Patrick
B. McGinnis, PhD, LMHC
Psychotherapy, Sex Therapy, Couple's Counseling, Addictions Counseling, Psychological & Psychosexual Assessment and Polygraph Testing
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Psychotherapy, Sex Therapy, Couple's Counseling, Addictions Counseling, Psychological & Psychosexual Assessment and Polygraph Testing |
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UNDERSTANDING GROUP DYNAMICS Patrick B. McGinnis, PhD, LMHC
In mathematics, the whole is no greater than the sum of its parts. However, this is not true with group dynamics. A group has the potential of being much more than the sum of its parts when it consists of motivated individuals. Developing an effective group process is important. This will maximize group dynamics and foster improved communication and personal growth.
What is a Group? A group comprises at least two people in an interdependent relationship. The behaviors and perceptions of all group members affect the relationship. Each member’s task is to express, listen to, and subsequently modify his own attitudes and opinions. An effective group has clear goals, meets interpersonal needs of its members and is continuously dynamic and changing. Such a group can rise to heights that are difficult or impossible for an individual to achieve.
Group Process A group functions well only if its group process is effective. It is each individual’s struggle to try and get personal needs met within the framework of a group goal. This process mimics life outside the group. Members learn how to get their needs met (meet their personal group goals) in such a way that the other members may likewise get their goals met. This is a highly dynamic learning process. At times the process will be uncomfortable, sparked with anger, resentment, and anxiety. As these uncomfortable issues are worked through, depths of mutual support and acceptance develop between members. Understanding and acceptance develop through communication, including the ability to be present for, and honestly evaluate, feedback offered by other members. Personal growth is stimulated in this environment.
Group Phases A group goes through four phases. In the orientation phase, members fear being engulfed or controlled by the group; this is usually a confusing time of high anxiety and low self-disclosure; members regress to an important developmental stage and may exhibit completed or uncompleted developmental tasks; group norms are developed that help contain fears and anxieties; members become familiar with other members; leaders are identified; the group process and task are defined. Members often resort to advice giving.
In the reactive phase, members display unevenness in their commitment to the group; emotionality and distortions in perception take over; anger and sadness are readily expressed, shared and accepted; members begin to explore their own and other’s emotional reactions within meetings.
During the working phase, the group works toward common goals by honestly sharing thoughts and feelings; the group feels safe and free interaction occurs; members trust and appreciate each other; members gain flexibility to understand themselves more completely in relation to each other; members become increasingly interested more in the group interactions than in the problems that brought them to group initially. Members develop confidence in their ability to tolerate anxiety and examine problems themselves, the group facilitator may intervene only occasionally to keep the group focused on its task.
The termination phase begins when a member begins to realize that they have gained as much as they can gain from the group. Feelings are evoked around: death and mortality, separation and abandonment, and hope (new beginning), and personal mastery; the focuses moves toward reminiscing, evaluating and summarizing the group experience, and closure-a joyous and painful experience.
Copyright © 1991 Patrick B. McGinnis, PhD. All rights reserved.
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