Week 9: The Middle Stage

Once a group has met several times and is entering the middle stage of group progress, the clinical social worker should assess if the goals of the group plan are being met. This is especially important in groups that have a limited number of sessions. One of the ways a clinical social worker can keep the group on track is by preparing an agenda that parallels the needs of the members. Another way is by implementing strategies that create an atmosphere that feels safe for the members to share their personal stories. By the middle stage, the clinical social worker should have a familiarity with the different personalities in the group. This makes it much easier to implement strategies that empower the members and make them feel that they are received with positive regard.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Analyze the purposes of group types

Analyze positive regard in group work

Analyze strengths-based strategies

Analyze empowerment strategies

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Toseland, R. W., & Rivas, R. F. (2017). An introduction to group work practice (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Chapter 9, “Treatment Groups: Foundation Methods” (pp. 264-294)

Chapter 10, “Treatment Groups: Specialized Methods” (pp. 295-335)

Farber, B. A., & Doolin, E. M. (2011). Positive regard. Psychotherapy, 48(1), 58–64.

Piper, W. E., Ogrodniczuk, J. S., Lamarche, C., & Joyce, A. S. (2006). Use of the social relations model by group therapists: Application and commentary. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 56(2), 191–209.

Required Media

Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013b). Johnson (Episode 3) [Video file]. In Sessions. Baltimore, MD: Producer. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 4 minutes.

Accessible player –Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload Transcript

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