Elise Schmidt
Group Final
1
The first intervention that I used was called Free Association and in this activity I,
the group facilitator, said a word and the group wrote down the first word that came to
mind. In this activity I only used four words to show the class how to do this intervention
but in an actual group would use a minimum of ten words. The introduction was short
and the intervention is easy to explain. The group sits silently during the first part of the
activity as the facilitator says the words and they write their responses down. During the
second half of the activity the group discussed what their initial thoughts to the word
means to them.
I personally think this intervention would work well in the beginning of an
individual’s treatment to have them see how they feel about different areas in their life,
see how they value different things in life, and get a better grasp of who they are. After
discussing the feelings the wrap up would include thoughts on the activities and how
they felt after doing it. I think this intervention worked well with one facilitator but could
be split up between a facilitator and co-facilitator.
Personally I felt this intervention worked well in class and have participated in this
activity during classes at Moraine Park and always enjoy seeing what minds come up
with. I believe this is an honest activity and works especially well verbally in a one on
one sessions but can be great in group counseling to show others and yourself how you
feel. I feel that I could do this intervention in a real group counseling session.
The second intervention I did in class was called Identifying Feelings. During this
intervention the group members were asked to look at a piece of paper with multiple
faces displaying different feelings and emotions. After looking at the sheet they were to
Elise Schmidt
Group Final
2
pick one feeling that they were currently feeling. In explaining the intervention I
explained how everyone has feelings and emotions and how through treatment they will
start to feel for the first time in a while or start to feel new feelings and could experience
an overwhelming amount of emotions. I discussed how that was normal and explained
that in group we would learn how to label our emotions, acknowledge them, and learn
how to control them. In class my intervention was for the first group meeting and we
took a baby step identifying one feeling. After each group member expressed their
feeling there was a mini discussion and why this felt this way and praise when they
were doing good. In wrapping up we discussed how they felt about taking that first baby
step into exploring their feelings and raised the excitement level for next group.
I could tell that I felt a lot more comfortable standing in front of class during this
activity compared to my first. The energy level felt a lot better as well. During the
presentation of the intervention as I stated previously it was for the first group session
but this activity could be used at any level of the group process. It would great for all
group members at any stage in group, as the individual progresses through group they
would pick more descriptive feelings and describe in-depth why they feel this way.
The third intervention was called Triggers and was originally a homework
assignment that I just went through and discussed with the group. After doing so I think
this intervention would work better as a homework or if each group had a copy and filled
it out during group. The group members were asked to think of a trigger and describe
the high-risk trigger situation than were asked to describe the consequences both
positive and negative associated with that trigger and if it occurred right away or was
Elise Schmidt
Group Final
3
delayed. The homework sheet had the group members do another trigger but in front of
the class I only did one to demonstrate the intervention. This intervention I think would
work the best for the transitional stage and the working stage. Group members need to
be able to identify their behaviors and want to change them which I think these stages
would be beneficial for this intervention.
There are some skills as a Group Facilitator that I think I have a good grasp of
but can be improved and I can grow in such as active listening, reflecting, summarizing,
and empathy. These skills I believe I have but will grow as grow as a professional. The
skill empathy I believe I have and that a counselor has to have in their personality.
Confrontation is a skill that scares me because I think of fighting but within counseling
confrontation is not like how most individual’s think of it. With working in the field and
needing to do it as the situation presents itself will help me grow and become more
comfortable about it. Blocking is another skill that I have not had experience in as no
one in my groups has needed me to do so. This skill will come as well with experience.
In substance abuse treatment there are different types of groups; therapeutic,
task, psychoeducational, counseling, psychotherapy, and brief. If someone wanted to
join a group but didn’t know what kind of group to join I feel that I could describe the
groups and by what the individual wanted from group help them. Such as if they wanted
to discuss their substance abuse verse learning about substance abuse. I feel that
evaluating skills to be an effective group facilitator or counselor in general is something
all of us constantly have to do to be the best we can be; I also think that this
Elise Schmidt
Group Final
4
competency never stops and we need to reflect and see how we can grow throughout
our career.
Adjusting behavior to respond to the characteristics associated with the specific
developmental stage of a group is an intimidating. This competency sounds intimidating
because of different group members being at different stages in one group. Once in the
group, at least the pretend groups, this competency is not as fearful. I feel as if it
happens almost without a thought. You expect different things from a group member in
the final stage than a member in the beginning. Although group members are not
children it could be compared to having a room full of children. You act differently and
adjust yourself when communicating to toddlers and would not act the same way to a
child who is at a higher developmental level.
Ethics as a group facilitator is extremely important and you need to constantly
make sure you are being ethical. I think you can always grow in knowledge within
ethics. If you question what to do you should always ask your supervisor or go online or
call the counseling association to see what the action is to take. There really is no
excuse to not to be ethical because the information is everywhere.
I could very much grow in every aspect to apply strategies in forming a group. I
have no experience in this area what so ever besides what read in the chapter within
our text. If I was working in a facility and we needed to start a group I would have to
review what to do and get my experience hands on in the work field. This does want me
to grow in my knowledge and learn how to do it because I know in my community there
are not a lot of options and numerous amounts of people have to travel to receive help.
Elise Schmidt
Group Final
5
At the beginning of this class I would have said I had no competency in using
group facilitation strategies, exercises, and conceptualizations based on a groups
developmental stage but I think this a big focus on the class and feel a lot more
confident in this. There is always room for growth especially because I have yet to even
do it in a real setting outside of the classroom. Using more exercises and seeing
personally what works and what doesn’t is how I plan to grow more in this area.
Appraising your personal/professional experiences as a group facilitator is
something that I believe you never stop doing or growing in. I think you constantly have
to look at yourself and keep yourself “in-check”. Once again self-reflection is such an
important aspect of counseling that a counselor has to do and continue to do. It in itself
will help you grow as a counselor and as a person. Formulating an evaluation plan for a
group experience is an important aspect that I could grow in but I think is necessary to
know if the group experiencing is working. I think knowing what is working for what
clients is essential and for the agency is important to show you are helping individuals.