Yesterday, I got the privilege of facilitating a small group on health management and maintenance- more specifically on exercise. Exercise is near and dear to me, so this choice was a natural one for me. As with my last group facilitation experience, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation that transpired during the session. I enjoyed getting to hear the various perspectives each member had on exercise- i.e., what it looks like for them, what makes it difficult and/or easier to do, etc. Though public speaking makes me very nervous, I do think assignments like this one are very beneficial. I need to get more group experience under my belt for when I go to Greenhouse ministries on my level 2 fieldwork, and maybe when/if I decide to work in a mental health setting. Mental health is definitely a setting I could see myself in, but only time, and well, fieldwork, will tell.
Here's my evaluation of my performance.
Introduction: I let the group know what the topic for the session would be, and had the members perform a warm up activity where they drew the biggest barriers to exercise for them. I think I communicated the purpose of the group adequately, but there was room for improvement!
Activity: I did feel adequately prepared for the activity, but I soon found out that I did not do a good job articulating directions for the activity. I should have been more clear and checked to make sure each group member understood before beginning. It's funny (not) that active listening was what my last group experience was over. Maybe I should heed my own advice.
Sharing: Luckily, my group was not one I had to pry words out of; however, I did my part to give structure to the sharing and provide both verbal and non-verbal feedback to each member when they were speaking. So, I did help facilitate this, but my group's conversation was a well oiled machine before I lifted a finger, or lip to speak.
Processing: I think I succeeded in digging deeper to the emotions behind what each member was saying, but the conversation did not get into deep territory by any means. Future sessions certainly could though as the emotional components of exercise, like body image, could certainly come up.
Generalizing: I pointed out the common barriers that the group members had to exercise as well as the common motivators for them to exercise. For example, two members said accountability helped them while Netflix was a hindrance. I think this has the potential to create comfort and cohesion within the group.
Group motivation: There was no shortage of this here, and I don't think that was because of my doing. It's hard to comment on this for that reason; however, I do think that I fanned the flame once it began, but discussion was hot already. Bad joke.
Limit setting: I can't comment on the other groups, but the green group really has great chemistry. This fostered a really positive environment, but also made side conversations and distractions much more likely and plentiful. I think I could have done more to be directive, but I think it could have possibly done more harm than good.
Application: I had each group member discuss how they can overcome the barriers to exercise they listed earlier in the session. I also talked about how exercises could be modified based on a client's diagnosis. I think I could have made this a larger part of the conversation though.
Summary: I could have done a better job summarizing what we learned and what goals were met at the end of the session. I did so briefly, but there was definitely room for improvement. I think my nerves could have definitely contributed to this.
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