This paper is due at Week 13.

This paper should be between 7 and 9 pages (double-spaced, 12-point font, minimum of 9 data sources, two of which do not derive from the 462 syllabus).

Use of self is essential to clinical social work practice. Understanding how one chooses to use oneself in clinical situations (differential use of self), or not, is essential to the evolution of one’s skills as a social group worker, and your professional maturation.

Reflecting on what drives one’s clinical choices is the focus of this paper and the hallmark of reflective and intentional clinical practice.

Please honor your colleagues by not revealing information that might make them readily identifiable.

For the past 12 weeks you have participated in an experiential group in this course as both a member and a co-facilitator. Construct a narrative that describes this group over the course of its life span- from pre-group planning to termination. Drawing from literature (9 total sources and two that do not come from the 462 syllabus), integrate the following themes into your discussion about the experiential group. Each element must be supported with evidence from a text or peer reviewed journal article.

1. This group began with a decision making process during pre-group planning. Explore this group’s decision making process with regard to purpose, type of group, structural elements like the guidelines for group engagement, fidelity to beginning and ending group on time, guidelines for engagement, group development, roles, recurring manifest and latent content, and differing styles of facilitation. How did these decisions impact the group’s development, sense of cohesion and safety, and ability to execute to the stated purpose?
2. If you could go back to any moment in time during the experiential, what would it be, why, and how would you intervene differently if you were the group worker? If you co-facilitated this session, what would you do differently and why and what impact might this “do-over” have on the group?
3. Reflecting on this group, what impact did agency or organizational micro or mezzo policies have on this group?
4. How did this group address diversity/difference/race? How did these themes emerge and when? What impact did these conversations have on the group? If differences were not addressed over the eight sessions, how do you make sense of this?
5. What impact does not addressing difference have on a group’s development, cohesion, and evolving safety?
6. Explore any ethical concerns that arose during this group. Discuss them in relation to specific standards from the NASW Code of Ethics and the IASWG Standards for Group Work Practice). How would you have addressed these ethical concerns if you were the worker? If no ethical concern arose, what is one ethical concern that is specific to group work practice and connect this to both the IASWG Standards for Group Work Practice and the NASW Code of Ethics.
7. Reflect on your development as a group worker having participated in this experiential group? What have you learned about group work practice, about yourself, and about the ways in which people strive to connect with each other?