The Social Work Practice with Groups course is grounded in the core values and ethics of the social work profession. Central to all components of course is the utilization of a strengths-perspective, commitment to anti-oppressive practice, and the application of a racial and social justice lens. This course teaches the social work practice skills needed at various stages of the helping process (i.e., engagement, assessment, goal setting and treatment planning, intervention and termination). This includes what the social worker purposefully does as they work with clients and how the social worker reacts and interacts in the helping relationship. The helping relationship is based on positive regard for the full range of human diversity, and dedication to social and economic justice. While the course emphasizes ways that social workers can help clients/consumers accomplish goals, it also highlights the value of the helping relationship as a vehicle for client growth. Because a major hallmark of effective social work practice is the ability to reflect on one's interactions with individuals and larger client systems, this course highlights the need to develop the capacity for professional self-reflection (i.e., the ability to observe and critique one's actions in relation to clients, supervisors, and colleagues and the integration of personal and professional "selves"). Students acquire knowledge of group stages (from formation through termination), group types (task-oriented, psycho-educational, support and therapy) and group structure (single-session, time-limited, open versus closed groups). They also develop skills for forming and leading groups. The Mutual-Aid Model provides the central organizing framework, showing the worker (a) how to mediate between and among three domains-- individual member, the group-as-a- whole, and the environment, (b) how to respond to dynamics such as transference, countertransference, and issues of power and control, and (c) how to promote client and group empowerment. Incorporating knowledge and skills in social work theory and group practice, students learn how to use themselves effectively with diverse populations, in various community and clinical settings, and with differing member problems and concerns. Social and environmental stressors on group members and the group-as-a-whole are considered at all stages of group development and with a variety of group types. Since social workers must have the capacity to assume varying roles in groups, students learn to shift the nature of their participation depending on the situation, for example, to be a colleague in an interdisciplinary team of care providers, to be the leader of a neighborhood task force, and to be a clinician providing psycho-educational services to the parents of children struggling to thrive. The greatest opportunity for skill development in this course occurs when students take initiative to organize, facilitate, or co-facilitate groups in their field.

Note that this information may change at any time. Please visit the MyBU Student Portal for the most up-to-date course information.