Name
Institutional Affiliation
Therapy Group Leader Qualities
One of my major strengths as a therapy group therapy leader is being task-oriented. My focus is to ensure that the objectives of the group are achieved within the stipulated timeframe. At the same time, I am also people-oriented. According to Beck (2000), this quality promotes team spirit by driving a person to view the interest of others as important as his. I tend to think about the feelings of the people that I guide in the therapy group. However, I believe that I am more focused on completing tasks that engaging with people. My other strength lies in my ability to mediate between two conflicting parties. In group therapy, conflicts abound and my mediation capabilities always come in handy (Beck, 2000). Therefore, I am decisive; I take my time before making crucial decisions, and I always stand by my decision.
However, one of my major weakness is that I tend to be authoritative to my group members. According to Hoyt et al (2003), some members of a group therapy prefer a leader who acknowledges their feelings rather than issuing orders. I also have issues with delegating; I always feel that I cannot trust many people to perform tasks as well as I can (Hoyt et al, 2003). My distrust in others always drives me to micromanage members of my group therapy- something that most people loath. Finally, I do not appreciate when members keep suggesting things that are not in alignment with the group’s goals. I quickly shut down suggestions of doing something that is not routine.
In addition, I have a tendency of objecting ideas and tasks that do not focus on completing the tasks of the group. My limited openness to ideas that are not task-oriented may present a challenge when working with a co-leader. I believe that any activities that are not aiming at achieving the objectives of the group should not even be considered. However, some leaders prefer to go off-book occasionally. Such a leader would suggest such activities as altering the program of the group in order to commemorate a national holiday. If I happen to be a co-leader with such a person, it might pose a challenge.
When dividing roles, I usually tend to pick those that are deemed more superior or important. For instance, if the task involves preparing a presentation, I would choose to make the public presentation rather do the paperwork. This trait might affect my relationship with a co-leader who might view me as a person that likes to select the prestigious roles. In the event that my co-leader is a person who does not give up the superior roles easily, we might end up arguing or struggling to get better roles.
I plan to develop a people-oriented approach in group therapy. Since therapy is all about making people better, I believe that it will be important that I put the feelings of my members first. The course has also taught me the importance of being open to suggestion that is not particularly task oriented. Since human beings are social animals, sometimes the cohesion that arises from engaging in activities that are not task-oriented is important in achieving the objectives of the group.
One of my resolves is to stop being selfish when selecting roles with my co-leader. In the spirit of selflessness, I will divide the roles and let my co-leader chose from the list. Rotation is a good practice to ensure that the distribution of the hard roles is even (Hoyt et al, 2003). I also plan to be more open to the suggestions of my co-leaders, even when they are not in line with the group’s routine. Sometimes doing something differently opens up realizations of better ways of achieving goals.
References
Beck, A. P. (1996). Group processes: A developmental perspective. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 46 (3), 443-446
Hoyt, C. L., Murphy, S. E., Halverson, S. K., & Watson, C. B. (2003). Group Leadership: Efficacy and Effectiveness. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 7 (4), 259