Ten Ways to Intentionally Use Group Work to

Transform Hate and Enhance Community Building

March 29, 2019 – New Orleans, LA

1. Acknowledge that culture and

power are always present.
Presenters: 2. Develop multicultural and
Lorraine J. Guth –
lguth@iup.edu
social justice competencies.
3. Create brave, affirming, and
Brittany L. Pollard –
bpollard@iup.edu humanizing spaces.
Ana Puig – 4. Process the group experience
anapuig@coe.ufl.edu
with purpose.
Christian D. Chan – 5. Cultivate cultural humility.
chanchr2@isu.edu
6. Engage in intentional unity
Anneliese A. Singh –
asingh@uga.edu building.
Hopeton Bailey –
7. Practice mindful and reflexive
h.a.bailey@iup.edu group facilitation.
Document Download Link: 8. Lean in and keep going.
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/513c96 9. Consider possibilities of
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.pdf
action.
10. Assess the impact.

Guth, L. J., Pollard, B. L., Nitza, A., Puig, A., Chan, C. D., Singh, A. A., & Bailey, H.
(2019). Ten strategies to intentionally use group work to transform hate,
facilitate courageous conversations, and enhance community
building. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 44, 3-24.
Case Studies

Case Study #1: You’re facilitating a community mental health agency’s intensive outpatient (IOP) group
for females diagnosed with Substance Use Disorder. Clients typically join for an eight- to 10-week period
after successfully completing residential treatment and members rotate in and out on a regular basis. It’s
been several weeks since you’ve had any new members join the group and you’ve built a solid rapport with
your nine current members. The group is diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, age, and religious/spiritual
background and, up to this point, has functioned rather smoothly.

This week you received a referral from a partner organization and have screened and admitted a new group
member, Natasha. Natasha has recently graduated from a 28-day inpatient program and is transitioning
into IOP for continued care and support at the recommendation of her counselor and the request of her
probation officer. During the screening process, you learn that Natasha is transgender and although you’re
aware that this will present a new layer of diversity within the group, you’re confident based on your
experience over the past several weeks that the members will all be welcoming of her. Natasha appears
eager to continue with treatment and her counselor reports that she fared quite well in the residential
environment.

On the morning Natasha joins the group for the first time, you notice that many of the other members
seem quieter than usual and that Natasha’s body language indicates significant discomfort. Most of the
group members have chosen to sit together on one side of the room, leaving Natasha isolated in a corner
seat. You suspect that the group may just be uncertain about having a new member join and ask Natasha
to briefly introduce herself. She mumbles, “Hey, I’m Natasha” and trails off, keeping her eyes on the floor.

Although you’re starting to feel uneasy, you welcome Natasha and proceed with the daily check-in. Another
member, Kayla, volunteers to check in first and says loudly, “I feel offended today and I’m gonna leave
this group if he’s gonna be here!” while pointing at Natasha. Several other members nod in agreement and
look to you for a response. Reflecting on ASGW’s recently published tips for using groups to facilitate
difficult conversations, how might you proceed?

Case Study #2: You’re a pre-tenured faculty member teaching Group Counseling in the fall semester of
your second year. It is currently Week 7 (out of 15) and you’re feeling increasingly confident with managing
minor conflicts among students and taking ownership of this foundational course. Because this is a group-
oriented course, you do your best to attend to group dynamics in the here-and-now and model effective
facilitation skills during class time. Your eight students represent a variety of social identities, including a
range of social classes, gender identities, sexual orientations, racial identities, and ethnic heritages.

During class this week, students veered off the topic of group dynamics and curative factors and began
discussing the current state of politics and racial tensions within the United States. A few students noted a
sense of feeling unprotected in the current political infrastructure and described instances of harm
experienced within their own communities. As you listen, you start to realize that these students are
implicitly describing various forms of marginalization and the impact of social oppression in their own lives.
Two other students, who have identified consistently as “conservatives” in class, are visibly upset and
before you know it, the dialogue and atmosphere in the room have escalated. They assert that they are
never heard in these types of discussions and that, as a result, they experience marginalization because of
their political beliefs. You notice that a few other students have remained silent throughout this discussion.

Realizing you have only about 30 minutes of class time left, you know you need to intervene to keep this
dialogue productive and respectful. Thinking about the ASGW’s recently published tips for using groups
intentionally to facilitate difficult conversations, how might you proceed?