Group Techniques

Book excerpt: This sourcebook of techniques, designed to supplement theory or practicum books, explores the place and the usefulness of techniques, as well as their abuse. The authors hope to stimulate creativity in the readers approach to group work and to encourage group leaders to develop their own therapeutic styles. They there-fore offer this book as an outline for leaders to build upon in adapting techniques for their own situations, not as a cookbook of recipes to be rigidly followed. The goal is not to catalog techniques for every conceivable situation, but to teach leaders how to adapt the techniques presented and to develop others sensitively, crea-tively, and appropriately..The authors primarily assume that techniques are means, not ends, and that they are fundamentally at the service of the client, not the therapist. The book is especially strong on the leaders executive functions in the group: maneuvering and facilitating the group to optimize its effectiveness and relying on the members themselves to do the majority of the therapy. In addition, the authors hope to stimulate interest in the philosophical and ethical dimensions of group work, and they make reference to the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) ethical guidelines when relevant.