Social Work and Group Settings

Social workers must take on different roles depending on group settings. There are various types of groups that they may encounter and different approaches and skills are likely to be relevant to each. Along these lines, social workers may not employ the same approach in dealing with a psychoeducational group as a support group, for example, given the greater significance of didacticism in the former and building bonds in the latter. Personally, I envision utilizing group skills in my future practice. In particular, I would like to be able to help people regardless of the setting and fully recognize that it is incumbent on social workers to possess knowledge and expertise in myriad contexts in order to optimally facilitate wellness. 

Group therapy as a whole can be integral. For example, meaning-centered group psychotherapy has been shown to be especially beneficial for cancer survivors, in both the short and long-term (van der Spek et al., 2017). No matter the group context, there are bound to be commonalities as it relates to offering sound cognitive development activities and psychotherapy. For example, “the installation and maintenance of hope are crucial in any psychotherapy” (Yalom, 1995, p. 4). Moreover, it is generally true that group psychotherapy should be built around “mutual identification with a commonly shared object” (Yalom, 1995, p. 281). That said, there are instances in which particular group settings require specific skills. To provide a specific example, group therapy may differ if it is marital therapy versus spousal abuse therapy. After all, facilitating mutual dialogue may be an especially important skill in the former context, whereas in the latter facilitating education and overall group support may be more relevant. Of course, even large groups may benefit from dialogue. Along these lines, sound leadership and interpersonal skills may help therapists to invite quieter members to have their voices heard (Chen & Rybak, 2017). That said, the imperative to do so may be greater in marital therapy, where facilitating dialogue may be more essential than group identity.

Ultimately, these examples speak to the different skills and roles that social workers may need to employ in certain group contexts. Personally, I hope to increase my knowledge and skills to treat various patients in an array of behavioral health contexts. Doing so will help me to realize my primary professional goal: to reach and help a diverse range of people.

References

Chen, M. W., & Rybak, C. (2017). Group leadership skills: Interpersonal process in group counseling and therapy. Thousand Oaks CA: SAGE Publications.

van der Spek, N., Vos, J., van Uden-Kraan, C. F., Breitbart, W., Cuijpers, P., Holtmaat, K., ... & Verdonck-de Leeuw, I. M. (2017). Efficacy of meaning-centered group psychotherapy for cancer survivors: A randomized controlled trial. Psychological Medicine, 47(11), 1990-2001.

Yalom, I. D. (1995). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy. (4th ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books.