
What is quality of listening? Who does
and who doesn’t listen?
How is support provided? By whom?
Who helps others get into discussions?
Is help provided to members?

70. Group atmosphere refers to the general
“personality” of the group, i.e., its
climate.
Evaluating the group atmosphere involves ad-
dressing questions such as:
How do members describe the group or
refer to its characteristics?
Does the group seem supportive? Hostile?
Warm? Cold? Productive? Inef-
ficient? Active? Passive? Strong?
Weak?

71. Membership is concerned with member
inclusion and exclusion in the group and
with patterns of interaction.
“Level” of membership in the group is eval-
uated by addressing questions such as:
Is there sub-grouping? Who is involved?
Is anyone “outside” the group? How are
they treated?
Are there “in” members? What is the
effects of this situation?

72. Feelings are an important part of all
group life. They reflect the “emotional
climate” of the group.
The feelings in the group are evaluated by
addressing questions such as:
What level of attention to feelings is justified?
What signs of affect are present (e.g.,
anger, frustration, or excitement)?
Is expression of feelings encouraged or
blocked?
How appropriately are feelings being dealt
with?

73. Norms are expectations, ground rules, and
standards that emerge through inter-
action in the group and may promote or
hinder the group and be either under-
stood by group members or outside of
their awareness.
Group norms are evaluated by addressing
questions such as:
Are certain issues avoided?
Are members overly polite?
Do members talk about norms?

74. Attending to and acknowledging mem-
ber behavior can serve as a potent en-
courager and reinforcer of desirable
group members’ behaviors.
Clarifying and summarizing state-
ments can help members to organize
information and make it more under-
standable, thus alleviating the impact
of members’ statements that are
confusing and lead to “overload.”

75. Opening and closing sessions effectively
is important for getting work started
and for concluding it (or for linking it to
the future).
Imparting information is an important
skill and represents a therapeutic
factor through which members can
learn from information provided,
especially in psychoeducation groups.

76. Leaders can assist member growth and
change by demonstrating and modeling
appropriate and effective behaviors,
such as self-disclosure, asking open-
ended questions, and feedback.
Self-disclosure is generally understood as
a critically important type of information
sharing in personal change groups; lead-
ers should model effective and appropri-
ate self-disclosure to members.

77. Open-ended questions (often beginning
with What or How…?) are preferred in
group work because they invite fuller
responses.
Closed-ended questions invite brief
replies and do not encourage self-
disclosure or feedback.

78. Feedback also is generally accepted as a
fundamental part of personal change
group work.
Leaders can help members learn the value
of feedback by demonstrating how to give
and invite feedback from others.
Note that cultural sensitivity needs to ac-
company expectations about self-disclosure
because it is not valued in some cultures.

79. The following are guidelines for giving
feedback to group members:
Be descriptive not judgmental.
Be specific not general.
Be immediate, not historical.
Give positive feedback first.
Be tentative, not conclusive.

80. Being empathic with group members
forges a connection, showing them that
the leader genuinely understands and
cares for them.
Demonstration of empathy by leaders
is especially important in the personal
change groups of psychoeducation,
counseling, and psychotherapy.

81. Confronting, i.e., addressing discrep-
ancies in a member’s behavior, assists in
helping members to better understand
themselves and to grow and change.
Confronting does not mean attacking,
being hostile, or aggressive. Rather, it is a
constructive intervention that leaders can
learn and apply with positive results in
group work.

82. Group Leader Functions
Attribution of meaning involves helping
members to connect an emotional exper-
ience with cognitive understanding, some-
times called, “making sense of experi-
ence.”
Caring involves communicating to
group members that the leader has
empathy for them individually and
collectively.

83. Emotional stimulation is a leader function
that occurs when the leader catalyzes the
groups’ “energy” to help move the group
forward towards its goals.
The group leader’s executive function
involves management and timing. It
enables the group leader to help the group
to maintain its focus and to continue to
make progress towards its goals.

84. Group members need to integrate and
apply their learning in groups.
Integration involves connecting aware-
ness, concepts, and skills gotten from the
group to the respective members’ pre-
existing repertoires.
Applying learning means transferring
what was learned from the group situa-
tion to the “outside” world.

85. All groups have goals and the leader
should use executive functioning to help
group keep focused on its goals, i.e., to re-
main “on task.”
Keeping the group in the “here-and-now”
is important leader function in the attempt
to stay on task; that is, to not allow the
group to wander to past or external con-
siderations.

86. Types of Groups
Task groups: to improve or resolve production
and performance related to work.
Psychoeducation groups: to impart infor-
mation and skills.
Counseling groups: to help members cope
and adapt to problems of living.
Psychotherapy groups: to reduce emo-
tional or psychological dysfunction in
members.

87. Similarities of Types
Leadership is based on same set of core group
work competencies.
All seek to provide help and reach goals.
All involve member interaction and
leader guidance.
All utilize basic group processes.

88. Differences of Types
Task groups focus on work performance.
Psychoeducation groups are educational
and usually very structured.
Counseling groups are developmentally-
oriented and seek to improve coping
with “normal” adjustment issues.
Psychotherapy groups are remediation-
oriented and seek to reduce psycho-
pathology.

89. Task groups are conducted to enhance
or resolve performance and production
goals in work groups.
The task group leader functions as a
facilitator, using group collaborative
problem solving, team building,
program development consultation,
and/or system change strategies.

90. Group leaders need to understand organ-
izational dynamics (i.e., how organizations
function) because task groups often occur
within organizations, such as business set-
tings, schools, religious institutions, and as-
sociations.
Understanding community dynamics also
is important for group leaders because
task groups often occur within commun-
ities and neighborhoods.

91. Political dynamics, such as power and
influence in organizations and com-
munities, are important for task group
leaders to understand because task
groups usually are part of a larger
political system.
Task group leaders frequently use stand-
ard group discussion methods to guide
interaction, methods that often follow a
general problem-solving approach.

92. All ethical principles associated with
group work are relevant to task groups.
Specific considerations are concerned
with maintaining a task/work focus
rather than a personal focus and with
keeping a connection between the work
of the task group and the larger organ-
ization of which it is a part.

93. Program development and evaluation know-
ledge is critically important for task group
leaders.
Steps in a typical program evaluation plan
apply in this context also:
Define the problem
Set the objective
Choose among alternate strategies
Prepare for implementation
Design the evaluation
Use evaluative information.

94. Knowledge of consultation principles and
approaches is necessary for task group
leaders because:
Consulting often occurs in order to
develop task groups within an or-
ganization or community
Task groups are frequently part of an
on-going organizational consultation
project.
Task groups and process consultation
are highly synchronous.

95. The consultation knowledge and skills
areas with which task group leaders
should be familiar include those associ-
ated with
Human interaction processes
Communication processes
Functional roles of group members
Group norms
Leadership and authority
Intergroup processes
continued

96. Consultation knowledge and skills continued
Collaboration
Establishing contact and defining the
relationship
Selecting a setting and method of work
Data gathering
Intervention (including agenda-setting,
observation, feedback, coaching
structural suggestions, evaluation of
results, and disengagement).

97. The focus on task and work is a distinguishing
feature of task groups.
Leaders collaborate with members to set goals
and agenda and to develop on-going moni-
toring procedures to keep the group on task.
Human relations are critical supports in task
groups, but are not the predominant focus.

98. Clear goals are essential to task groups
and the goals should be specific, attain-
able, performance-based, measurable,
and observable.
Leaders help members to define goals
that are production and performance-
based, rather than related directly to
personal change.

99. Task group leaders need to mobilize mem-
ber energy and resources to accomplish
previously established goals.
Involving members in goal creation and
planning for goal accomplishment is an
important motivational approach.
Attending to human relations dimensions
also provides a critical source for mem-
ber energy mobilization.

100. Task group leaders need to provide
decision-making options clearly and to
to define their relative advantages and
disadvantages:
Task group leaders need to help members
understand that group life naturally
involves conflict, to teach members how
conflict fits developmentally into group
functioning, and to help members
recognize when conflict is obvious and/or
when it is present but not obvious.

101. Effective leaders help members to under-
stand how positive human relations are
essential to task group success.
Leaders must continually attend to hu-
man processes and human relations be-
cause group members will tend to avoid
them in favor of the task or avoiding the
task.

102. Process observation and feedback are
crucial leader skills in task groups.
Process observation should focus on
level of participation, influence, feelings,
decision-making, task maintenance,
group climate, membership, and norms.
Feedback needs to be specific, immedi-
ate, descriptive, behavioral, and pre-
sented first, with a focus on positive
elements and always in a tentative, non-
authoritarian manner.

103. Task groups usually are not independent
entities, but are part of a larger organ-
izational system.
Therefore, leaders must be sensitive to
the larger organizational and political
system.
Task group activities must be kept in
balance with the larger system.

104. Psychoeducation groups feature trans-
mission, discussion, and integration of
factual information and skill building
through the use of semi-structured
exercises and group process.
Psychoeducation groups often are fo-
cused on prevention, which means stop-
ping from happening or reducing the
likelihood that something bad will
happen.

105. Primary prevention is a “before-the-
fact” intervention intended to reduce
incidence or occurrence of new
problems.
Being “at risk” is an important prevention
concept that means a person is likely to
have something bad happen to him or her.

106. Being “at risk” exists on a continuum
ranging from low risk potential to high
risk potential.
The lower risk levels are associated
most closely with primary prevention.
However, psychoeducation groups can
be conducted with people anywhere
along the continuum.

107. Psychoeducation groups typically involve
instructing or delivering information to
members and developing skills.
Sessions are designed systematically to
disseminate information clearly and in an
organized manner, and to build skills.
Links among goals, methods, strategies,
activities, delivery, and evaluation are
vital for effective psychoeducation
groups.

108. The psychoeducation group leader needs
to be particularly knowledgeable of the
content for the group.
Research and concepts in the applicable
area (e.g., substance abuse or social
problem solving) need to be mastered and
then that mastery drawn upon appropri-
ately within the group.

109. Psychoeducation group leaders need
good skills to obtain (i.e., select and
recruit) members, particularly when
potential group members are “at
risk.”
Knowledge of epidemiological tech-
niques, social indicators, demographic
profiles, life transitions, human and
system development, and social mark-
eting can all be helpful.

110. Knowledge of human development over
the life span, augmented by knowledge of
human diversity, contributes strongly to
effective psychoeducation group leader-
ship.
Human development must be understood
ecologically, including knowledge of im-
portant contexts such as environment.

111. Effective application of principles of struc-
ture are fundamental to psychoeducation
groups.
Leaders need to know how to design a (at
least semi-) structured group experience
from beginning to ending session.
Leaders also need to know how to struc-
ture each session (e.g., goals-methods-
roles) as well as how to use structured
exercises within sessions.

112. When psychoeducation groups are used
for prevention, the concept of empower-
ment is especially important.
Empowerment refers to group mem-
bers’ self-perception that they are cap-
able and in control, that their life con-
dition is not whimsical, and that they
are powerful shapers of their own
destinies.

113. Special ethical considerations revolve
around privacy issues in psychoeduc-
ation groups.
When prospective members currently
unaffected by a disorder (i.e., who are
“healthy” or at low risk) are recruited,
care must be given to not be invasive of
their privacy.

114. Another ethical concern revolves around
attending to unique needs of members.
Psychoeducation groups can easily become
over-structured and unbalanced, resulting
in excessive information delivery.
Except when intended and understood
by all, unique member needs can be-
come ignored through “information
overload.”

115. Effective leaders know the advantages
(e.g., that they are focused, informative,
skill-development-based, efficient, and
have preventive potential) and disad-
vantages (e.g., that they can minimize
group process human relations or mem-
ber participation) of psychoeducation
groups.

116. Leaders develop ideas for a psychoedu-
cation group from literature reviews and
local (needs) assessments.
Topics appropriate for a psychoeduca-
tion group (e.g., transition from middle
to high school) should match the local
needs, resources, and situation.

117. Psychoeducation group leaders plan
their groups best by including input
and/or involvement of “target”
population members.
Sometimes representative members of
the “target” population are included
in planning the group.

118. Counseling groups are conducted by
group counselors to improve coping
with problems of living by focusing on
interpersonal problem solving, inter-
active feedback, and support methods
within a here-and-now framework.
Group counselors need to understand the ma-
jor personality and counseling theoretical ap-
proaches for group counseling, such as
Psycho-dynamic, Behavioral,
Transpersonal, Cognitive-Behavioral, and

119. Advantages of group counseling include
its interpersonal orientation, generation
of therapeutic conditions, support,
problem-solving, cost-savings, and de-
velopment of interpersonal learning.
Disadvantages of group counseling in-
clude difficulties in organizing groups
and obtaining individual assistance,
and threats to confidentiality.

120. Knowledge of interpersonal dynamics
is essential for group counselors.
The most important interpersonal
dynamics in this regard include:
Group processes (e.g., participation
levels and task and maintenance
behaviors ).
Therapeutic factors (e.g., instillation of
hope and altrusim).
Feedback and self-disclosure behaviors.

121. Because counseling groups are most
often used to resolve interpersonal
problems, knowledge of problem-
solving steps is important:
Identify the problem
Set goals
Consider and choose a strategy
Implement the strategy
Evaluate the success the strategy

122. Because group counseling is an inter-
personal activity, effective assessment of
interpersonal phenomena is important.
Capacity to engage with others as well
as interpersonal needs for inclusion,
control, and openness are examples of
important interpersonal dimensions to
assess.

123. Group counselors also need to under-
stand when and how to make referrals
and have a referral resource list from
which to draw.
Referral may be necessary during selec-
tion or during the course of the group,
such as when the group topic is not
relevant to a potential member’s needs or
when the level of functioning needed is
beyond skill of group counselor.

124. When forming a counseling group, the
counselor must seek to create a match
between the group and prospective mem-
bers.
The group’s goals and expectations and
individual group members’ level of func-
tioning, availability, and motivation
should be considered in this matching
process.

125. Prospective members of counseling
groups may be obtained through referral
from case loads or through recruitment
and marketing.
Counselors should explore goals, level of
functioning, expectations, motivation,
and obtain informed consent during the
group formation process.

126. Group counselors should be able to rec-
ognize self-defeating behaviors of clients
during their participation in the group,
and note relationships between professed
goals and actual behaviors.
Group counselors also should become
adept at observing agreements and dis-
crepancies between verbal and nonverb-
al behavior.

127. Group counselors should be able to de-
velop reasonable hypotheses about the
meaning(s) of nonverbal behavior.
They also should be able to work with
nonverbal behavior and to be sensitive to
individual and cultural differences.

128. Group counselors should be able to con-
duct interventions that are consistent and
appropriate with a group’s stage of de-
velopment and with member’s develop-
mental progress.
For example, certain leader interven-
tions appropriate at the Forming stage
of a group might not be appropriate at
the Working stage.

129. Counseling groups often experience con-
flict and other incidents that might be-
come significant impediments to the pro-
gress of the group.
Counseling groups also may some-
times have members who behave ex-
cessively or inappropriately.
continued

130. For example, they may be demanding
or under the influence of a substance or
they may monopolize, withdraw, fight,
flirt, walk out, or threaten.
These “critical incidents” should be
anticipated and responded to by leaders
with sensitivity and skill, capturing the
moment to allow the group to maintain
itself and to move ahead.

131. Group counselors should learn how to
use major strategies, techniques, and
procedures that are consistent with
their (personal) conceptual framework
and with the group situation.
Such activities might include use of self-
disclosure, feedback, confrontation,
modeling, or skills training.

132. Group counselors should know how to
help members transfer their learning
from the group to their lives outside the
group.
Relating group events and experiences to
the “real world” is very important, in-
cluding helping members to integrate and
apply learning and to try out small
changes first.

133. Group counselors also can help mem-
bers generalize group learning.
Useful techniques in this regard include
making use of assigned homework,
viewing videotapes in the group, role
playing, or keeping journals.

134. Co-leadership in a counseling group is a
desirable, and often preferred, model
because it provides another role model
for members, a support resource for
each leader, a “built-in” capacity for
leader processing, and safety.
Functional co-leadership requires a
good initial match of leaders and main-
tenance of an open and sharing working
relationship between them.

135. Counseling groups, like other groups,
need to be assessed and evaluated for
their on-going and overall effectiveness.
Leaders can collect relevant data
during sessions, at the end of sessions,
or using a pre-and post-test design.
The data should be used to help the group
to progress and to determine its value to
each member.

136. Psychotherapy groups are conducted by
therapists to reduce psychological and/or
emotional dysfunction through explora-
tion of the antecedents to current be-
havior by using intrapersonal and inter-
personal assessment, diagnosis, and inter-
pretation and connecting historical mater-
ial with the present.

137. Clients with diagnosed or diagnosable
dysfunctions are very suitable for group
psychotherapy.
Therefore, for psychotherapy group
leaders, knowledge of abnormal behavior
is essential because members enter the
group with varying levels of dysfunction.

138. In addition, leaders of psychotherapy
groups must understand not only
current abnormal behavior, but also
how abnormal behavior develops.
Therefore, knowledge of psychopath-
ology and its relationship to normal and
abnormal human development is neces-
sary.

139. Knowing the relationship of personality
theory to group psychotherapy also is
important for psychotherapy group
leaders.
Therefore, they must possess a thorough
understanding of human development
and personality development.

140. Leaders of psychotherapy groups also
must know crisis theory and its relation-
ships to helping and to group psycho-
therapy.
In psychotherapy groups, crises may
arise with some regularity, but they
can provide opportunities for the
leader to promote change.

141. Knowledge of Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual (IV) of the American Psychiatric
Association is important for psychother-
apy group leaders.
This knowledge is useful to assess pro-
spective clients in relation to DSM-IV
categories and to integrate assessment
data with criteria for group member
selection.

142. Special screening attention needs to be
given by psychotherapy group leaders
to selecting group members who could
benefit from group.
Group members included can be those
from a wide spectrum of psychological
and emotional disturbance.
However, those with poor reality contact
or character disorders are not good cand-
idates for group psychotherapy.

143. Self-defeating behaviors of many unique
kinds can be experienced in psychother-
apy groups.
Therefore, leaders need to be able to
manage behaviors that are antagonistic
to a member’s needs and/or goals, repre-
sent an extreme dysfunction, or heighten
liability.

144. Intervening in critical incidents within a
psychotherapy group could involve situa-
tions that are at higher risk than in other
forms of group work.
At times, these critical incidents may
include crises or emergencies that require
direct leader intervention.

145. Disruptive members in psychotherapy
groups can evidence dramatically
pronounced expression of behavior.
These more obvious and extreme dis-
ruptions may require direct (perhaps
even physical) intervention on the part
of the leader to manage the member’s
behavior and the group itself.

146. Hospitalization may sometimes be neces-
sary for a member of a psychotherapy
group and therefore leaders must know
procedures for instituting hospitalization,
should that be necessary.
Transfer of learning may require in-
creased support, gradated trials, and
repeated attempts in psychotherapy
groups .

147. Assessment procedures for evaluation in
psychotherapy groups may need to be
focused more closely than in other groups
on the individual’s accomplishment of
gradated goals.
Assessment of psychotherapy group
member contributions is often concern-
ed with modest gains.

148. BEST PRACTICES
IN GROUP WORK
Guidelines for Effective and
Appropriate Group Leadership

149. “Best Practices” in group work are
activities, strategies, and interventions
that are consistent and current with
effective and appropriate professional,
ethical, and community standards.
Best Practices encompass:
Planning
Performing
Processing

150. Planning is the part of group lead-
ership that occurs primarily before
the group begins, but also con-
tinues throughout the group pro-
cess.

151. Professional Context for Planning
Effective group work leadership includes
adherence to the ACA Code of Ethics and
Standards of Practice, as well as adherence to
other applicable professional standards.
Effective group work necessitates that the
leader have appropriate and pertinent cre-
dentials, such as being an National Certified
Counselor (NCC) and having graduated from a
program accredited by CACREP (or its
equivalent).

152. Professional Context for Planning
Effective group work leaders are
affiliated with professional associa-
tions such as the American Counsel-
ing Association and its group work
emphasis division, the Association for
Specialists in Group Work.
Effective group work also needs to fit
within the values, norms, and general
practices of the local community.

153. Professional Context for Planning
Group work offered through an agency
needs to be consistent with the agency’s
mission, philosophy, and general practice.
Any group work offered through an
agency needs support of its staff to
assist in resource allocation, referrals,
and involvement.

154. Conceptual Underpinnings for Planning
Counselors who desire to perform group
work leadership need to value the power
and promise of group work, and to help
colleagues and clients to accept its value.
Group workers need to define their scope of
practice, based on (a) self-knowledge, (b)
knowledge and training in group work, (c)
type of group, and (d) a needs assessment for
the group.

155. Conceptual Underpinnings for Planning
Because group work is not an individual
service, a group, interpersonal, and system
perspective is necessary for group work to
be effective.
Group work leader knowledge of personal
values, strengths, and limitations is critic-
ally important.

156. Conceptual Underpinnings for Planning
Group work leader knowledge of personality
and counseling theories also is important.
However, because these theories were devel-
oped primarily with reference to individ-
uals, they must be adapted to group work.
Development of an interpersonal and inter-
active framework for group leadership is
essential.

157. Ecological Assessment for Planning
Assessment data provide a basis for de-
signing and/or choosing if group work is
the appropriate method to use.
Ecological assessment is comprehensive
and addresses the cultural, demographic,
economic, political, social, health, and
psychological needs of prospective
members and is matched to an appro-
priate group methodology.

158. Ecological Assessment for Planning
The comprehensive nature of ecolog-
ical assessment allows for data to con-
verge from several vantage points.
Importance should be placed on
understanding the broad culture of
the community.

159. Ecological Assessment for Planning
Methods for ecological assessment
include:
Community surveys
Interviews of individuals
Focus groups
Key informants
Demographic analysis
Social indicators
Case findings

160. Ecological Assessment for Planning
Planning for group also should utilize
information from a variety of profes-
sional resources such as:
Textbooks
Journal articles
Scholarly presentations
Professional meetings
Dissertation abstracts
The World Wide Web

161. Program Development for Planning
Prior to beginning the group work,
significant attention should be given to
the group’s goals, methods, themes,
interventions, conceptual framework,
leader qualifications, marketing, and
recruiting and screening.
All the essential components of the
group work should be addressed before
the group process begins.

162. Program Development for Planning
Session-by-session planning also is very
important and should include develop-
ment of:
Session goal(s)
Methods/Activities
Time for each activity
Leader responsibilities
Resources needed
Processing of activity
Summarization

163. Program Evaluation for Planning
Evaluation of the group helps to keep it on
track and to determine if its goals were
reached.
Regular or periodic monitoring of mem-
ber satisfaction (i.e., process evaluation)
is always useful.
Evaluation of effectiveness and goal ac-
complishment (i.e., summative evalua-
tion) is always recommended.

164. Resources for Planning
First to be determined is whether a single
leader or co-leaders are appropriate.
Co-leadership has the advantage of providing
mutual and continuing support, access to feed-
back, and sharing of responsibilities.
If co-leaders are used, they must be carefully
selected for compatibility and attention
should be given to their working
relationship.

165. Meeting Space Planning
The meeting space for group work should
be selected carefully and ideally should
Be roomy and comfortable
Afford privacy and confidentiality
Have movable furniture
Be consistently available
Be convenient
Have any necessary resources

166. Marketing and Recruitment Planning
In order for group work to be feasible,
member recruitment and marketing
must be done ethically.
Available resources, such as personal
contacts, public media, or the Internet,
should be used as is appropriate.

167. Funding Planning
Funding must be available to support
group work offerings, including monies
for materials and supplies and for sup-
port of professional development for
group work leaders.
Member payment obligations and plans,
if any, should be operationalized (e.g., by
an insurance company or “out of pocket”)
before the group work begins.

168. Professional Disclosure Planning
Use of a Professional Disclosure Statement
is always desirable and sometimes re-
quired by state statute through licensure
laws.
A professional disclosure statement serves
to inform prospective group members and
the general public of group leader’s qual-
ifications.

169. Professional Disclosure Planning
A professional disclosure statement
should include the group work leader’s
Scope of practice
Licenses and certifications
Specific training for group work
Specific experience in group work
Fees for services

170. Preparing Group Members Planning
Preparation of group members for parti-
cipation is very important for all group
work, but especially so for personal
change groups such as psychoeducation,
counseling, and psychotherapy groups.
Member preparation involves Screening,
Informed Consent, and Ethical consider-
ations.

171. Preparing Group Members Planning
Screening is concerned with the idea that
the group is appropriate for each poten-
tial member.
Counseling and therapy groups generally
require screening whereas psychoeduca-
tion and task groups may not need
screening and/or may use intact groups.

172. Screening Planning
Screening is intended to insure that
each group member
is a match with the group’s goals.
is a match with expectations for the group.
is a match with group availability and
schedule.
has an appropriate level of psychological and
emotional functioning.
can become involved interpersonally.
has appropriate social interest in the group.

173. Informed Consent Planning
Prospective members need to provide informed
consent for their participation in (at least)
counseling or psychotherapy groups.
The informed consent process should be
focused on:
Group goals
Techniques and activities
Leader qualifications
Leader and member responsibilities

174. Confidentiality Planning
During screening, and throughout the
group, leaders need to help members
understand confidentiality and its limits.
Confidentiality in groups cannot be
guaranteed, but it is a fundamental
tenet for effective group work.

175. Confidentiality Planning
Limits to confidentiality include need to
report danger to self and/or others or
child or elder abuse or neglect, court-
ordered reporting, and necessary re-
porting to managed care companies for
insurance purposes.
“What is said in the group needs to remain in
the group,” is an important general concept,
except when limits are activated.

176. Professional Development Planning
Group leaders must continually pursue
professional development in order to
keep competencies current and sharp.
Reading, workshop participation,
writing, taking courses, attending
conference presentations, and
professional supervision are common
examples of effective professional
development activities.

177. Trends Planning
Group work leaders must keep abreast
of changes in the world around them.
For example, mental health services,
including group services, are increas-
ingly affected by managed care policies
and procedures.
Group work services may fit particu-
larly well within managed care due to
economy and effectiveness.

178. Trends Planning
Cultural, ethnic, age, sexual orientation,
and racial changes demand that group
leaders increase their understanding
and sensitivity to multicultural and
diversity issues and practices.
Group leaders also must attend to
rapid changes in technology, including
use of computers and the Internet.

179. Performing is the part of group
leadership that involves the appli-
cation of the group work plan in an
effective and appropriate man-ner
in order to positively affect group
members and reach group and
individual member goals.

180. Performing
A first rule of performing effectively is
to know oneself, including personal
strengths and areas in need of improve-
ment.
Group work leaders who perform
effectively participate in each group
as a member seeking self-learning and
improvement.

181. Performing
Effective group work leaders deliver
group work competencies (i.e., know-
ledge and skills) effectively and effici-
ently.
Effective group work leaders also adapt
the group plan so that it fits the situa-
tional needs of each group session.

182. Performing
Effective group work leaders rely
upon previously tested and validated
models for group process, even
though no group perfectly fits a
model.
Noting what happens in and during a
group provides leaders with important
data to inform and guide their inter-
ventions.

183. Performing
Effective group work leaders create
therapeutic conditions that enhance group
functioning and movement toward group
goals.
These factors include universality, instillation
of hope, imparting of information, altruism,
corrective recapitulation of primary family
group, socializing techniques, imitative
behavior, interpersonal learning, group
cohesiveness, catharsis, and existential factors.

184. Performing
Effective group work leaders choose
interventions intentionally and with
care after considering alternatives.
Consideration is given to:
intervention level (individual, inter
personal, group)
intervention type (conceptual, ex
periential, structural)
intended intensity (high, medium,
low)

185. Performing
Effective group work leaders focus on
events and experiences occurring pre-
sently and try to help members bring
past or outside events into the present
discussion.
Meaning attribution skills are used to
help members learn from group events
by converting their experiential learn-
ing into cognitive learning.

186. Performing
Collaboration between group leaders
and members is important for satisfac-
tion and success for all.
Leaders are the experts in group work,
but the group members are the experts
on their own lives and experiences.

187. Performing
Effective group work leaders are
intentional about valuing diversity
and being responsive to it.
The acronym “RESPECTFUL”
provides a way to remember
diversity factors to which attention
should be given.
continued

188. RESPECTFUL
Religious/spiritual identity
Ethnic identity
Sexual identity
Psychological identity
Economic class standing
Chronological challenges
Threats to one’s well being
Family history
Unique physical characteristics
Location of residence

189. Processing is the part of group
work leadership that involves
leaders meeting after sessions to
evaluate what occurred during the
preceding session, to derive mean-
ing, to consider any impact on
future sessions, and to guide the
group forward productively.

190. Processing
Processing allows leaders to share and
compare, draw meaning from events
and experiences, and to make appro-
priate adjustments.
During before-session processing, leaders
are concerned with preparation, the link
between goals and strategies, the match
between plan and development of group
and members, and clarity of leader roles.

191. Processing
During after-session processing, leaders
focus on what happened, assessing member
and leader behavior and effectiveness,
drawing meaning, and making adjustments
for the future.
Reflective practice is based on “learning
from experience” and involves analyzing
experience and practice, drawing meaning
from it, and applying learning appropri-
ately and effectively to new situations.

192. Processing
Reflective practice can be enhanced by
such strategies as (a) between-session
processing, (b) keeping session journ-
als, (c) reviewing session and evalua-
tion results, and (d) critiquing video
tapes.
Processing during reflective practice
can be of two general types: pragmatic
processing or deep processing.

193. Processing
Pragmatic processing involves noting and
describing without interpretation the
events and experiences occurring within
group sessions (e.g., who talks to whom).
Deep processing involves moving from
pragmatic processing to probe more
intensely the relationship between what
occurred during a session and the leaders’
values, cognition, and affect.

194. This concludes the presentation on
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