Individual Group Facilitation

Overall, I thought that facilitating a group session on my own was a wonderful learning experience. It seemed like a daunting task at first, but co-facilitating a group a few weeks earlier, really helped make this seeem much more manageable. Not having another person to bounce ideas off of was difficult in the beginning stages, but after doing some research on my topic of money management, I was easily able to build a group protocol that I was pleased with. I was much more comfortable with creating an entire group protocol this time around. The most difficult part for me was trying not to be too broad with what it was I was targeting in my group, and finding a way to make sure that all of my activities focused in on the same thing rather just on money management as a whole concept. Running the group on my own was very enjoyable. Because of the questions that I posed to my group members, I was able to learn a lot about how they all think about money. This was interesting to discuss because this is not a topic that is often explicitly discussed. There were many differing opinions that were shared during the group session, which was interesting, but it was also helpful to hear new ideas in some cases. There were other points during our discussion in which we found common themes on how we approach managing our money as students who have loans. I think that I did a good job of asking thought provoking questions that brought about discussion that was pertinent to us as students who have to manage our money. Based on the questions and responses during the group, I felt that EHP and MOHO were good choices for frames of reference fro this group. I also feel I did a decent job of sharing different resources for money management with my group and highlighting how group members though both similarly and differently from one another. I could have done a better job about elaborating on the comments my group members were making, sharing more of my own personal experiences, and transitioning from one part of the group into the next. Initially, I was uncertain if my group members would be willing to share on a topic that some people find to be a more private matter, but I think that by approaching it as a conversation about motivators and barriers to saving our money, rather than talking in amounts, really helped my group to open up during the discussion portions of the session. Having had the opportunity to experience making a protocol and facilitating a group for my peers, I now have a better understanding of how to read a group based on what is occurring during the session in order to determine when it is time to transition from one part of the group to the next. 

Generally speaking, I thought I could have been more clear about what expectations I had for the group as their leader. I failed to mention that their comments were welcomed, but not required. My activities were adequately prepared, but I do feel that I could have asked some of my questions in a more direct and straight forward manner. I could have better supported my group members in the processing portion of group by helping them to probe deeper when trying to elicit their feelings about the session. Many times I would just comment on their thoughts as being good, but I could have asked more about what they shared. Additionally, my summary portion of the group could have been a bit more articulate. I could have done a better job at summarizing what all was covered during the group session. I think I did a good job during the sharing, generalizing, group motivation, limiting of the setting, and application components of our session. Overall, I really enjoyed this learning opportunity and feel that though I had some areas that were stronger than others, I can certainly grow in all arears of facilitating an occupational therapy group.