Working More Creatively with Groups

In this classic text, Jarlath Benson presents the basic and essential knowledge required to set up and work with a group. He looks at how to plan and lead a group successfully and how to intervene skilfully. As well as covering the different stages in the life of a group, this book emphasises the various levels of group experience and gives suggestions for working more creatively with them. For this new edition, the author has added two new chapters reflecting how his own thinking and practice have developed since the book was first published. In the first chapter, he presents a clear systemic context for using groupwork in professional settings and agencies across the public sector and health care. In the second, he considers the importance of making agreements and contracts with the group which are as advantageous and acceptable as is possible for its membership in terms of involvement, power sharing and joint decision-making. Each new chapter provides a series of clinical vignettes that facilitate each of these contexts and perspectives. There is also an expanded section on how to conduct virtual and online groups and again a series of clinical vignettes that illustrate best practice. All other chapters have been brought up to date and expanded. Working More Creatively with Groups is well known to countless social workers, psychologists, teachers, community workers and many other professionals who utilise and employ groupwork in their practice. This new edition not only provides the basic guide to groupwork but also shows how to move on to more in-depth and intensive work.