2. GOAL
• The goal of this presentation is to help the
trainees understand the Group model gives
them the tools to deal with the kinds of
problems that occur in support groups and to
keep the group discussion going.
3. Importance of leaning group dynamics
• To help navigate around the predictable
negative group dynamics which can
destroy a successful group process
• A support group can operate much like a
personality with a will of its own, and that
collective group willfulness can pull even
the most experienced facilitator off course
4. Group Dynamics
What is a group?
Two or more people interacting with each other
2= Dyad
3= Trio
10-15 = Work Group
20-500 = Audience
200-1000 = Crowd
5. Group Dynamics
• Support Groups are peer working
groups of 10-15 people
• Support groups should be maintained at
this size
6. What are Group Dynamics?
• Groups act and react as individuals do
• Groups have many of the same dynamic
(interactive) problems as individuals
• If you understand how individuals react in
certain circumstances, you can explain
problems that arise in groups.
7. Dynamic issues that concern groups
• Leadership
• Boundaries
• Rules
• Goals
• Subject Matter
8. Problems in group dynamics
• Related to leadership
• Related to group boundaries
• Related to observing group rules
• Related to group goals
• Related to our specific group subject –
mental illness
9. Problems related to
Leadership
• Facilitator can’t lead the group
• Facilitator doesn’t step in and say ‘stop now and give someone else a chance’
• Facilitator acts like a ‘dictator’ pushing ideas onto the group
• Facilitators don’t help the group stay on topic
• Turnover in leadership
• Not enough diversity in group membership
• Lack of outreach
• The same people dominate every meeting
• Conflicts about who is the leader
• One person monopolizes the meeting, or
• Meetings spiral off into political or religious discussions.”
10. Problems related to
Group Boundaries
•People come a few times, then stop or don’t show
up regularly
•New people feel uncomfortable around ‘regulars’
•Group is too large for safe sharing
•Cliques develop: ‘us’ and ‘them’ groups, or
•Difficulty with advertising and getting the word
out.”
11. Problems related to
Observing Group Rules
• People make derogatory remarks that hurt someone’s
feelings
• A ‘nasty’ individual who is always negative, always mean
• Personality clashes disrupt the meeting
• Canceling meetings or changing the time, or
• Posting format changes and expecting compliance
overnight.”
12. Problems related to
Group Goals
• Meetings have no structure
• Facilitators are untrained or unfocused
• Meetings become purely a social activity
• The group becomes too dependent on the Facilitators and is
not empowered, or
• Meetings spiral down into ‘gripe sessions’—this can result
in positive feelings being held back and not expressed due
to a fear of sharing because everyone is complaining”
13. Problems related to the
Group Subject – Mental Illness
• People dwell on the past; not staying in the present
• Lack of visible progress is discouraging
• Crisis, traumatic events and intense emotions overwhelm the group
• People want immediate answers; the magic pill
• People focus only on refusal to get treatment or lack of insight rather
than on the issues that they can control
• Facilitators feel threatened by people who don’t talk, or
• People reject/disregard useful suggestions; they remain “stuck” (yes,
you will learn to “unstick” people!).”
14. What is the remedy for these
problems?
• A Capable Leader
• Clear Boundaries
• Stating and Enforcing Rules of
Relationship
• Clarifying Goals and Purposes
• Identifying the “Common Cause” in a
Positive and Optimistic Manner
16. A well-functioning Support Group
• Has a skilled Facilitator
• Does its own work
• Involves as many group members as
possible
• Encourages self-enforced observation
of behavior guidelines
17. A well-functioning support group
• Allows group members to feel they have
contributed
• Provides strategies
• Connects participants to resources and
services
• Makes members feel they have benefited
from attending
19. What Facilitators need to know
• To recognize problems in group
dynamics – there are cues that the
Facilitator needs to transition the group
• Know what structure or group process
to use to remedy the problem
• Have the skills to shift the group from
where they are to where they need to
go
20. Cues and Remedies
• Each Structure and Group Process
exists to remedy a particular set of
negative dynamics that commonly
occur in support groups.
• Strategies help to shift the group
smoothly and naturally
22. Dynamics and Remedies
When you hear this Cue:
• Someone taking too long during
Opening Stories
Move to this Structure: Agenda
• 1-2 minute time limit for Opening
Stories
23. When you hear this Cue:
• A “downer” meeting needs to be closed
on a positive note
Move to this Structure: Agenda
• Closing
24. When you hear this Cue:
• People can’t stay in the present
Move to this Structure: Group
Guidelines
• Keep it in the here and now
25. When you hear this Cue:
• Someone or the group is negative
or hopeless
Move to this Structure:
Principles of Support
A principle can represent something we
can all strive for
26. When you hear this Cue:
Someone expresses intense feelings
(emotional stage reactions of feeling
overwhelmed, anger, grief)
Move to this Structure:
Emotional Stages Chart
• Acknowledge that strong emotions fall
within the predictable stages of emotional
response
27. When you hear this Cue:
• Someone relates a traumatic event
(violence, involuntary commitment, arrest,
disappearance, suicide, or traumatic loss)
Move to this Process: Hot Potatoes
A step by step way to address traumatic
events and close the discussion of the
trauma on a positive note
28. When you hear this Cue:
A basic issue or question can be clarified
by the group
Move to this Process: Group
Wisdom
Provide basic information or helpful and
constructive ideas to a group member,
share coping suggestions
29. When you hear this Cue:
A discouraged person needs new options
to solve a long-standing problem which
they keep bringing back to the group and
nothing suggested seems to work
Move to this Process: Problem
Solving
Moves person away from what doesn’t
work by offering new/different options to
approach their problem
30. Group Facilitators
• “Take charge” when shifting the group
and then step back to let the group do
its own work
• Shouldn’t sound or act like therapists
• Provide a safe, nurturing place
Editor's Notes
“
Trainer read the slide.
“Support Groups are ideally peer working groups of 10-15 people who are joined together for mutual understanding and support for coping with the challenges of caring for a loved one living with serious and persistent mental illnesses.
Support groups should be maintained at this size to avoid the dynamics that occur in an audience – that is, the larger the group the lower the verbal participation rate.
You may start out with less than 10-15 and that’s okay. No matter what size group you have, people are benefiting from meeting together and groups can grow.”
Trainer read the slide.
Trainer read the slide, then read the following:
“Leadership: Reaction to authority.
Boundaries: Who is ‘us’/who isn’t ‘us’.
Rules: How are we supposed to relate to each other and treat each other?
Goals: What are we here to do and what is our function?
Subject Matter: Why are we joining together, what is our common cause?
Groups (and individuals) can react to these issues cooperatively or resist the requirement for collaboration.
• One person in a dyad can challenge the authority of the other (as any parent of a 3 year old knows).
• A trio can regroup into 2 against 1.
• A work group can divide into cliques.
• An audience can suspend the rules and leave.
• A crowd can become unruly and turn into a mob.”
“What is the remedy and what must be present to counter the resistance and non-cooperation that can occur?
Simply, structure.
When a group encounters difficult feelings, new situations, and tough problems (which is the very nature of support groups) it is necessary to provide structure.
Structure provides both the individual and the group indispensable tools to handle most situations. These include:
1. A capable leader who will ask others to share responsibility for maintaining the agreements and norms that exist
2. Clear boundaries (open to anyone with a family member with a mental illness/closed to those who want to attend as observers of the support group)
3. Stating and enforcing the rules of how the group members relate to each other
4. Clarifying goals and purposes so they are well understood
5. Identifying the ‘common cause’ in a positive and optimistic manner
If these elements of structure are not in place, maintaining group cohesion becomes difficult.”
“Problem dynamics often are challenges to leadership and group goals:
People tolerate someone taking leadership away from the facilitator, or
The facilitator responds to these dynamics by becoming too dominating, or
The group becomes apathetic and depends on the facilitator to do all the work.
When this happens, negative group dynamics start to ‘rule’.
For group work to remain positive and cooperative, every individual in the group needs to feel
Valued
Important
Involved
Included
…and they need to feel that their participation partially accounts for the success of the group meeting.”
“So, how do we define a ‘well-functioning’ support group? Such a group:
• Has a Facilitator skilled in using various elements of structure to counter group resistance and engage participants in group work.
• Provides ways for the group to ‘do its own work’ so that the Facilitator does not dominate the meeting.
• Involves as many group members as possible in group discussions so that no one group member monopolizes the proceedings.
• Encourages participants to conform to shared behavioral guidelines and to observe them in a self-enforcing way.”
“Such a group:
Allows group members to feel they have contributed something to others in the group.
Provides strategies that will circumvent negativity and hopelessness.
Connects participants to resources and service organizations in their community, state and nation.
Makes group members feel they have directly benefited from attending the support group.”
Keep going – we’ll get there!
Take a break here if time allows before proceeding with the Cues and Remedies portion. If there isn’t time for a 10-15 minute break, have the participants stand and stretch, then have another trainer take over the presentation.
Direct the group back to slide (“a well-functioning support group”).
“Now you know why we need a model.”
