Leading a Group

[LauraH8214]

Hello,

I am leading a group at an inpatient facility for males with severe mental illness. Typical topics include making healthy food choices, social skills, gender norms, etc. The group seems to rely too much on powerpoint or a simple handout. I am looking to make it more engaging for attendees. Any ideas/resources would be much appreciated.

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[PsyDr]

If you have a topic, PowerPoint, or handout you are doing it wrong.

Check out the guidelines from one of the group psychotherapy professional organizations.

Or watch the 1980s movie “the dream team”

 

[Justanothergrad]

Wait.


PowerPoint for group??

 

[BuckeyeLove]

My predecessor would show old vhs tapes from the 80s. Some of which discussed "How to cope with your Multiple Personalities." So.....that was happening.

 

[Justanothergrad]

My predecessor would show old vhs tapes from the 80s. Some of which discussed "How to cope with your Multiple Personalities." So.....that was happening.

Please tell me you still have some of those tapes..

It makes me want to create a course about "myth, misperception, and pseudoscience in psychology". Part history...part current events.

 

[LauraH8214]

psycho-educational group...but yes he has in fact been doing powerpoints and now it is my turn and I would like to change things.

 

[AbnormalPsych]

If you have a topic, PowerPoint, or handout you are doing it wrong.

For inpatient, yes to the later two. For sure. I find that having a topic can be useful for some inpatient groups. It just depends.

I am curious if there has been feedback from patients on the PowerPoints and handouts. Or what you've noticed. I've never known anyone to do this.

 

[LauraH8214]

The group says it is boring. To provide some more information:The is composed of individuals with severe mental illness. I am thinking the group might benefit from a discussion about social skills, but with little direction and me being a first time group leader at this facility it is challenging to know how to execute. My background with groups is interpersonal process not so much psycho-education.

 

[WisNeuro]

Psychoeducation is pretty much the first step of most therapeutic interventions. Wasn't that a big part of your work, at least initially, in grad school?

 

[PsyDr]

Psychoeducation is pretty much the first step of most therapeutic interventions. Wasn't that a big part of your work, at least initially, in grad school?

If you're referring to the orientation aspect of CBT, there are aspects of psycho-education, I've never seen this as the sole focus.

 

[WisNeuro]

If you're referring to the orientation aspect of CBT, there are aspects of psycho-education, I've never seen this as the sole focus.

More that psychoeducation is a huge part of the treatment of any diagnosable mental illness. It's never the sole focus, but it's a huge component in the scaffolding of treatment. A psychologist without the ability to effectively engage in psychoeducation, has a truck sized hole in their education and employability.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

There are workbooks devoted entirely or almost entirely to social skills training in SMI. I've gone through portions of one before on an inpatient CMHC unit, and the participants seemed to enjoy it and respond well. There were no handouts that I can recall, and definitely nothing in powerpoint; just some writing on the dry-erase board and lots of role-playing.

 

[PsyDr]

More that psychoeducation is a huge part of the treatment of any diagnosable mental illness. It's never the sole focus, but it's a huge component in the scaffolding of treatment. A psychologist without the ability to effectively engage in psychoeducation, has a truck sized hole in their education and employability.

I think we basically agree. It is clear from empirical data and professional guidelines that explanation of professional ideas in an understandable manner is a key component to assessment, consultation, and treatment.

However:

There are "treatment" groups that are only psychoeducational. No other component of the intervention. There is claim that these are evidence based as a treatment for a wide range of disorders. The actual efficacy literature I've reviewed are not consistent with the psychoed groups actually being effective.

Given what we know about behavioral models of learning, it is unsurprising that giving someone information is insufficient to cause change. Society at large tacitly endorses this idea by having performance based requirements for such things as drivers' licenses.

And "healthy eating choices" is literally an example for "topics you might know about, but are not within your professional education so don't talk about that with attorneys" in one of the forensics books.

 

[WisNeuro]

And "healthy eating choices" is literally an example for "topics you might know about, but are not within your professional education so don't talk about that with attorneys" in one of the forensics books.

I imagine it largely depends on the context that you discuss it. E.g., discussing deficiencies in certain vitamins and minerals and how they can adversely affect cognition and such.

But yeah, I'm not a fan of 100% psychoed interventions, but pretty much any group treatment should have some significant psychoed components considering the misinformation and false assumptions many people have about their disorders.

 

[LauraH8214]

There are workbooks devoted entirely or almost entirely to social skills training in SMI. I've gone through portions of one before on an inpatient CMHC unit, and the participants seemed to enjoy it and respond well. There were no handouts that I can recall, and definitely nothing in powerpoint; just some writing on the dry-erase board and lots of role-playing.

This response was helpful. Thank you.

 

[kestrelcry]

I ran a group in a similar setting. One of the challenges I ran into was wildly differing levels of cognitive functioning within the group. Some folks could have a good discussion, others were doing well to show up and do a basic check-in. Having worksheets that allowed for both thoughtful filling in about the topic of the group and coloring proved popular.
Social skills was a popular topic in my group as well.

 

[BuckeyeLove]

I've found Yalom's Inpatient Group Psychotherapy text to be very helpful over the years. I go back and reread it every other year or so, and always find new insights/areas that have popped up in my inpatient practice that I can use for future groups.