Describes the new (1991) standards of the Association for Specialists in Group Work and traces their evolution. Current standards are then contrasted with the 1983 standards. Presents implications for group work training and practice. (Author/NB)

Presents a structured group model, using Yalom's curative factors, Parke's stages of grief, and Worden's tasks of grief resolution, which can be used to facilitate movement through the grief process for those bereaved by suicide. (Author/ABL)

Presents interview with Jack Duncan, cofounder and charter member of Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW). Duncan discusses his perspectives on field of group work over 20 years that ASGW has been in existence. Considers ASGW itself, advancements in the field over past two decades, and his personal approach and style as group leader.…

Describes several approaches that could be used to test methods of promoting community, including initially using simple group and single-system research designs, operationally defining concepts, developing practical ways to measure these concepts, and focusing on evaluating the outcomes (and not the processes) of promoting a sense of community.…

This article provides a description of the structure and examples of how the socioprocess group may be used as a major approach for the training and supervision of psychoeducational groups. The distinguishing characteristics of this psychoeducational group approach are provided, along with examples, strategies, and guidelines for its application…

Professional school counselor roles have changed over time in response to societal needs and professional initiatives. Although school counselors consistently have been involved in group work, the intent of that involvement has changed. New ways of viewing group work can enable school counselors to engage in roles related to leadership, advocacy,…

This article will describe a self-esteem cognitive behavioural therapy group run with adults with learning disabilities. The aim is to show how a group of this nature can be organized and run, using theory to inform practice. An introduction to the concept of self esteem will be given and then explored in relation to adults with learning…

Rates of return to active substance use after addiction treatment tend to be high; participation in 12-step fellowships (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous) reduces relapse rates but many clients do not attend or attend for a short period only. This quasi-experimental study uses repeated measurement to explore the role of presence/absence of on-site…

Ongoing traumatising life events can often cause a person to the have physical or emotional characteristics of one who is mentally disabled or autistic, making it easy to form a wrong first impression. This article presents the story of one such person in a Positive Peer Culture program in a group treatment facility in Germany. In Positive Peer…

There is an increasing demand for social work students to be prepared to work with a wide range of involuntary groups including the more traditional court-ordered programs in domestic abuse and chemical dependency, as well as groups in mental health and schools that provide outreach to high-risk client populations. This paper introduces three…

There is a large research base indicating numerous gender differences in prevalence rates of psychopathology, the expression of psychopathology, and the etiology of psychopathology across different disorders (Zahn-Waxler, Shirtcliff, & Marceau, 2008). Such documented gender differences in mental health among children and adolescents have…

An online survey about the use of small groups by school counselors was completed by 802 members of the American School Counseling Association. The vast majority of respondents offered groups in their schools, but were most influenced in that decision by time constraints. Qualitative analysis of comment data provided more depth and insight about…

Relatively little is known about the long-term durability of group treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and contemporary cognitive treatments. The current study investigated the 2-year follow-up results for participants who completed randomized trials of group or individual treatment and received either cognitive therapy (CT) or…

The Re:Membering Fatherhood Program is designed for men wanting to address and improve their fathering experience. The primary focus is to enhance the personal parenting capacity of each individual, not to develop or inculcate a specific set of parenting skills. This exploratory study evaluated the efficacy of an eight-week, manualized…

This article focuses on group counseling as a re-education and training effort for people who are abusive and violent. The analysis presented examines the effectiveness of one approach to this problem, in which a group format was adopted, fourteen 8-week group sessions were conducted, and a post-group survey was given to participants to obtain…