Offers specific and practical techniques and direction for workers in nearly every social work setting. While the group settings are as varied as the needs and difficulties of the people in the group, certain fundamental approaches and principles remain constant. Brandler and Roman offer many theoretical frameworks and intense examinations of the of the application of theory to real practice with actual examples from group settings. This book examines developmental stages in individual treatment. In each phase of treatment, issues are discussed as they relate to members and to workers, emphasizing the means by which workers can successfully intervene with particular populations in order to accomplish the goals of the group. Potential questions of social workers are addressed, such as how to analyze thoughts anbd feelings about the group, how to help the group understand itself and its members, and even how to best arrange the furniture. Chapters also deal with special areas including the therapeutic use of program, an activity resource section, group planning, co-therapy, and problems arising from the unusual structures and difficult populations. An activity guide serves as a glossary to this book.
Group Work: Skills and Strategies for Effective Interventions, Second Edition examines eclectic approaches to group work and discusses ways to help practitioners offer more successful services to clients. This edition includes new material on complicated value dilemmas and specific techniques in confrontation and in humor in groups. Complete with more games and exercises for group sessions, this enlightening book also contains excerpts and discussions of case studies that will serve as a valuable reference that may be applied to your own experiences.
Group Work will help you provide improved services to clients as it discusses effective suggestions and strategies, such as:
- gaining an understanding of “self,” or the process by which you identify internal responses to external stimuli created by the group
- unlocking the underlying meanings, themes, and needs of a group by examining transference and countertransference issues
- establishing guidelines, structures, and goals and purposes for groups and defining your role in achieving these standards
- helping you identify and work through feelings of boredom, helplessness, sadness, and anger, which are potential barriers to the work of the group
- helping the group translate nonverbal expressions of similar feelings as they manifest themselves in certain group behaviors, including absence and lateness, lethargy in communication, and acting out
- ending groups properly to ensure progress is maintained and separation is not damaging
Intelligent and informative, Group Work features charts and a glossary of games and exercises that will help you offer your group the services they need. Full of new strategies and methods, this second edition will serve as an essential guide for all types of situations that arise in your groups.
