Reflection On Foster Care

The group in which I chose to observe was a foster parent support and training group. I work in the field of foster care, so I chose the group carefully to ensure that participators did not know my profession, I had no previous interactions with any of the members in the group, and I announced myself as merely an unbiased observer and was allowed to sit quietly in the back of the group. The participants in this group ranged from kinship families with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even siblings who are caring for children who are placed in their home by the Department of Family and Protective Services. There were also other participants who are not kinships families who are either beginning their journey into foster care or have served
The group that I attended obviously had a group leader who kept the session moving forward; however, she did not appear to be overbearing and in fact it was difficult to tell that she was even the group leader most of the time as there seemed to be an open format. It appears that not being a member of the group, I did not receive the email that group members continued to refer to which announced the topic for discussion and had a test attached for the training. It appeared that the email ahead of time allowed the group members to have the opportunity to prepare for the session and have their thoughts and questions gathered, which overall appeared to keep everyone on
A study conducted and discussed by Pan and Lin (2004) stated that cohesiveness and instillation of hope were the most important therapeutic factors in a group session. The group that I observed appeared to be cohesive and appeared to give one another hope. This group showed support to their members and addressed any concerns that the member had and discussed ways to address the concerns. The presence of cohesiveness and instillation of hope were evidenced by the group’s demeanor, the verbalized thoughts of hope for the future by some members, and the way that the group supported each other both verbally and physically by hugging one another and giving words of