A Handbook of Contemporary Group Work Practice : Promoting Resilience and Empowerment in a Complex World

This handbook provides both students and practitioners in mental health disciplines with a comprehensive introduction to group work practice. Carolyn Knight & Geoffrey L. Greif begin by providing a straightforward explanation of the benefits of and skills associated with the group modality. This includes the relevance and importance of the trauma-informed formulation for group work. Chapter authors, the majority of whom are frontline practitioners, describe their practice with a range of client populations that: Face challenging life transitions like mental illness and substance abuse; have been exposed to trauma including sex trafficking and domestic and community violence; and confront systemic sources of marginalization like racism and heterosexism and homophobia. A Handbook of Contemporary Group Work Practice provides clear and practical guidance, often including case examples, making it easy for readers to create similar groups in their practice settings.

A Handbook of Contemporary Group Work Practice is for both students and practitioners in social work, counselling, psychology, and all other helping professions. Whether readers are new to the modality or experienced group leaders, they can read a chapter and immediately appreciate the benefits group membership provides to the identified population and understand how to help group members achieve their collective goals. Many authors include case examples that provide readers with a window into how the group they describe functions in practice. Authors also include online resources that will help readers replicate the group in their practice setting. The handbook is organized into four sections. Part I provides readers with a straightforward introduction to group work practice, its foundation in mutual aid, and the core skills needed to promote members'' collaborative efforts. This includes a discussion of what it means to adopt a trauma-informed lens in group work practice. In Parts II, III, and IV, contributors describe the groups they have facilitated. For ease of reading, authors adhere to a similar format that includes descriptions of the client population, rationale for and structure of the group, common themes, intervention skills and strategies, caveats, and termination and evaluation. Carolyn Knight and Geoffrey L. Greif distinguish three broad types of groups based upon the primary focus of members'' collective efforts; in reality, many groups include elements one, two, or all three types. Parts II and III describe groups that promote resilience and growth in response to challenging life transitions and trauma exposure. Part IV includes groups that challenge systemic marginalization and inequality. The emphasis in all the groups is the importance of empowerment, at both the individual and community levels, respect for diversity, and an emphasis on inclusion and equity at the micro (group) and macro (systemic) levels.