Running head: GROUP PROCESS ANALYSIS

Group Process Analysis

Crystal A. McMillon
Wayne State University
SW 4010
November 3, 2014

Imagine being in a support group with people struggling with the same challenges as
you? Imagine learning how to deal with similar problems through the eyes of someone else?

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Imagine learning from the experiences of other people? Group work is a goal directed activity
with small treatment and task groups aimed at meeting socioemotional needs and accomplishing
tasks (Toseland, 1984, p. 11).
There are many advantages of group therapy: empathy and feed back from multiple
sources, normalization, practice of new behavior, and socialization. A major benefit of group
therapy is validation. Being in a group with individuals struggling with the same challenges as
you, reliefs coexisting fears of judgments. You might not feel as comfortable expressing yourself
to an individual who has never experienced the same/similar problems or challenges as you, as
opposed to a support group, where in, everyone in the group has had similar problems and can
relate.
For the past several weeks, I have been working with a group called The Queens of
Hearts. This group is made up of five women: Heather Workman, Jennifer Cummings, Tracey
Brinker, Rhonda Kelley, and myself Crystal McMillon. Numbers provided by our professor
randomly assigned us into our groups. The first day of our groups interaction we created our
group name, logo, and rules. The name of our group is Queens of Heart, because our group
consists of females who all have similar career interest. In the social work profession, ones heart
must be filled with passion, which can help explain our logo of a red heart with a crown siting on
its edge.
The significance of our first session was getting to know our members and their
personalities. Of course we have some members who have more outgoing personalities and enjoy
the leadership position. As a whole, our group changed in a positive direction, we gained a little
more insight about one another. Overall, we are very calm and collective. In our group we share
leadership, making sure everyone participates during group with the expression of their ideas.

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All groups have their own expectations on how communication will run. To further assist with
how we will run our group we mutually agreed on our groups values and norms: cooperation
and mutual decision making, worth and dignity of all group members, good listening, positive
regard, and empowerment.
For our second session we formed a grief support group that focused on the loss of a
loved one. My role during this session was a client/member apart of group. This session was the
most interesting. Learning that when one talks about a real life experience, for example the loss
of my dog, even though I havent loss my dog, its easier to wrap yourself in those emotions. For
our grief support group members did well staying in character, I didnt know rather the stories
they were telling actually happened or where made up. The grief support group was my favorite
group session.
For our third session my role was that of the social worker. Our group was a support
group for battered women, and the purpose of this group was to display confrontation skills.
This session was challenging because the skills needed to properly perform the scenario were to
point out members flaws or weaknesses. It was difficult to pull out weakness against battered
woman because they are already such a venerable population. Some of the roles within this
scenario: battered elderly woman, a woman who was abused once and came solely to meetings
because of her friend, and a housewife whos husband is upset during football session and
expresses his anger against her. As a social worker, some ways to bring out their weaknesses
included informing them that no one deserves to be abused, and expressing to them that they are
caring more about the feelings of others instead of their own personal feelings. Focusing more
group members stepping outside of their situation and becoming the spectator, as well as
providing the proper resources that fit each of their individual needs. My group members were
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great at assisting me with ideas to help me display the proper confrontational skills.
Group goals are an essential factor for support groups. There are a myriad of goals for
group therapy, the primary goal is to help members realize that they are in control and
responsible for their own lives, actions, and choices. By interacting with other group members
and the facilitator, it helps one gain a greater understanding of him or herself. The facilitator of
the group focus is to help members share a common experience and support one another, while
being able to respond empathically. As a facilitator one must have good attending skills, using
nonverbal communication, and the use of declarative statements.
Social workers should be able to express empathy and identify with others feelings. From
lecture we learned that there are two imperative things that a social worker should always do: let
the client know that you hear the world from their point of view, and that you have positive
regard for them in their world. As a social worker, it is your role to draw things out of your
clients and provide them with resources. Its never about you, which is why the word I should
be removed from ones vernacular. Removing the word I from my vocabulary was the most
challenging. During group one is so focused on facilitating and touching on the proper skills that
should be displayed to the group, that they barely focus on the word I. In addition, as a group
leader, its extremely hard to listen to all of the group members thoroughly including their body
language.
Cohesiveness in groups is an on going process. The cohesiveness within my group was
high, we all worked together well towards our groups goals. As members we get along with one
another by welcoming and respecting individuals personal feeling of expression. Group norms
played into our high levels of cohesiveness, they keep each member with feelings of a sense of

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belonging. When it comes to the Queens of Heart, what is valued the most to me is that where
one of our members lack, another member is willing and able to fill in. Im very satisfied with
my groups experiences and performances.
Group climate is another essential factor when in comes to group settings. The Queens of
Heart exceed in this department as well. We have welcomed each other since our first session.
Culture of our group varies between individuals due to different values and beliefs, ethnic
background, experiences, etc. We have a homogenous group; this has helped build group culture
because as a group we can relate to one another by our common experiences and similar values.
Imagine having feelings of emptiness, where you feel as though no one can relate to you
are the challenges that you are facing. With a support group, all existing fears are changed.
People from all walks of life not only relate, but also delineate to you when you once thought
that no one could. Group support provides buttress to those who think that they are going
through their particular struggle alone. It reinforces the notion that strangers may be able to relate
to your situation more than your own family could. It provides validation. To conclude, group
work is a monolithic part of the social work profession. From our sessions in class, Ive gained
insight from a social workers and clients perspective. Personally, there is nothing that I see that
needs to be changed about our group. The Queens of Heart is a very diverse group that works
well together, which makes my experience even more enjoyable.

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Reference

Toseland, R., & Rivas, R. (1984). An Introduction to Group Work Practice. New York: Macmillan