Critique of the process
As the chairperson of the group, I started the meeting with my co-facilitator by establishing the rules and informing members that everything to be discussed should be confidential. The topic of the discussion that was to be handled on that day was stress. My fellow facilitator engaged the other group members by asking them to introduce themselves, and say anything they felt would be important for all members.
This was meant to help them to remember their early recollections. My objective was to be frank and inculcate confidence among group members. This would be in line with the Adlerian’s theory, where at stage one, establishment and maintenance of the relationship among member are critical (Bitter & Corey, 2011).
This implies that I would cooperate and establish mutual respect at the initial stage of the discussion. Engaging group members to participate gives them an opportunity to work with confidence, and to make the relationship between the facilitator and a member stronger (Bitter & Corey, 2011).
At times, I tried to engage group members to enable them to realize their thought processes. According to Adlerian, self-assessment is crucial. A personal understanding of life and the effects of one’s lifestyle affects his or her current situation is important (Bitter & Corey, 2011). The theory was applied to recognize individuals in their cultural and social contexts. This was to make them recognize the sources of stress.
In addition, engaging them would help them counteract the effects of stress. I tried to make them understand that their perceptions of issues could be changed to make them not feel as if they were negatively impacted by their stress. I involved all the group members for the reason that they could feel that they were part of the group. However, the process was not effective because some members did not trust me despite the fact that I had reaffirmed to them that their information could be confidential.
In addition, some members did not participate fully, although I was giving every participant a chance. This is also evident in theory because it emphasizes the role of other factors in shaping behavior, apart from individual responsibility (Bitter & Corey, 2011). Some members also acted as if they had done research prior to the discussion, giving faulty information.
Effectiveness of the topic addressing in the group
The topic on stress was adequately covered during the discussion. Every participant was stressed. It was established that factors causing stress were encountered at home and/or school. I tried to engage the members in imagining goals they wished to focus on during the meeting. Although they did not give verbal expressions, they all seemed to agree on the topic, i.e., making a toolbox for dealing with stress.
The members participated actively, and collaborated in advising one another with regard to stress management. One of the pieces of advice that were in line with the Adlerian perspective was changing the manner of perceiving things, i.e., the mindset and attitudes (Bitter & Corey, 2011). According to Adlerian, people’s experiences affect their way of thinking, and how they function in society. Clients’ recollections are important as aforementioned (Bitter & Corey, 2011).
People believe that everything that happens has a purpose (Corey, Corey & Corey, 2013). Adlerian posit that recalling of the past in relation to the events that affected a client makes him or her relieved after sharing with group members (Bitter & Corey, 2011). It is important to note that the topic was addressed effectively and all members concentrated on it.
Group dynamics in the session
Throughout the session, every member was attentive and participated actively. The group members contributed to the topic of discussion. Collaboration and cooperation were evident, where members engaged in open communication with the aim of gaining from the meeting. Adlerian argues that in a group facilitation situation, there should be a democratic relationship where a leader accommodates the views and dynamics of members (Bitter & Corey, 2011).
Participants are expected to reflect on their past ways of lives and share with other members. In my group meeting, members were allowed to share their experiences about stress and how they had affected them. As a result, some members who felt that they were inferior did not develop high levels of confidence, which implied that they did not share their life issues.
It was evident that most members changed their attitudes toward stress and self-concepts. Those who had lost hope in life due to stress gained some knowledge about how to cope with stressful situations, and how to avoid stress in the future (Bitter & Corey, 2011). Some of the members demonstrated high self-esteem after the facilitation.
Experiences of the session
Members of the group were very cooperative. Sometimes, I felt like commenting on an issue, but my co-facilitator commented before me. Therefore, I did not get an opportunity to involve members much compared with my co-facilitator. According to me, my colleague was not comfortable with silence, making her respond quickly after every any member gave a comment. I felt it was vital for me to address the group verbally and inform them that the goal of the discussion was to help them.
Despite the interruptions by my colleague, it was clear that the majority benefited vis-a-vis dealing with stress. I also learned that many of the members had many challenges, although they could not be willing to share with everybody. Thus, as demonstrated in this paper, the facilitating process was effective and useful to all participants.