Fall 2025 SOWK 530 Week 10 - Practice with Social Work Groups

Fall 2025 SOWK 530 Week 10 - Practice with Social Work Groups

title: Fall 2025 SOWK 530 Week 10 - Practice with Social Work Groups date: 2025-10-31 22:59:54 location: Heritage University tags:

• Heritage University
• MSW Program
• SOWK 530 presentation_video: > “” description: >

Week ten includes a synchronous class session on Saturday (11/01/25). Students will move beyond understanding groups to how to facilitate them. They will read Hepworth et al. (2023) and learn about knowledge and skills to effectively intervene using social work groups. During our class session, we will engage in a group facilitation demonstration, discuss using group activities, and plan and implement group sessions. The agenda for the session includes:

• Course discussion
• Group demonstration
• Using activities in groups
• Planning and implementing a group

Learning Objectives this week include:

• Analyze the stages of group development and the role of conflict in group progress.
• Reflect on personal experiences with group dynamics through a professional social work lens.
• Evaluate ethical dilemmas in group work using case-based readings.
• Identify and apply foundational group facilitation techniques in a structured group setting.
• Reflect on the importance of establishing group rules, purpose, and session structure.
• Develop a basic plan for facilitating a group.

Plan for Week 10

Agenda

• Course discussion
• Group demonstration
• Using activities in groups
• Planning and implementing a group

Learning Objectives

• Identify and apply foundational group facilitation techniques in a structured group setting.
• Reflect on the importance of establishing group rules, purpose, and session structure.
• Develop a basic plan for facilitating a group.

Midcourse Feedback

5 students completed, only missing 2!

Working

• Clear organization and structure
• Engaging and empathetic teaching style
• Course content (forums, readings, discussion forums, videos)
• Student Growth (my favorite part)
  • “I’m learning more about time management and how to balance work/practicum/school.”
  • “I am just learning to get out of my comfort zone in general. Being in a new environment and not knowing anyone can be challenging but this time around I’ve made it a mission to actually engage in class and to also engage with my classmates. It makes learning so much more fun.”
  • “How much self-care is needed.”
  • “Growth often happens outside of my confort zone. Push through fears and do my best. I am capable of more than I think.”

Areas for Improvement or Suggestions

• Communication
  • “If course content isn’t posted on Monday (or will be posted later in the day), I’d like a heads up.”
• Heaviness of the content (work load, pacing)
  • Thinking about combining two classes and
  • Providing examples of work or more details of assignments
  • Wanting more prompts
• More in-person discussions and spaces?
  • Maybe discussion of what this might look like

Simple Group Example

When a group has a general, expected format (whether you are looking at a treatment group or a task group), it helps all members understand what to expect and makes it easier to create norms.

At the Crisis Residential Center in Spokane, I frequently led groups for the youth staying there. I had a general format that I would always follow:

• Review the rules
• Check-in question
• Fun, engaging activity
• Work on a specific topic or skill

[Activity] Have all students move desks into a circle. Go through the first three steps of the group. We will go through a part of a group exercise to see what it can look like. We will role-play as if this is a therapeutic group working on communication skills.

Determine Group Rules

If any of you have ever been a part of a group, it sometimes can be difficult… one way we can make it a little bit easier is to set up some ground rules while we are in the group. Do you have any suggestions about possible rules for our group sessions?

• Elicit ideas
• Write on the board
• Review them
• Thank the group

Check-in Question

If you could describe your day today as an animal, any animal… what would it be today and why?

• Ask check-in questions (highs and lows today)
• Follow up on some of the group members and why they picked what they picked

Activity

Today, we are going to do a pretty fun activity. It is like telephone, but… completely different…

Picture is worth a 1,000 words

• Description: Variation of telephone. Each group member is given a piece of paper. They are instructed to write a short phrase on their paper. The paper is passed to the next person. That person is instructed to draw a picture of the phrase. Before they pass their picture to the next person, they fold and cover the written statement directly above. This process is repeated until the papers get back to the original writer.
• Purpose: The phrase to drawing changes what the writer intended. This often happens when we communicate.

Skill

Today, we are going to be talking about communication. What did we see when we did the activity? How could that relate to how we communicate?

Debrief

What did you see and not see?

• What did you see in my facilitation of the group
• What worked, what didn’t
• Is this something you could imagine doing in a group?

Planning for and Using Activities: Questions to Consider

We don’t just use activities in our groups to use activities. They should always have a purpose and rationale. The following questions can be helpful when considering an activity and including.

• How prescriptive should the activity be? (i.e., is it a free-wheeling activity like a game of tag or one that requires detailed instruction like chess?);
• How is the activity regulated or controlled? (i.e., does the activity allow for some autonomy and control among the members, or is it purely leader-controlled?);
• What are the relationship demands or levels of interaction required? (i.e., is it a side-by-side arts and crafts activity or a face-to-face intense role-playing exercise); and
• What is the level of competence required? (i.e., is it an activity that will leave anyone feeling incompetent or inferior, or does everyone have a reasonable chance at feeling they have successfully participated; or is it an activity that might frustrate a bit in an attempt to help members in part, to develop greater frustration tolerance, for example).

Relate it to previous activity (e.g., paper telephone)

(International Association of Social Work Groups & Malakoff, n.d.) https://www.iaswg.org/assets/docs/group_work_tips_from_andy_malekoff.docx

Clarity of Group Purpose

a clearly defined purpose is the powerful ally of group workers and members alike. It is crucial to the success of the groups with which we work. (Kurland & Salmon, 2006, p. 107)

There are some recommendations to have a clear purpose:

• The purpose of the group can be stated clearly and concisely by both clients and the worker
• The stated purpose is the same for both clients and the worker, even if they might express it in different words
• The purpose is specific enough to provide direction and implications for group content
• The purpose is specific enough so that both clients and the worker will know when it has been achieved (p. 106)

(Kurland & Salmon, 2006)

Common Mistakes of Practitioners: Related to Sharing Purpose

Kurland and Salmon (2006) describe six common mistakes that practitioners in leading groups related to sharing purpose.

• Practitioners promote a group Purpose without adequate consideration of client need. (consider not allowing the group to flow were needed)
• Practitioners confuse group Purpose with group content. (confusing the means and the ends. Think about getting to the root of the problem and knowing reasons verses what going to do.)
• Practitioners state group Purpose at such a high level of generality that it is vague and meaningless and, therefore, provides little direction for the group. (does not provide focus or structure)
• Practitioners are reluctant to share with the members their perceptions and ideas about the group’s Purpose. (it is ok to share and help guide the group.)
• Practitioners function with a hidden Purpose in mind that they do not share with the group. (manipulative. Don’t be afraid to come right out and share what is going on.)
• Practitioners do not understand Purpose as a dynamic, evolving concept that changes over the life of the group. Instead, they view Purpose as static and fixed. (it is a dynamic process that grows)

(p. 108)

Practice Planning A Group

Step 1

Imagine that you are planning a group to assist one of the following populations:

• People charged with domestic violence
• Middle school students with diabetes
• Teenage fathers
• Families of people with schizophrenia
• Elementary school children who have been exposed to family or community violence
• Parents and community members who wish to change a school policy on suspensions
• People newly admitted to an assisted living facility
• Seventh and eighth graders who have no friends
• Teens who want to start a Gay-Straight Alliance in their high school
• Premarital couples
• Widowers
• People concerned about bullying in a school

Step Two

Using the guidelines in this chapter, determine:

1. The name you will give the group
2. The type of group
3. A one-sentence statement of purpose
4. The size of the group
5. The length, structure, and format
6. The location where you will meet
7. Essential factors in group composition
8. How will you recruit and screen members
9. What might your first session look like and the some of the content

Step Three

Role Play Group Session

To emphasize group processes, dynamics, and development, it is useful to assign various members to play a particular role. Information may be provided on a 3 × 5 card, which is not shared with others in the group. Suggested member roles include formal and informal leader or co-leader, clown, isolate, scapegoat, agitator, griper, expert, facilitator, peacemaker, advocate, spokesperson, and resource person.

Step Four

Debrief, students should discuss and evaluate the experience, focusing on the various roles played by members, functional and dysfunctional member behavior, group development, and leader intervention.