of evaluation. As the skills and knowledge of new group facilita- tors begin to grow, they need consistent, useful feedback that will direct their work and will support pro- fessional growth. In the early stages of
Figure 7-2 Does Online Communication Impede Attachment?
AsafacultymemberwiththeFieldingGraduateInstitute,adistancelearning program,Iteachpsychologyinbothon- andofflineformats.Inmanyofthe onlineseminars,studentsposttheirpapersandcommentonthecontributionsof others.Thestudentsaredispersedaroundthecountry,sofew(ifany)know eachotherpriortotheseminar.
Eventhoughthestudents’interactionsareasynchronous(thatis,notinreal time;alagseparatescommentandresponse),agroupoflearnersdevelopsthat isindistinguishablefromlearnerssittinginthesameroomtogether.Alliances developbetweenstudentswhosharesimilarideas,anddisagreementstakeplace betweenopposingpositions.Theattachmentsthatdevelopthroughthewritten wordoutsideofrealtimeseemasgenuineasanyotherrelationships.
Intheonlineseminars,somestudentsfindincyberspaceasaferformatthan traditionalclasses.Nothavingtoconfrontalltheverbalcuesthatmaydistract peopleinaface-to-faceconversation,learnersarefreertobegenuine.Severalof mystudentswhowereinvolvedinaseminarwithin-personandonlinecompo- nentsweremoreinteractiveandspontaneousintheonlinesegment.
I don’t see why these dynamics would be different in supervisory groups. I don’t know of any online therapy groups, but some AA meetings are conducted online. Further,HaimWeinbergoperatesadiscussionlistthatincludesabout400group therapistsfrommorethan30countries.Thisarenaforexchangingideasabout grouptherapybehavesverymuchlikeanylargegroup,withafewsurprising departures.Amongthem:
•Inthishighlydiversegrouprepresentingmanyschoolsofthought,conflictsdo notariseoverdifferingtheoreticalstancesortheappropriatenessofinterven- tions.Instead,“wordwars,”(commonlycalled“flaming”)breakoutdueto impatienceorpersonalattitudesandexchanges.Onememberwrote,forexam- ple,“Ithoughtyoueitherhavetobeveryyoungandinexperiencedorvery rudeandinsulting.”Someoftheflamingseemstostemfrommisunderstand- ingsthatinturnresultfromhavingonlywordsascues.Whatismeantinjest, forexample,maybetakenseriously(Weinberg2002).
•Traditionally,thelargerthegroup,themoreimpersonalitwas,butWeinberg findsstartlingself-disclosureandintimacyovertheInternet.Forexample,a manwhosenewbornsonhaddiedwrote,“Myheartisbroken.Wordscan’t conveythegrief,andIrealizeonlynowthatthedepthofthispainisbeyond comprehension.Ifeelwavesofhorriblesadnessandutterbewilderment.” Messagesofcondolencefloodedbacktothedistraughtfather(Weinberg2002). Source:AConsensusPanelmember.
Training and Supervision 132
groupfacilitation,answerstothequestion, willnotonlykeepthisquestioninmind,but “HowamIdoing?”areextremelyimportant, alsoprovideclear,cogentresponsestotrainees. butunfortunately,thequestionoftengoes Figure7-3givesanexampleofgroupexperien- unanswered.Appropriateclinicalsupervision tialtraining.
Figure 7-3 Group Experiential Training
ThroughtheMountainAreaHealthEducationCenterinAsheville,North Carolina,Iconductedan18-monthintensivegrouptrainingandsupervision experience,whichisoneofmanywaystoprovideclinicianswithanexpanded knowledgebaseandtheopportunitytosensethepowerofgrouptherapy.The groupmetoneSaturdayamonthfrom9:00a.m.to6:00p.m.
Themodelhadthreemaincomponents.Thefirst,conductedinadirectinstruc- tionformat,communicatedbasic,intermediate,andeventuallyadvancedgroup skills.Italsohighlightedtheroleoffailedattachmentintheexpressionofaddic- tivediseaseandthetheoreticalmeansbywhichgroupsaddresstheseconcerns. Thetrainees’experientialgroupprocess,thesecondcomponent,tookplace threetimesthroughouttheday.Inthese1-hoursessions,traineesparticipatedin atraininggroup.Fromtheoutset,itwasmadeclearthatthistraininggroupwas nottherapy.Althoughpersonalinformationinevitablywasshared,theprimary purposeoftheexperiencewastrainees’encounterwiththehere-and-now aspectsofinterpersonalgroupprocess,whilebeingexposedtothesameanxi- eties,excitement,andachievementsthatclientsfeelwithinthecontextofgroup. Attheendofeachexperientialgroupprocess,traineesevaluatednotonlythe groupprocess,butalsoreflectedonaspectsofthesupervisor’sleadershipstyle, commentingonitsfacilitationoftheprocessordifficultiesitpresented.
Thethirdaspectofthistrainingandsupervisionexperiencewasanin-depth evaluationoftheclinicalexperiencesofthetrainees.Ateachsession,group membersbroughtinclinicalissuesthatoccurredintheirpracticeforcomment, discussion,andreview.Theyreceivedinformationnotonlyfromthegroup supervisor,butalsofrompeers.Thisopportunityenabledtraineestointegratea theorybasewithpractice,thussatisfyingoneofPowell’skeycomponentsofclin- icalsupervision,thatis,“atutorialprocesswhereinprinciplesaretransformed intopracticalskills”(Powell1993).
Afterleadingthisintensiveexperience,aswellasmanylessintensive30-hour trainingcoursesingrouptherapy,theneedforsuchcontinuingtrainingoppor- tunitiesiscleartous.Wecansaywithsomeauthoritythatthecontinued advancementofone’spersonalskillsisessential,frominitiationintothefield throughoutthetrajectoryofaprofessional’scareer.
Source:AConsensusPanelmember.
Theclinicalfunction thatthesupervisor fulfillsisthedevel-