Reference no: EM133664835
Discussion Post: Group Leadership Skills
Leading a group can be challenging. It is important to remember that within the group, the social worker does much more than simply guide a conversation. Skills such as attending, synthesizing thoughts, providing resources, clarifying, and resolving conflict are all used to support process and treatment. The social worker is constantly assessing individual members and the overall group and determining the level of power and influence to exert. Even concrete, organizational actions such as opening and closing a session take skill and finesse.
In this Discussion, you observe a social worker engaging with a group and evaluate their leadership skills based on those described in the course text.
To Prepare
1) Review the Learning Resources on leadership and reflect on the leadership skills required of social workers facilitating groups.
2) Access the Social Work Case Studies media and navigate to the Levy Family case. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the video. This video shows Jake Levy in a group session with fellow veterans.
3) While watching the video, consider the leadership skills of the social worker facilitating the veterans' support group.
Task
Post your evaluation of the group social worker's leadership skills in the Levy video, using at least two items from each of the three categories found in the Toseland and Rivas chapter (facilitation of group processes, data gathering and assessment, and action). Suggest another way the social worker might have initiated the group conversation.