Therapy Group Observation
Thurs, 17 Jan 2013 @ 1143 hrs
Group Meeting #1: Norms & Purpose
Our therapy groups were assigned today shortly after the viewing of a film in class. My fellow group members consisted of Bryant, Earl, Stephan and Tracy, and our group was designated with the concept of reality therapy. Our group had several tasks to complete prior to class dismissal. The list of things to complete included: appointing a group facilitator, developing the group purpose and a minimum of 3 norms for the group, setting-up a schedule for member-led exercises, and reading our group theory in Appendix 1.
We started our group session with a short icebreaker as a way for each member to introduce him/herself. We were seated with our seats facing each other in a circle. Initially, some members seemed a bit hesitant to share since we weren’t yet familiar with each other. Their hesitation was obvious in the body language they displayed (arms crossed over their chest, leaning back in chair, etc) and the slow development of discussion at first. The icebreaker seemed effective as each member got to share their name and an embarrassing time in their life. By an informal vote and a democratic method, I was appointed as the group facilitator. The other group members indicated that it seemed that I had some displayed some task specialist skills that they thought might be beneficial to our group. I took on the role somewhat reluctantly.
Through group sharing we were able to relax and work towards the tasks we were given to complete. As asked by the instructor, we developed a group purpose and a set of group norms. Our group purpose is to demonstrate through the use of group exercises that reality therapy is a cognitive approach to therapy (Zastrow, 2010, pg 501). Our group norms include: 1) Acknowledge receipt of each other's messages. 2) Communicate via email (through Canvas) or text messaging, and provide a response to confirm message receipt. 3) Encourage free flowing
Group Meeting #1: Norms & Purpose
Our therapy groups were assigned today shortly after the viewing of a film in class. My fellow group members consisted of Bryant, Earl, Stephan and Tracy, and our group was designated with the concept of reality therapy. Our group had several tasks to complete prior to class dismissal. The list of things to complete included: appointing a group facilitator, developing the group purpose and a minimum of 3 norms for the group, setting-up a schedule for member-led exercises, and reading our group theory in Appendix 1.
We started our group session with a short icebreaker as a way for each member to introduce him/herself. We were seated with our seats facing each other in a circle. Initially, some members seemed a bit hesitant to share since we weren’t yet familiar with each other. Their hesitation was obvious in the body language they displayed (arms crossed over their chest, leaning back in chair, etc) and the slow development of discussion at first. The icebreaker seemed effective as each member got to share their name and an embarrassing time in their life. By an informal vote and a democratic method, I was appointed as the group facilitator. The other group members indicated that it seemed that I had some displayed some task specialist skills that they thought might be beneficial to our group. I took on the role somewhat reluctantly.
Through group sharing we were able to relax and work towards the tasks we were given to complete. As asked by the instructor, we developed a group purpose and a set of group norms. Our group purpose is to demonstrate through the use of group exercises that reality therapy is a cognitive approach to therapy (Zastrow, 2010, pg 501). Our group norms include: 1) Acknowledge receipt of each other's messages. 2) Communicate via email (through Canvas) or text messaging, and provide a response to confirm message receipt. 3) Encourage free flowing