Preface

The previous title for our edited book was Group Work with Populations at Risk. That title, originally developed close to 30 years ago, no longer appropriately characterizes and fully captures the range of people who are served in groups, the benefits of group membership, and the role that groups play in promoting resilience and social justice. This new book, A Handbook of Contemporary Group Work Practice: Promoting Resilience and Empowerment in a Complex World, includes rewritten and updated chapters from our previous book, as well as many new chapters from practitioners with frontline practice experience.

The book is intentionally practice-oriented. It is geared toward students and practitioners in the helping professions, and emphasizes client and community empowerment, resilience, and challenging systemic marginalization and oppression. Those working with or intending to work with groups can read a chapter and immediately appreciate why the group is needed for the identified population, common themes that are likely to emerge, and how to help the group members achieve their goals in a supportive atmosphere that respects diversity. Most authors include case examples that provide readers with a window into how the group they write about actually functions. Resources are included with each chapter that will help readers replicate the group in their practice setting.

This book began taking shape during the COVID-19 pandemic and at a time when many groups were switching to virtual platforms like Zoom, a major adjustment for people attending groups and for many of us working with groups, individuals, and families. Some groups were never held virtually, some have returned to in-person meetings, and some are staying with the virtual format. While we are aware that this pandemic has largely ended for most, the use of virtual formats for group work continues and needs to be recognized as a viable means for group work practice.

This Handbook is organized into four parts. Part I provides readers with a necessary introduction to group work practice and lays the foundation for the chapters that follow. Beginning in Part II, contributors introduce to and describe for readers the groups they have facilitated.

Each chapter follows a similar format:

Population: Authors describe the client population and the challenges that can be met through group participation

Rationale for group work: Authors explain why group work is an appropriate intervention for the population

Structure of the group: Authors discuss considerations associated with: size, length, and frequency of meetings; open-ended or time-limited groups; open versus closed membership; and use of manual/curriculum.

Common themes that surface as members interact with one another: Authors distinguish common themes that surface in their groups, paying particular attention when relevant to issues associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Interventions: Authors identify skills and strategies they employ that promote the group’s work

Caveats: Authors highlight challenges associated with facilitating their groups and working with the client populations, as well as the need for continuing study and research, including, when relevant, the impact of COVID-19 and the transition to virtual groups.

Termination and evaluation: Authors describe issues associated with endings and assessing the impact of the group.

We were particularly interested in the common themes that surface in groups. While group leaders often know how to manage the practical aspects of facilitating a group, like recruiting, screening, starting, and ending, they often are not prepared for what actually happens when members work together in terms of what they discuss (content) and how they go about doing their work (process).

We also asked authors to describe the strategies they employ to help members collectively work together on their common challenges. In some cases, authors rely upon traditional “talk therapy,” encouraging members to share with one another the challenges they face and offering support, encouragement, and understanding.

In many others, authors utilize predetermined curricula to guide—but not dictate—their actions. They describe interventions that combine talking with education, group activities, and “homework,” all of which are designed to enhance members’ willingness and ability to work together and overcome the challenges they face. In some instances, members’ collective efforts involve advocacy and directly challenging social injustice and marginalization.

Underlying all the groups included in this book is the importance of empowerment, at both the individual and community levels, respect for diversity, and an emphasis on inclusion and equity at the micro (group) and macro (systemic) levels. For ease of reading, we distinguish three broad types of groups in Parts II, III, and IV, based upon the primary focus of members’ collective efforts: Groups that promote resilience and growth in response to challenging life transitions, in response to trauma exposure, and groups that challenge systemic marginalization and inequality. Within each part, chapters are organized around the developmental stage of group members, when possible beginning with children and adolescents.

The distinction between these types is often artificial. Individuals facing challenging life transitions often also have histories of trauma exposure. Groups that empower members in response to challenging life transitions and trauma also may encourage members to challenge systemic inequality that contributes to or explains their difficulties and therefore have a social justice component. The leader has an obligation to join members in pushing back against systemic inequality and social injustice and to advocate on their behalf when members are unable to do so.

In this first section, Carolyn Knight and Geoffrey Greif provide readers with an overview of the essential knowledge and skills associated with group work practice. In Chapter 1, “Group Work Practice: An Overview,” Knight describes the status of group work education and practice. Coverage of this modality in schools and programs in the behavioral, mental health, and helping professions has declined, underscoring the need for this book. Knight identifies the benefits of group membership, which are rooted in the concept of mutual aid, and explains the ways in which group work differs from other modalities. Group workers have two sets of clients—the group as a whole, and each member—and they understand that they must attend to the behaviors of each.

Knight also discusses the trauma-informed formulation and its relevance for and application to group work practice. Many of the groups described in this book include members with histories of trauma exposure, not just those in Part III. Members’ experience with trauma may be in the foreground and the focus of the group’s work, or in the background and associated with the challenges that members address through their participation in the group. In either case, a trauma-informed lens provides leaders with a valuable guide as they promote members’ growth and support of one another and avoid re-traumatization.

In Chapter 2, “Phases of Work and Associated Skills and Tasks in Group Work Practice,” Knight introduces readers to the core skills of group work practice. For ease of presentation, the skills are organized around stages of the group’s development. While a skill’s greatest impact may be felt at a specific stage of the group’s evolution, many will be useful throughout the life of the group.

In Chapter 3, “Promoting Resilience and Empowerment in Group Work Practice: Core Principles and Considerations,” Knight and Greif identify and expand upon issues and skills discussed previously in Chapters 1 and 2. Every group is unique and will reflect the distinctive style of the leader(s), the needs of the members, and the context within which the modality is offered. There are, however, issues common to any group that leaders should consider that enhance the likelihood that the experience will be beneficial to and meet the needs and foster growth and empowerment of its members.

Chapter 4, “A Dozen ‘Musts’ Students and Practitioners New to the Modality Should Know Before They Start Their Group Work Experience,” is, as the title suggests, geared to those who are new to the group modality. Greif and Knight synthesize information discussed in the previous three chapters. In a concise format, we provide suggestions and recommendations that prepare novice group workers both personally and professionally to engage in the modality. We hope that this chapter—in conjunction with the first three—will enhance readers’ willingness to facilitate groups and their confidence that they have the requisite skills and knowledge to do so.

The nine chapters in this section describe groups that help members successfully navigate changes they encounter in their everyday lives. The emphasis in each is on helping members develop more adaptive coping strategies and empowering them to face current and future challenges more successfully. This often includes fostering in members the ability to advocate for themselves and confront impediments they face that are associated with systemic marginalization.

Two chapters describe groups that empower members facing life transitions that are relatively common and likely to be experienced by most people: Chapter 12, “Mindfulness-Based Forgiveness Group for Older Adults” (Foulk et al.) and Chapter 13, “Group Work with Older Adults Grieving Loss” (Kane & Greif). Four chapters focus on life transitions that, while experienced by many individuals, often are more difficult to successfully surmount: Chapter 5, “Group Work with Individuals Experiencing First-Episode Schizophrenia” (Miller & Mason); Chapter 6, “Online Group Work with Young Women with Breast Cancer” (Nau); Chapter 7, “Group Work with Adults with Substance Use and Co-Occurring Mental Health Disorders” (Bartolomeo); and Chapter 11, “Group Work with Asian and Asian American Family Caregivers of Individuals with Dementia” (Lee & Cook). Finally, three chapters describe groups for members who are faced with transitions that may be inherently traumatic and often are associated with previous experiences with trauma: Chapter 8, “Group Work with Individuals Who Are Incarcerated” (Stuthmann); Chapter 9, “Group Work with Fathers Who Are Incarcerated or in Residential Treatment” (Greif); and Chapter 10, “Group work in a Shelter with Parents Experiencing Homelessness” (Knight).

The eight chapters in this section describe groups for individuals who have been exposed to one or more traumatic events. While their approaches differ, all authors emphasize the importance of providing members with a safe place to confront their experiences in a way that is empowering and that avoids re-traumatization. In addition to helping group members talk about their experiences, authors describe an array of creative strategies that help participants bond with one another, normalize and validate their experiences, develop more adaptive ways of coping, and grow from and move beyond their experience. Three chapters describe groups for children and/or adolescents who have experienced interpersonal victimization and/or exploitation: Chapter 14, “Group Work with Children Who Have Experienced Sexual Abuse” (Offerman et al.); Chapter 15, “Group Work with Children Who Have Experienced Abuse, Neglect, and Loss” (Coholic); and Chapter 16, Group Work with Children and Adolescents Exposed to Community Violence and Traumatic Loss” (Salloum & White).

Three more chapters are devoted to groups for members who also have experienced interpersonal victimization and/or exploitation in childhood and/or as adults: Chapter 17, “Experiential Group Work with Adult Survivors of Relational Trauma and Childhood Sexual Abuse” (Giacomucci & Briggs); Chapter 18, “Group Work with Survivors of Sex Trafficking” (Roe-Sepowitz & Dominguez); and Chapter 19, “Developing a Safe Space: Group Work with Women Survivors of Interpersonal Violence” (Skolnik & Skolnik). Finally, two chapters describe groups that help members confront and grow from exposure to community violence and war: Chapter 20, “Violence Prevention Group for Men Who Have Been Targets of Community Violence” (Ross); and Chapter 21, “Group Work with Combat Veterans: Vietnam through the Persian Gulf Era” (Waite et al.). In these five chapters, authors discuss how group participation empowers members to become more effective advocates for themselves, in addition to developing more adaptive coping skills.

Many of the groups described in Parts II and III include elements of social action, providing members with an opportunity to confront broader social forces that have contributed to the difficulties they face. The five chapters in this final section of the book are devoted to groups that specifically focus on empowering members to challenge social injustice in collaboration with or independent of the leader’s own activism.

Two chapters describe groups for children and/or adolescents who are members of marginalized populations: Chapter 22, “The Rainbow Club: Group Work with Elementary School LGBTQ+ Students and Allies” (Ovadia et al.); and Chapter 23, “Group Work with Boys and Young Men of Color: Building a Brotherhood for Collective Healing and Social Change” (Gilgoff et al.). Two chapters expound upon groups that empower adults to challenge systemic marginalization: Chapter 24, “The Invincible Black Women Group: Empowering Black College Women” (Jones et al.); and Chapter 26, “Group Work to Promote Leadership among Undocumented Immigrant Latinas” (Piñeros-Shields). Chapter 25 describes group work that strengthens and empowers communities: “Place-Based Group Work: Building and Strengthening Communities” (Meyer & Denlinger).

This is a new book, not a new edition of our previous text. We believe our re-envisioned text addresses how and why groups are so helpful and identifies core skills that leaders need to maximize the benefits to members of group participation. Readers will come away from reading this book not only with an understanding of how to replicate the groups that authors describe, but also with the ability to apply the principles, skills, and interventions more generally to their specific practice setting and the unique needs of their clients.