SOCW 4301.02 – Social Work Practice II
Dr. Romeo Escobar
Test #3 – Study Guide
Chapter 9: Treatment Groups: Foundation Methods
1. Become familiar with middle-stage activities.
Although every group has unique developmental pattern that calls for different leadership skills, workers are often expected to perform 7 broad activities during the middle stage of all treatment groups. These activities include the following:
• Preparing for group meetings
• Structuring the group’s work
• Involving and empowering group members
• Helping members to achieve goals
• Using empirically based treatment methods
• Working with reluctant and resistant group members
• Monitoring and evaluating the group’s progress

2. Familiarize yourself with activities related to structuring treatment group’s work.
During the middle stage of treatment groups, the worker can perform a variety of activities to structure the group’s work. Some of these activities include: Structuring the Group’s Work
• Inform members about beginning and ending the group on time
• Give attention to apportioning time for ending meetings
• Set agendas: verbal or written
• Establish and maintain orderly communication and interaction patterns
• Help members progress toward their goals
• Attend to transitions between group activities
• Focus on multilevel interventions: individual, group, and environment
3. Become familiar with activities related to helping members achieve their goals.
Although a portion of a treatment group’s work should be devoted to maintaining a group’s optimal functioning, most of an effective group’s time during the middle stage should be focused on helping members achieve their goals. This can be accomplished by these activities:
• Maintain their awareness of their goals
• Develop specific treatment plans
• Overcome obstacles to members’ work on treatment plans
• Carry out treatment plans

4. Learn about developing treatment plans and treatment plan intervention roles.
When Developing Treatments Plans:
• When working on same goals, worker implements plans with the group as a whole
• Discuss special needs and help them modify specific goals
• Worker should enlist support of all group members
• Before treatment plans are develop, worker helps members explore and gather facts about their situation
• Can be complex, should specify who, does what, when, where, how often and under what conditions
• Each step must be carried out successfully
• Worker should assess a member’s competencies
Treatment Plan Intervention Roles:
• Enabler- Helps members utilize their own resources and strengths; encourages members to share their thoughts with the group; supports a culture of mutual aid among members
• Broker- Identifies community resources that may help members carry out their treatment plans; connects members with these resources
• Mediator- Resolves disputes, conflicts, or opposing views within the group or between a member and some other person or organization; takes a neutral stand and helps members arrive at a settlement or agreement that is mutually acceptable
• Advocate- Represents member’s interests and needs; helps members obtain services and resources
• Educator- Presents new information to help resolve members’ concerns; demonstrates and models new behaviors; lead role plays, simulations, and in vivo activities to help members practice new or different ways of behaving in problematic situations

5. Learn about problems with contracts.
• Goals in the contract are vaguely defined or too global to be achieved.
• Goals are too difficult to achieve at the current stage of treatment.
• The worker and the member focused on long-term goals rather than on more immediate, short-term goals that have a higher probability of being accomplished in a shorter period of time.
• There is a misunderstanding between the member and the worker about the nature of specific contract goals.
• Inappropriate goals were