Group Processes and Stages of Formation Assignment Paper

In your role, you must understand group processes and stages of formation, as this will help you develop groups and determine an individual’s appropriateness for group therapy. Whether you are at the beginning stages of group formation or facilitating a session for a developed group, it is important to consider factors that may influence individual client progress. For this Assignment, as you examine the video Group Therapy: A Live Demonstration in this week’s Learning Resources, consider the group’s processes, stages of formation, and other factors that might impact the effectiveness of group therapy for clients.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Analyze group processes and stages of formation
Analyze curative factors of groups
Analyze the impact of curative factors on client progress
Recommend strategies for managing intragroup conflict
To prepare:
Review this week’s Learning Resources and reflect on the insights they provide on group processes.
View the media, Group Therapy: A Live Demonstration, and consider the group dynamics.
The Assignment
In a 2- to 3-page paper, address the following:
Explain the group’s processes and stage of formation.
Explain curative factors that occurred in the group. Include how these factors might impact client progress.
Explain intragroup conflict that occurred and recommend strategies for managing the conflict. Support your recommendations with evidence-based literature

Group Processes and Stages of Formation

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Explain the group’s processes and stage of formation.

A group is typically formed with the intention of pursuing a common goal(s). Through having a common goal, the group can structure its activities around the goal, aligning the activities with the goal and ensuring that completing the activities translated into the goal being wholly or partially being achieved. The implication is that individual members will agree to form a group if they have a common goal, and that they will actively apply structured activities to achieve the goal (Scharff, 2014).

The current case presents a group that is attending psychotherapy. The group members have the common goal of addressing the social problems that they experience, and they will achieve this goal through engaging in social group interactions with mutual exchanges and advices as activities (Psychotherapy.net, 2011).  Group Processes and Stages of Formation Assignment Paper

A review of the interaction presented in the scenario reveals that the group is in the storming stage of formation. The members are interacting with each other and openly expressing themselves. The members are getting acclimatized with each other and shifting away from being strangers towards being acquaintances and friends. In the scenario, Pam and Philip are presented as two members in conflict. They have threatened to break up the group, and do not feel invested enough in the group to try and resolve the conflict among themselves. Conflict, ambiguity and anxiety are prevalent as the members act out their behaviors and test the group to define the group norms and themselves as individuals. Getting through this conflict with the group intact will help in building cohesion among the members and allow the group to move into the norming stage of formation as the next step (Wheeler, 2014).

Explain curative factors that occurred in the group. Include how these factors might impact client progress.

The interaction presented in the scenario exposes some curative factors that occurred in the group. The first factor is catharsis whereby Pam and Philip led the other group members in releasing their emotional tension. They expressed their emotions within the group, a safe environment. The second factor is learning about existential factors, particularly responsibility and risk. The conflict offers the members an opportunity to take responsibility for their actions and to understand that every action has a consequence that could be negative or positive, and that must be evaluated along with the action. The third factor is the sense of belonging and group cohesiveness. The conflict has divided the group and each one is taking a side that they feel they belong to. The fourth factor is the development of social skills, whereby the group members are learning to interact with each other. They are learning how to talk about their concerns, observations and feelings, a necessary step in their recovery. The fifth factor is interpersonal learning whereby they are finding out about themselves and other members of the group, and learning how to accommodate each other. These are skills that are extended outside the group when interacting with other community members (Scharff, 2014).

Explain intragroup conflict that occurred and recommend strategies for managing the conflict.

An intragroup conflict occurred in the scenario. In this case, Pam and Philip have a disagreement that has threatened to break up the group. In fact, they appear determined not to be members of the same group. Pam feels that Philip will not add any value to the group, while Philip feels that Pam has undervalued him. The conflict has extended to the whole group with the members taking sides, and there is a possibility of the group breaking up if the conflict is left unresolved (Psychotherapy.net, 2011). Resolving this conflict will allow the group to move from the storming stage to the norming stage where cohesion would be improved with standard developed to address similar conflicts in the future. The best strategy for addressing the conflict is to engage the therapist to act as a mediator, and get the members to understand that there is a need to manage their emotions appropriately (Bitter, 2014).

References

Bitter, J. (2014). Theory and practice of family therapy and counseling (2^nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Psychotherapy.net (Producer). (2011). Group therapy: a live demonstration. [Video file]. Mill Valley, CA: Author.

Scharff, J. (2014). Clinical supervision of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. London: Karnac Books Ltd.

Wheeler, K. (Eds.). (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice (2^nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.  Group Processes and Stages of Formation Assignment Paper