I might come back to this subject, but for now I just want to explain what kinds of groups we conduct and how we do it. Like I said before, there are different types of groups that we can conduct. We do four groups a day. The groups that are required every day are goal groups, psycho-education groups, wrap up groups, and one of our choice. Each group must be thirty minutes long.
Goal Group
This group takes place at the start of the day. This gives the residents the opportunity to make goals for their day. This may include simple things such as "have a good day, follow staff directions, be respectful to staff and peers," etc. They must also pick one of their therapeutic goals to work on for the day, something personal that they should work on while they are living in the facility. This many include such things as "increase social interactions, decrease irritability and depressive mood, implement effective problem solving skills."
Wrap-Up Group
This group takes place at the end of the day. This gives the residents the opportunity to state whether or not they reached their daily goals. This also lets them reflect on the day and discuss positive and negative events that occurred.
Psycho-Education Group
This group may consist of either discussions or activities or both. I try to hold discussions to let the residents express themselves personally. They can talk about many different topics that can apply to them, such as how they deal with anger, sadness, disappointment, frustration, and other negative emotions. They can also talk about if they're way of coping with negative emotions is appropriate.
Activities may be on certain subjects, such as - team building, trust building, stress management, cooperation, concentration and focus, problem-solving skills, improving self-esteem, communication, anger management, teamwork, relaxation, stereotypes, positive and negative thinking, conflict resolution, and coping skills. After an activity I try to hold a discussion about it. I develop questions that apply to the topic as well as the activity. Such as, “did this activity frustrate you?”
Choice Groups
Community Group
These groups are usually discussions only. This group should be things that can improve their community, AKA their unit or dorm. Occasionally have discussions about things that are troubling residents in the dorm. This could be things that apply to everyone or to specific people. This is good for them to discuss how they can improve the situation so they can have a tighter community. This is also a time for the MHC to bring up any issues they’ve had in the dorm and ask the residents for input. You may hold a group occasionally to talk about possible changes in structure in the dorm. For example, if the way the schedule is conducted is not working out, I like to talk about it and come up with a new plan that works for all the residents and the MHCs.
On Mondays it’s good to hold a discussion about things they want to accomplish that following week. I write down what they say. These things can be specific to their therapy goals, or they can be simple things they want to personally accomplish. For example, one resident once stated that he wanted to “finish the book I’m reading.” This is also a great time to talk about how their weekend was and try to resolve any issues they may have had over the weekend that are still there. Furthermore, as an MHC who has not worked over the weekend, it’s a great way to see how their weekend was. They will share important information with you, including if someone was put into a restraint, lost their level, etc. Similar to the group on Mondays, on Fridays it’s good to hold a group to wrap up the week. In this group you should go around the room and let each resident discuss how their week was. Have them share personal accomplishments and failures. I read to them what I wrote down at the begining of the week and see if they were able to do what they had wanted. The residents also enjoy giving each other positive and negative feedback as to how they thought their peers did during that week. This gives them the chance to praise those they feel need praise, and also give suggestions to those who may have struggled during the week. Residents are usually very talkative in this group, they usually have much they want to reflect on about their week and want to talk about it with the group.
Socialization Group
This group is usually discussions only. Good topics include – interacting with and respecting adults, interacting with the opposite sex, giving compliments, giving criticism, appropriate ways to behave in public, and relationships.
Art, Music, and Fun Group
This group involves activities they can do together, like playing games, sports, and listening to music. I rarely do these groups because they are less structured than the other groups. I have learned that it is much better to have structure in order to keep the residents focused.
Life Skills Group
This group involves things that teenagers should know and be aware of to help them through life. Most of the time you can take a life skills group and it will somehow apply to everyone’s individual treatment goals. Topics can include – job interviews, managing money, doing laundry, having good sleep habits (waking up on time, getting enough rest), academic responsibility, asking for help, making deadlines and appointments, time management, organization and cleanliness, etc.
I usually use websites for group activities to come up with groups. Sometimes I come up with groups and discussions on my own, especially if it's on a topic that the group is currently struggling with. After doing this for several months I started to run out of ideas, it's hard to think of unique activities to do two times a day for months at a time. Once some of my residents were moved either to different dorms or were discharged I've started to reuse groups that I used months ago. This seems to work out decently, any resident that already did it does not remember what it was. I think there are two things that make conducting groups very difficult: 1) developing group ideas, and 2) getting the residents to sit in a room for thirty minutes to conduct group. I would like it much more if we could either change the amount of time that group needs to be, which will not change because of Medicaid standards, and come up with more resources to develop group topics. This is a complaint I have had for quite some time now.
