hello this is Dr Grande welcome to my video on the stages of group counseling in this video I'll be discussing the characteristics and dynamics of the five stages of group counseling so I want to start by recognizing that there is more than one stage model meaning that not all theorists have broken group counseling stages into five distinct stages uh additionally there are several names for each stage so what I've done is I've chosen the five names that I think are the most popular and I've listed the other stages that are synonymous with those stages I've also chosen to discuss five distinct stages as that is the most popular Paradigm for recognizing stages in group counseling so the stages are forming that's also known as orientation initiation and exploration storming also known as transition conflict and confrontation Norm forming also known as cohesion and Plateau performing which is also known as working and production and adjourning which is also known as termination and mour so let's get started with forming in the forming stage which of course is the beginning of the group process the members begin to establish group Norms identify with with other members and begin to build cohesiveness there is a lot of dependency on the group facilitator or co- facilitators in the forming stage trust is low and defensiveness is high at this stage and risk taking is limited members are seeking safety members work in the stage to develop their identity and facilitators should set a positive tone provide structure discuss calls and encourage participation among the group members so I have here a few techniques that can be used during the forming stage there are several additional techniques of course but here's a few you can ask the members to introduce themselves or to introduce another member so in that case you would divide them up into diads or combination of diads and Triads and have one member introduce another member you can ask the members to describe themselves using a limited number of words for example you can say give me two words that best describe you you can ask group members what they hope to get from the group Andor what their concerns are about the group I particularly like this technique because it's direct and it moves right to the primary concern that many of the group members would be having also you can conduct a checkin or a check out by the way I think this is a good technique for just about every stage uh in group counseling and at this stage is important to explain the ground rules uh of the group and answer any questions that the group members may have moving on to the storming stage so first I want to recognize that this stage can occur several times in the course of a group I think often times it's conceptualized that once a group gets through through the storming stage that it won't be Revisited that the conflict will be resolved but actually uh it's not unusual for groups to come back to the storming stage or certainly exhibit some of the Dynamics of the storming stage several times the storming stage is marked by increased conflict frustration disillusionment and anxiety in the group members so as you can see uh it looks fairly unpleasant from their perspective and it can be tough not many people are comfortable openly dealing with conflict in this Stage Group members will seek control or dominance in the group so another way to put that is they'll be jocking for position uh trying to similar to the forming stage trying to find their identity in the group find their place in the group it's fairly common in the storming stage for group members to challenge the facilitator or co- facilitators and the facilitator should be non-defensive and deal openly with conflict try to model productive ways of dealing with the conflict that all the group members are dealing with I think it's also important to recognize here that we tend to think of confli as a negative characteristic but in the group process it's a crucial characteristic and it's the facilitator's job to regulate the conflict so it's not too great but also so it's not so small that the stage really never gets to develop moving on to the norming stage in this stage there's an increase observed in support acceptance risk-taking self-disclosure trust sensitivity and unity members seek closeness and emotional attachment to other group members so in this stage the Dynamics more or less settled down after the storming stage and the group is viewed by the majority of the group members if not all the group members as a much safer place facilitators should reinforce behaviors that build the trust that we would normally see in the norming stage they need to be alert to potential subgrouping subgroups of course are where certain members in the group form another group for example if you have nine members in a group and three formed together as a subgroup they kind of take on a separate identity and maybe a separate set of goals that work against the good of the group a facilitator should not only be alert to that but should disrupt the process of subgrouping subgrouping is not beneficial to counseling and Psychotherapy groups also facilitators should continually note to to the group that is say to the group that the group can accomplish more so in a way the facilitator should push the group along toward the next stage so moving on to the next stage next stage is the Performing stage individual goals become the focus of group efforts in the Performing stage member criticisms of each other become more supportive and more objective there's a possible regression to earlier stage Dynamics in this group and actually that's not unusual and it's not necessarily unhealthy but facilitators should be aware of it facilitators should also become less active as the group member activity increases the facilitator should also model appropriate methods of confronting some confrontation is going to occur in the stage even though this isn't the storming stage so it's important the facilitator model how confrontations can occur in a productive way in this stage facilitators comment on the group process and this is a particularly important point the group process and how and why groups work isn't supposed to be a mystery that's kept from clients or not mentioned a good facilitator will actively comment on what he or she believes is happening in the group process and how that group process may play out depending on what the group members do next additionally facilitators should address any dysfunctional Dynamics in the group some examples of dysfunctional Dynamics include subgrouping which I mentioned too much or too little self-disclosure we want to encourage self-disclosure but it has to be at the correct therapeutic level and facilitators also want to be on the lookout for excessive conflict in the stage that's a dysfunctional Dynamic at any stage but it's something that is prone to occur in the Performing stage although of course the highest likelihood for excessive conflict becoming a problem is the storming stage so moving on to the last stage the adjourning stage here group members experienced increas increased anxiety fear feelings of Abandonment and feelings of ambivalence and the ambivalence is usually strong feelings that they don't want the group to end and strong feelings that they do want the group to end or an acknowledgement that it has to end group members have a desire for closure and a desire to resolve unfinished business there is the potential in this stage for false relapse that is for group members to to appear more symptomatic than they really are to try to re-engage the group in the Performing stage to try to to um stretch out the group process and prevent the group from reaching uh termination risk taking and self-disclosure decrease in this stage as group members realize the group is coming to an end they don't typically want to take as many risks and self-disclose as much because they don't want to open up new business they have a desired resolve unfinished business but not typically a desire to create new business that has to be worked out in this stage facilitator should affirm the accomplishments of the group members it's hard to overemphasize that the group members will be looking for that affirmation and that's a very powerful technique that facilitators should employ facilitators should also review strategies that group members can use to maintain the progress they've made in group so hopefully throughout the group process several group members if not all the group members developed strategies that they can take into the outside world and this is a great opportunity for the facilitator to review those strategies so that the strategies will be fresh in the minds of the group members as they go outside the group facilitators should also summarize the group experience so this is in part this is reviewing the strategies that the group members can use to maintain progress but also summarizing the group experience in terms in terms of uh the group processes commenting on the group process noting what was very effective and maybe not so effective about the group process and trying to demonstrate to the group members how those process processes occur outside a group and how they can use those processes to continue to develop strategies in addition to the items I have listed here I think it's also important that facilitators give the group members a chance to say goodbye to one another uh as part of closure and facilitator should take care to make sure that the group members all have followup referrals if indicated meaning will the group members return or continue to individual therapy are they going to be referred to another group after this group ends or some other level of care that should all be spelled out carefully for each group member depending on the type of group and depending on the group members there may not be any referrals there might be a few or all the group members may need referrals and this is something of course as a facilitator you would know going into the group um based on who you're working with as group members and what type of group and what type of agency you're working in we tend to think of making sure that an appropriate referral is made as the responsibility of an individual counselor but it is also the responsibility of a group counselor so there's one last point I'd like to make I'll move back to the first slide as we look at the stages that I've just discussed here these five stages and I want to uh acknowledge that there are differing opinions regarding how distinct each of these stages are there are some theorists that look at these stages as very rigid and one stage must be more or less completely finished before moving on to the next and they're always sequential and On The Other Extreme there are theorists that believe that that the stages don't necessarily follow this order and more than one stage can exist at the same time my experience leads me to believe that the truth is somewhere in the middle meaning that all these stages do exist they more or less do fall this order but the transition from one to the next isn't always clear and it is possible for the stages to move out of order particularly uh it's not unusual for in the norming or performing stage to return back to the storming stage and then to progress back to norming and back to performing so it's not always clear from a facilitator perspective exactly what stage the group is in but often times it is at least somewhat clear and I believe these stages are useful for conceptualizing where group is what Dynamics you can expect to see based on that location and what actions you need to take as a group facilitator based on the stage I hope that you found this video helpful as always if you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to assist you