Facilitating Therapy Groups: Therapy Books, #3
By Buddy Wagner
5/5
()
About this ebook
Facilitating Therapy Groups is an introductory text designed for students in graduate counseling programs and therapists who are new to facilitating therapy groups. The book covers the essentials of effectively leading groups. It contains chapters describing the pre-group meeting; how I lead the group sessions; how I use logs written by the group members after each session and use homework to benefit the group members; the curative factors that are involved in helping the members of the group experience growth and resolve their issues; the characteristics, skills and tasks of effective group therapists; the stages that groups typically go through; possible problem members and how to successfully guide them and a final chapter on groups in elementary and secondary schools.
Buddy Wagner
Buddy Wagner is a National Certified Counselor and a National Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. He is a graduate of Mississippi College with a Bachelor's Degree in Latin and the University of Mississippi with a Master's Degree in Community Counseling and a PhD in Educational Psychology. He served as Director of the Counseling Center at Mississippi College from 1986 to his retirement in 2009. He continued to teach in the Counseling Psychology Graduate Program at Mississippi College to 2018. He taught Techniques in Group Counseling, Techniques in Brief Therapy and Special Studies in Hypnosis. He and his wife, Sheila, live in Clinton, Mississippi. Between them, they have five children and six grandchildren.
Read more from Buddy Wagner
Using Bible Passages As Trance Metaphors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSearching For Values: A Grandfather's Way Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Facilitating Therapy Groups
Titles in the series (3)
Brief and Unusual Therapies: Therapy Books, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Basics of Therapeutic Hypnosis: Therapy Books, #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Facilitating Therapy Groups: Therapy Books, #3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related ebooks
Group Psychotherapy: Exercises at Hand—Volume 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGroup Psychotherapy: Exercises at Hand—Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Group Member's Guide to Brief Strategic Problem-Solving Group Therapy: Making Group Therapy Work for You Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Experiential Exercises and Activities for Group and Individual Work: Blending Psychology and Fun Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Solution Focus: How to Transform Problems into Solutions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Understanding Your Suicide Grief Support Group Guide: Meeting Plans for Facilitators Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHandouts for Psychotherapy: Tools for helping people change Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5How to Make Group Psychotherapy Work: New Perspectives on Group Therapy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProblem-Solving Group Therapy: A Group Leader's Guide for Developing and Implementing Group Treatment Plans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Guide to Starting Psychotherapy Groups Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Group Therapy Self-Esteem Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPractical Clinical Supervision for Psychotherapists: A Self and Relational Approach Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntro To Group Therapy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMindful Therapy: A Guide for Therapists and Helping Professionals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Systems Theory and Family Therapy: A Primer Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Touching the Soul in Gestalt Therapy: Stories & More Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Who Could We Ask?: The Gestalt Therapy of Michael Kriegsfeld Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBasic Counseling Techniques: A Beginning Therapist's Toolkit Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNarrative in Social Work Practice: The Power and Possibility of Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSolution Focused Anxiety Management: A Treatment and Training Manual Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Other Side of the Couch: A Practical Guide for Therapists Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI'm Working On It in Therapy: How to Get the Most Out of Psychotherapy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Multi-Family Group for Substance Use Treatment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Couch and the Circle: A Story of Group Psychotherapy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Start a Private Practice in Mental Health Counseling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Treatment Planning from a Reality Therapy Perspective Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Guide to Clinical Supervision: The Supervision Pyramid Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDoing What Works in Brief Therapy: A Strategic Solution Focused Approach Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTreatment Planning with Choice Theory and Reality Therapy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Therapist Writer: Helping Mental Health Professionals Get Published Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Psychology For You
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5101 Fun Personality Quizzes: Who Are You . . . Really?! Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Win Friends and Influence People: Updated For the Next Generation of Leaders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Self-Care for People with ADHD: 100+ Ways to Recharge, De-Stress, and Prioritize You! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks for Big Success in Relationships Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Letting Go: Stop Overthinking, Stop Negative Spirals, and Find Emotional Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Witty Banter: Be Clever, Quick, & Magnetic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Bulletproof: Protect Yourself, Read People, Influence Situations, and Live Fearlessly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covert Passive Aggressive Narcissist: The Narcissism Series, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5ADHD: A Hunter in a Farmer's World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Collaborating with the Enemy: How to Work with People You Don’t Agree with or Like or Trust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Am I Doing?: 40 Conversations to Have with Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Facilitating Therapy Groups
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
Facilitating Therapy Groups - Buddy Wagner
Facilitating Therapy Groups
Buddy Wagner, PhD
Published by Buddy Wagner at Smashwords.com
Second edition
Copyright 2016 Buddy Wagner
Discover other titles by Buddy Wagner at Smashwords.com
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this e-book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this e-book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Disclaimer
This e-book is for educational and informational purposes only. No guarantees of results are implied, expressed or intended as a result of reading this material. The material is not intended as a cure or remedy for any mental health problem. Reading this book does not prepare or qualify you to facilitate therapy groups.
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1 - Components of the Pre-Group Meeting
Chapter 2 - Sessions
Chapter 3 - Use of Logs and Other Homework
Chapter 4 - Curative Factors
Chapter 5 - Effective Group Therapists
Chapter 6 - Stages of Groups
Chapter 7 - Problem Group Behaviors
Chapter 8 - Groups in Schools
Chapter 9 – Other Important Aspects of Group Work
References
About the Author
Preface
I have taught classes in Theories of Group Counseling for almost twenty years. I have always taught these classes with an experiential component, where the students participate in an actual group experience. This book is based on how I have taught these classes and is used as the text for these classes. Because most of you reading this book are students training to become therapists, the text is intended to give you a model for how to facilitate a therapy group.
This book is not intended to be an in-depth discussion of facilitating therapy groups. My intention is to cover the important aspects in enough detail to give you an introductory understanding of the necessary components with the hopes of encouraging you to do further research and reading in the area. This book doesn’t claim to answer every question or address every challenge associated to group therapy. The intention is to give you enough information to understand what is required for a successful therapy group.
In chapter 1, I discuss the components of the pre-group meeting. These include the acceptance of the group contract, setting goals and the group members sharing with each other their fears and expectations for the group sessions.
In chapter 2, I discuss the group sessions. In the groups that I lead, there are eleven sessions. In the first session, the participants share their personal goals. In sessions 2 through 10, I use different theories, as appropriate, to assist the participants in achieving their goals. In the last session, we discuss what the participants have learned about themselves, how they have reached their goals and how they will apply what they have gained through the group experience.
In chapter 3, I discuss the use of logs and other homework for group members. I find logs to be a useful way to communicate privately with each group member between sessions. This is a way for the leader to know how each group member is experiencing the group.
In chapter 4, I discuss the curative factors of therapy groups. These factors are potentially powerful phenomena for creating changes in how and what the participants think and do.
In chapter 5, I discuss what it takes to be an effective group therapist. This includes the personal characteristics, the necessary skills and the basic tasks required of an effective group therapist.
In chapter 6, I discuss the stages of groups and some of the components of each stage. This information gives the therapist a general understanding of what to expect as the group progresses. It also gives the therapist a way to measure if the group is progressing in a normal way.
In chapter 7, I discuss behaviors of group members that can create problems for the group and/or group leader. I also give suggestions for how to respond to these behaviors in ways that will be helpful to the group and to the individual member.
In chapter 8, I discuss school counselors using groups in the school setting. I include this to assist those of you who are training to become school counselors.
In chapter 9, I discuss diversity and the importance of being aware of multicultural issues. I also discuss ethics and the research on the effectiveness of groups.
At the end of each chapter I give some questions to ponder. These are intended to help you think more deeply about the content of the chapters.
Chapter 1
Components of the Pre-Group Meeting
The pre-group meeting is important to set the tone for the group. I try to impress upon the participants the importance of taking the group experience seriously. In this meeting, I cover the group contract, the importance of group goals but also individual goals that each participant will set for herself. After we have discussed the contract and each participant has agreed to abide by it, they sign a copy of the following contract committing to abide by the contract.
Commitment to Contract
I, __________________________, acknowledge that the group counseling contract is important and I commit to following it to the best of my ability. I will be open and honest and participate in the group