Essay An Intervention Helpful for Group Process

Abstract

Over the previous years, psychiatric public workers have been leading group involvement for individuals suffering from substance abuse ailments. This proposal aims at shedding light on concrete features of carrying out collective intervention for people suffering from substance abuse illnesses and expertise needed by the group counselor for carrying out the same and advantages of joining group mediations.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Introduction

Public work therapy is a vital element in treating people with ailments brought about by substance misuse. Public workers along with other multi-disciplinary group members perform a commendable work at drug abuse therapy hospitals.

Group treatment is a form of therapy where emotionally troubled individuals are grouped, led by a therapist in this case the group leader to bring about change in the individuals. This aids the substance abusers to improve their communal operations via focused collective skills and also enabling them to efficiently deal with individual, collective and communal challenges. Studies have shown that individuals with substance abuse disorders recover quickly through group interventions. This intervention looks forward to offering therapeutic services to substance abusers.

Short History of Collective Intervention

The founder of a group intervention is known as Joseph Hersey Pratt. He offered therapeutic services to a group of eight individuals in Greater Boston, suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis in 1905. He encouraged the patients to share their challenges after noticing how the experience had impacted their emotional situation. This kind of treatment yielded positive results. Collective treatment was also practiced on discharged patients and prisoners in psychiatric sanatoria in 1936. This process was initiated by Louis Wender and Paul Schilder. The process was, later on, stretched to people battling psychosis, liquor reliance, and troubled kids. Collective therapy was conducted on emotionally distressed battle victims of World War II.

Frequency and Impact of Substance Use disorder

Alcohol and abuse of other substances cost the United States of America 193 billion dollars yearly as per the 2011 findings by U.S Integrity Department. Drug abusers are not only associated with violence, crime, and unproductivity but they also suffer from various illnesses such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, lung diseases, and mental health problems like bipolar diseases, nervousness, schizophrenia, and depression (Mertens, et., al 2003). Research has established that many adolescents who abuse drugs have a history of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. Whenever an abuse is suspected the victim should be referred to social services where a group intervention can be done. Drug abusers also suffer mental health problems like depression making them sad and tired, anxiety leading to nervousness, an anti-social personality disorder that makes them unable to form relationships, and bipolar disorder which changes their moods from happiness to an extreme feeling of hopelessness (National Committee for Behavioral Well-Being,2014)

Group Therapy

Group treatment is deliberated as one of the most successful psychosocial therapeutic modalities carried out in hospitals to treat individuals with mental and emotional health problems. As the group leader, I equally actively participate in assisting the members of the group to fully understand their challenges and collective problems. The group debate is based on the present challenges amongst individuals and others. This group intervention aims to reduce symptoms for instance adverse signs, deprived drive and improving public operations, enhance modification, and improve interactive association skills.

Group creation

Certain comprehensive values basic group involvement is listed below:

• Choice of individuals: Choosing persons for group therapy will be founded on the resemblance of problems
• Group membership number: This collective therapy will be conducted with the highest number of 8 members
• Seating organization: adequate chairs will be available to accommodate all the members. A chair must be left unoccupied in case a particular member of the group is absent. Patients and therapists’ chairs must be similar.
• Rate of group meetings: Group meetings will be held once every week or 2-3 times a day based on the group members' needs. Daily group meetings will last 40 minutes while those conducted weekly will last for 80 minutes.
• Duration: The period of group therapy will be stretched by a maximum of 20 sessions or 5 months.
• Age bracket: The age bracket of the group members will be fairly similar;18-25. The age difference will not be too big.

Stages involved in developing the group

The following stages of group development will be used:

1. Forming
   Familiarizing the group members with one another, focusing on acceptance, and learning more concerning the group. This phase has uncertainties as members struggle to attain their positions and learn the group’s techniques and regulations.
2. Norming
   The group creates togetherness and pledge. Eventually, members learn techniques of working together, set of rules for desired conduct.
3. Storming
   Members start to have conflicts with one another as they refuse to complete responsibilities assigned to them. Members challenge their differences and the process of managing the conflict develops to be the emphasis of consideration.
4. Performing
   The group focuses on working together to accomplish its mission by developing their abilities to work together.
5. Adjourning
   This is the stage of separation as the group disperses.

Practical phases of leading groups

The group members need to follow the group regulations in line with group therapy involvement.

For the group members

1. The members must be familiar with the group’s drive: aim at meeting together to deliberate their challenges.
2. Group discipline: Discretion, uniformity, and reliability. Members should strictly follow the routine when attending group meetings. Matters discussed in the group should not be kept a secret.

For the group leader

1. The group leader will take part in recording the issues discussed during the session
2. The group leader should have a personal session with the members of the group before the meeting begins
3. The group leader must aware of her attitude towards the members of the group before the session begins as this may affect the interaction with members of the group.

Roles of the group leader

Below are the powers of a group leader in a psychiatrist facilitated group mediation:

• Directive method: Has to confirm that every member participates in process of group intervention.
• Extensional: The group leader has to expound further on new topics that arise during the session when necessary.
• Informative: As the leader of the group, I will acknowledge any slight improvement of my group members and avoid misinterpretation.
• Sharing knowledge to group members
• Responsible for creating and ensuring participation so that the group's objectives are achieved.
• Listening to members’ opinions and handling organization agenda.

Skills required for the group

As a group leader offering therapeutic services in a hospital setting, I must be aware of the hospital needs as well as of the group members. The basic expertise essential for therapy are:

1. Skills to establish a determined relationship; must-have skills that will enable me to gain the trust and acceptance of the group and keeping my relationship with the members at a professional level.
2. Skillful in helping the group realize the objectives and judging the developmental level of the group
3. Skills in engaging the group: must determine, interpret, assume, and modify her character with the group, helping the member to assign duties amongst themselves and taking responsibility for their actions.
4. Evaluation skills: The group leader records all the processes of development as the session proceeds, use the group records to educate the group members on their experiences as this enables them to improve.
5. Skills in developing a program: Guide the group towards understanding and realizing their needs, guide the group towards creating programs they need to ensure their needs are met.
6. Skills in dealing with the group’s feelings: control your feelings and approach every new situation with a great extent of independence, help the group to understand their feelings both good and bad.

Conclusion

Individuals involved in group intervention are far much better compared to those who rely on pharmaceutical and personal intervention methods in terms of their relapse rate. Pharmacological and group interventions are considered natural remedies for SUD treatment. The main reason why group intervention is the most effective way of treatment of SUD is that individuals are likely to abstain and focus on their path to recovery and group changes are comparatively steady.