Creative Work Mental Health (1-3 days)

Group work and particularly creative group work can serve as an invaluable resource; however used clumsily or naively it can potentially be a damaging experience, not only for group members, but also for the facilitators.

This course is designed for project workers providing support for people with Mental Health and/or substance/alcohol use needs.

The course aims to help participants develop their understanding of group dynamics, creative ways of developing group participation and the use of a variety of creative mediums to help enrich service user’s lives.

Learning objectives:

By the end of the course learners should be able to understand:

Background issues:

• What is meant by a group
• What is meant by group work
• The advantages in working with a group rather than 1-1
• The challenges and disadvantages working with a group
• How groups work (Basic group dynamics)
• The roles that people tend to play within groups
• The particular types of groups that are suitable for social support settings with this particular service user group
• The appropriate and inappropriate use of group work for this service user group
• Safety issues in this context
• The skills required for facilitating these types of groups

Structural issues:

• Deciding on a group/individual activity
• Planning (incl. Consultation and policy)
        -Creating an appropriate structure e.g. timing & frequency
        -Facilitation details e.g. co-facilitation
        -The objectives
        -Membership requirements
        -Closed or open?
        -The group contract
        -Boundaries
        -The physical environment
        -Materials
        -Team and external support
        -Health and safety issues
    -Evaluating activities
        -Supervision and consultation
etc.

Training methods:

• Group building
• Tutor presentations
• Discussions in small and larger groups
• Word shower method
• Role play
• Handouts
• OHP/PowerPoint