Leading Structured Groups

"Without a doubt the best training course I have ever attended, although there was a lot of information, it was presented and delivered in such a way it seemed to be less! Thoroughly enjoyable, relevant & helpful for my future job role."
Stef Young, Activity session leader

In 3 days you will cover a great deal:

This 3-day course aims to teach the knowledge and skills necessary to lead structured groups. That is, groups with a syllabus to cover, definite areas to explore, or knowledge and skills to impart.

It is a very participative and practical course in which the emphasis is on the course members having the opportunity to try out techniques. The accent is on the processes and skills of group leadership, rather than the specific therapeutic content that a particular group might contain.

Background and rationale

Most people in the helping professions will find themselves considering running, or actually running therapeutic groups from time to time. And yet, leading groups involves very different skills from those used in one-to-one work.

The course is designed for all those who are considering running or actually running structured groups. Managers are welcome, but should be aware that the course is aimed at practitioners with direct client contact. It is a multidisciplinary course, lasting three days.

Course structure:

1. Introductions, an overview of group work and the nature of the group work the delegates are involved in, the layout of the course, and exercise 1a which requires delegates to present what they know about Groupwork … in small groups.
2. Delegates work in pairs or trios (depending on how they’ll be running their groups in real life) to prepare a group they will run at some stage during the 3-day course.
3. First pair/trio runs their group. The appropriate number of delegates act as group-members and the remainder of the delegates act as objective observers. The observers will give the account of what went on, later.
4. Observers give their feedback, confining themselves predominantly to things that went right. Similarly both group members and group leaders feedback their perceptions.
5. Stages 3 and 4 are repeated, to enable all delegates to experience each of the three different roles (group leader, group member, observer).
6. The tutor delivers coaching and feedback and a certain amount of prepared didactic input (lectures, ‘tips’ and ‘secrets’) in parallel with the (guided) feedback from Observers. This is supported by the course workbook.
7. The final afternoon is spent on the triathlon (an inter-group competition consisting of Presentation, Quiz and Future Plans) followed by registration and feedback. By this stage delegates are relaxed about the idea of ‘games for a good purpose’.

What this course will give you:

• You will have the experience of preparing and running a group in a setting where you receive constructive feedback from both colleagues and the course tutor.
• You will experience what it is like to be a delegate on a course run by your colleagues. As much as any amount of practise, this role-reversal can be the biggest ‘eye-opener’ for delegates.
• You will have the chance of being part of a team of dispassionate observers while colleagues run a group. Dispassionate but insightful, in that you will be required to report back ‘what works’.
• You will have access to the insights and didactic input of the tutor, an experienced group leader.
• You will be part of what is usually a high-energy, high morale event, where delegates pose and solve problems for themselves and each other, and make plans about applying what is covered to their future.

See our Training Planner for more information.

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