Psychoeducation Group for Women Survivors of Domestic Violence
Group Rationale and Theoretical Orientation
Domestic violence is physical or mental abuse enacted on a partner in marriage or cohabitation. Statistics show that the majority of reported cases of domestic violence are against women. This group primarily focuses on equipping its members with coping mechanisms and strategies to deal with the trauma they have experienced. The group will focus on the member’s experiences and ongoing relationship with their environment, a gestalt theoretical premise. Therefore, members of this group will learn about trauma, gain coping mechanisms to help in moving forward and get support through relating to women with similar experiences.
Group Goals
The goals of the group include;
- Ensuring that members learn new information about surviving domestic violence
- Offering support to the group members.
- Establish members’ progress through a difficult life transition.
- Establish healthy interpersonal communication patterns.
Session 1
Time: The session will take 45 minutes to one hour.
Goal: Recruit members of the group and establish a connection between group members.
Purpose:
- Make purposeful introductions and ensure members establish an intimate bond with each other.
- Outline housekeeping rules and expectations of each member.
- Make sure group members understand the purpose, goals and process of the group.
Activities:
- Ice-breaking games
Session 2
Time: The session will take One hour to One and a half hours.
Goal: Establish an understanding of confidentiality and a general understanding of the sensitivity of the subject matter.
Purpose:
- Establish members’ willingness to communicate.
- Create a sense of belonging and certainty of the privacy of discussions.
- Establish presenting problems for each member.
Activities:
- Trust falls
- Round the group chances to speak.
- Anonymous note writing
Session 3
Time: The session will last one hour to one and a half hours.
Goal: Acknowledge the experience and communicate it.
Purpose:
- Allow members to articulate personal experiences
- Offer support to members who may feel overwhelmed.
- Make observations of reluctant members.
Activities:
- Staying with the feeling
- The Reversal Exercise
Session 4
Time: The session will last one hour to one and a half hours.
Goal: Validate members’ feelings and educate them on the significance of communicating feelings.
Purpose:
- Develop better communication skills.
- Offer support to members.
- Educate members on the importance of self-expression
Activities:
- Psychoeducation on communication styles
- Offer to members educative material such as pamphlets, online resources or books.
Session 5
Time: The session will take one hour to one and a half hours
Goal: Evaluate the extent to which the experiences of domestic violence affected the members.
Purpose:
- Assess the need for advanced therapy for any of the members.
- Establish instances of trauma or behaviour change as a result of the violence.
- Explore feelings of shame, loss or inferiority.
Activities:
- Explore unfinished business
- The empty chair technique
- Confrontation exercises
Session 6
Time: The session will take one hour.
Goal: Evaluate members’ progress and continue to ensure self-rediscovering and therapeutic change.
Purpose:
- Assess members’ growth and experience in therapy.
- Effect change in case group members feel the therapeutic group is not effective for meeting their goals.
- Track the group’s progress in dealing with their present situation.
- Empower the women to feel more confident.
Activities:
- The exaggeration exercises
- Roleplaying
- Staying with the feeling
- Making the rounds
Explanation
Gestalt therapy is widely used in individual and group therapy processes. Although it has its limitations, researchers corroborate the theorist’s belief in the effectiveness of its techniques. In group therapy, the Gestalt approach allows members to re-experience their problems rather than just talk about them. According to Raffagnino’s systematic review of empirical evidence, the implementation of group therapy in group settings is effective in socio-professional issues and psychopathological problems (Raffagnino, 2019). The effectiveness of Gestalt therapy in therapeutic processes are particularly useful in that the approach details various methods of alignments and relationships within a group. The approach allows members to re-experience traumatic ordeals in the presence of support and professional leadership of a Gestalt therapist. Alamshahi et al.’s research also conclude that group counselling approaches using gestalt therapy techniques are effective in helping victims of domestic violence (Alamshahi et al., 2020). This evidence from current established statistics informs my decision to apply the theory for the aforementioned therapy group. Also, I considered the group’s rationale and intentions during the formation of the plan and the choice of therapeutic orientation. Besides, Gestalt therapy involves a lot of geriatrics and verbal communication a suitable technique with female clients who are often naturally inclined to verbally express themselves.
The formation of therapeutic groups is not an easy two-step process, rather a group goes through developmental stages where members have various experiences. Neville identifies the five stages developed by Bruce Tuckman outlining the stages of development for collaborative groups as; forming, storming, norming, and performing (Neville, 2019). Tracking the group through these stages of development almost entirely depends on the experiences of the members. Members have unique personal and group-related processes evident in how they behave and communicate with each other (Dennis et al., 2019). To process the group’s progress through the stages, I will use strategies such as evaluating members’ experiences through observation, verbal expression and confrontation during every session. The need for evaluation necessitated the outline of goals and purpose for each session to allow easy tracking of the clients’ progress. The process of creating group therapy plans is largely informed by the group’s purpose. Therefore, therapists and members must establish a group’s purpose to create a trajectory for therapy and healing.
References
Alamshahi, M., Olfati, F., Shahsavari, S., & Taherpour, M. (2020). The Effectiveness of group counselling based on problem-solving on experiencing domestic violence among pregnant women: A clinical trial. Social Health and Behavior, 3(2), 62. Available at: http://www.shbonweb.com/article.asp?issn=2589-9767;year=2020;volume=3;issue=2;spage=62;epage=69;aulast=Alamshahi
Dennis, A. R., Garfield, M. J., & Reinicke, B. (2019). A script for group development: Punctuated equilibrium and the stages model. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alan_Dennis/publication/238474184_A_Script_for_Group_Development_Punctuated_Equilibrium_and_the_Stages_Model/links/02e7e5298c6382a9ea000000.pdf
Neville, M. R. (2019). Group Development in Natural Resource Collaboration in the Crown of the Continent: Forming, Storming, Norming & Performing. Available at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=grad_portfolios
Raffagnino, R. (2019). Gestalt Therapy Effectiveness: A Systematic Review of Empirical Evidence. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 7(6), 66-83. Available at: https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=92886