Week 8: The Beginning Stage

Attending the first meeting of a therapy group can be an intimidating experience. Every member of the group is having difficulties in some area of his or her life and now needs professional help. It does not matter if the group members are voluntary or involuntary; it still can feel scary to share problems with individuals who are essentially strangers. That is why strong leadership at the first meeting is so important. The clinical social worker’s role is to create a safe and comfortable environment for everyone. Using introduction strategies is helpful, but understanding how to assess and handle the uncomfortable situations is critical. This is a time when strong clinical skills are necessary so that certain members do not destroy the cohesion and possible clinical success of the intervention.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze strategies for working with involuntary and/or negative group members
• Analyze strategies for introducing members in a group
• Analyze strategies that encourage group cohesion

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Toseland, R. W., & Rivas, R. F. (2017). An introduction to group work practice (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Chapter 7, “The Group Begins” (pp. 197–230)
Chapter 8, “Assessment” (pp. 230-263)

Schimmel, C. J., & Jacobs, E. (2011). When leaders are challenged: Dealing with involuntary members in groups. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 36(2), 144–158.

Required Media

Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013a). Bradley (Episode 1) [Video file]. In Sessions. Baltimore, MD: Producer. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 2 minutes.
Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload TranscriptCredit: Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.

Recommended Resources

Holosko, M. J., Dulmus, C. N., & Sowers, K. M. (2013). Social work practice with individuals and families: Evidence-informed assessments and interventions. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Chapter 3 “Assessment of Adolescents”
Chapter 4 “Intervention with Adolescents”

Discussion: Involuntary Group Members

Involuntary members have been ordered to attend a group in exchange for some reward. Many times, this is a result of judicial system intervention. Often, these members are not interested in participating and getting to know others. The clinical social worker must understand the potential issues or problems that arise within a group of involuntary members and ways to address these issues. It can be especially difficult to create a sense of empowerment when these members have been mandated to attend.

For this Discussion, pay particular attention to the Schimmel & Jacobs (2011) piece.

Post your description of the strategies for working with involuntary group members presented in the Schimmel & Jacobs (2011) article. Describe ways you agree and/or disagree with their strategies. How might you handle the situations presented in the article differently? Explain ways these strategies promote empowerment.

Respond to a colleague who presents a different point of view on these strategies than you.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:
Week 8 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 5

To participate in this Discussion:
Week 8 Discussion

Assignment: Human Trafficking

Group therapy is one of the most successful interventions for adolescents. This is because of the nature of this stage of development and the need to belong to a group. Hearing the stories of other teens and knowing that their experiences and feelings are similar is very therapeutic. Another characteristic of the adolescent stage is a short attention span, so the clinical social worker should tailor exercises that initiate and sustain discussion for adolescents.

For this Assignment, watch the “Bradley” video.

In a 2- to 4-page paper, identify two opening exercises that you might recommend for a group of adolescent girls who were victims of human trafficking.

• Describe the exercises in detail so that another social worker would be able to implement them.
• Explain ways these exercises might be effective in creating a comfortable environment for these teenage girls.
• Support your rationale with the literature. For example, what does the literature say about teenage girls who have been arrested for prostitution/human trafficking and who openly discuss their experiences?
• How do these exercises promote group cohesion and encourage these teens to talk openly?

Submit your Assignment.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

• Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK8Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
• Click the Week 8 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
• Click the Week 8 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
• Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK8Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
• If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.