Presented at the 2012 KidStrong Conference
Dr. Jonathan Lent
Dr. Lisa Burton
Marshall University
• Learn and understand what characteristics effective group
leaders possess.
• Review and understand basic group leadership skills including:
initiating, clarifying, summarizing, encouraging, and active
listening, among others.
• Gain knowledge about the necessary process for forming an
effective group.
A collection of two or more individuals who meet in face to face
interaction, interdependently, with the awareness that each
belongs to the group and for the purpose of achieving mutually
agreed upon goals (Johnson & Johnson, 2002).
• In school settings, groups are used to address a variety of
issues:
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Educational
Vocational
Personal
Social
• Psychoeducational
• Premised on the idea that education is treatment
• Task Facilitation
• Major types of task/work are volunteer groups, mission groups, goal groups,
and working groups.
• Counseling
• Focus is on each person’s behavior and development or change within the group.
• Psychotherapy
• Addresses problems for those who are experiencing severe, or chronic
maladjustment
• The facilitator is there to facilitate group interaction:
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Help members communicate
Learn from one another
Establish goals
Make plans for outside of the group
• Essential to acquire and refine skills applied to group work
• Group leadership skills cannot be separated from the
leader’s personality
• Ways to learn leadership skills – supervised experience,
practice, feedback, and experience in a group as a member
• Group leaders bring their own personal qualities to a group
• Effective leaders use the strongest aspects of their personalities
and knowledge and combine these with experiences in the
leading of groups.
• Skills are displayed in different ways and at various stages
during the life of a group
• Leaders must be well educated and know which skills at are the
core of leading effective groups
• There are core group skills and specific group skills
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Being clear as to the purpose
Being clear about your role as leader
Generating and building interest and energy
Tuning into the group’s energy
Varying the format
Using your eyes effectively
Setting the proper tone
Using your voice effectively
• Being aware of the focus:
• a) on a topic b) on a person
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c) on an activity
Getting, holding, deepening and shifting the focus
Asking good questions
Knowing counseling theories
Knowing your allies in the group
Second guessing
Thinking of members as individuals
Dealing with multicultural issues
Drawing out
Cutting off
Using exercises effectively
• Leaders operate in certain ways no matter the type of group
• There are four main functions:
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Traffic director
Modeler or appropriate behavior
Interactional catalyst
Communication facilitator
• Traffic Director
• Leaders help members become aware of behaviors that open
communication channels and those that inhibit communication
• This role is proactive and reactive in prevention of certain behaviors and
promotion of others.
• Modeler of Appropriate Behavior
• Leaders must pick actions they think group members need to learn through
passive and active demonstrations
• Modeling can include deliberate use of self-disclosure, role plays, speech
patterns, acts of creativity.
• Interactional Catalyst
• Requires leaders promote interaction between group members without
calling attention to themselves
• Continues throughout the group and takes various forms
• Questioning if two members have something to say to each other and
then being silent to see what happens
• Communication Facilitator
• Leaders reflect the content and feeling of members and teach them to do
likewise
• Focuses on the expression of words and the emotion behind the words.
• The importance of speaking congruently is stressed by stressing using I
messages to state what one wants or what one thinks.
• Informed consent
• Provide members with adequate information that will allow them to
decide if they want to join a group
• Some information to give prospective members:
• The nature of the group
• The goals of the group
• The general structure of the sessions
• What is expected of them if they join
• What they can expect from you as a leader
• Five areas for a practical proposal for a group
• Rationale – What is the rationale for your group?
• Objectives – Are your objectives specific and attainable?
• Practical considerations – Have you considered all the relevant practical
issues in forming your group?
• Procedures – What kinds of techniques and interventions will you employ
to attain the
stated objectives?
• Evaluation – How will you evaluate the process and outcomes of the
group?
• Your techniques should have a rationale
• Introduce techniques in a sensitive and
timely manner
• Don’t stick to a technique if it is not working effectively
• Give members a choice – invite them to experiment with
some behavior
• Use techniques that are appropriate to the member’s cultural
values
• Techniques are best developed in response to what is
happening in the here-and-now
• Areas to Consider:
• How to begin the group
• How to handle introduction of members (how, how much time to spend)
• How to set the tone (very important)
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Clarify the purpose of the group
Explain the leader’s role
Explain how the group will be conducted
Tell members you will, at times, be looking around when they
are talking
• Tell members you will be cutting off members at various times
• Explain the rules for the group (see comment below)
• Explain any special terms that will be used
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Check out the comfort level of the members (use 1-10 round)
Assess coping styles of the members
Introduce and focus on the content/purpose of the group
Draw out members
Allow extra time for closing the first session
Address questions members may have
Focus on multicultural dynamics if they exist
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Group composition
Group size
Open versus closed group
Length of the group
Frequency and duration of meetings
Place for group sessions
• Group setting offers support for new behavior and
encourages experimentation
• The group is a microcosm of the real world – allows us to
see how we relate to others
• Group setting provides an optimal arena for members to
discover how they are perceived and experienced by others
• Groups help members see that they are not alone in their
concerns
• Developing a proposal: Groups for children
• In planning groups for children:
• Describe your goals and purposes clearly
• Develop a clearly stated rationale for your
proposed group
• State your aims, the procedures to be used, the evaluation procedures you
will use, and the reasons a group approach has particular merit
• In designing a group in both schools and agencies, get the support
of administrators
• Communicate with children about the importance of keeping
confidences in language they can grasp
• Ethical practice demands that you have the training required to
facilitate a group with children
• Not all children are ready for group participation
• Having some structure is particularly important in groups with
children
• Give thought to helpful methods of evaluating the outcomes of
your groups
• Organizing an adolescent group
• Conduct a needs assessment
• Develop a written proposal
• Market your group
• Get informed consent from parents or guardians
• Conduct pregroup interviews
• Select members for the group
• Design a plan for each of the group sessions
• Arrange for a follow-up group session after termination
• Explain the rationale of the group in
jargon-free language
• Allow members to express reactions to being
sent to group
• Go with resistance – Don’t go against resistance
• Avoid getting defensive
• Be clear and firm with your boundaries
• Understand and respect resistance
• Role-playing techniques can often be creatively used in adolescent
groups
• Find ways to involve parents in group work with adolescents
• A few kinds of adolescent groups include: groups for students on drug
rehabilitation, groups for unwed teenage fathers, teen delinquency
prevention groups, and sex offender treatment groups
• Co-leadership models are especially useful in facilitating
an adolescent group
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Do not start with the rules -- it sets a tone you probably don’t want.
Do not focus too long on one member during the first session
Don’t count on members to carry the first session -- have a plan
Watch out for members talking just to you (the leader)
Do not let negative or dominating members control
Do not be afraid to cut off members
Written exercises can be very helpful in drawing out members
Dyads can be helpful in getting members comfortable
Rounds can be very helpful in drawing out members
Use a movement exercise to generate interest and energy if it is low