Eligibility:
Qualification in Counselling, Psychotherapy or other helping professionals with therapeutic experience and students currently in professional training (BSc Degree Year 2 onwards). Entry is by application form.

Day 1

Introduction to the Group Work Practice: Exploration of the Theories and Approaches to Group Facilitation

At the first day of the programme we will look at the theoretical contributions to understanding group work. We will also discuss different types and models of group facilitation and its implications.

• Introduction to the group theories
• Understanding why some groups flourish and others flounder
• Necessary decisions when planning the group
• Examples: different groups for different populations
• Assessment of individuals for group work
• Understanding boundaries, creating and maintaining them.

Day 2

Growing a Group: Preparations, Dynamic Administration and Assessment Interviews.

The second course day takes a look at crucial components of the beginning stages of planning successful group.

• Skills and techniques for setting up a group
• Referrals and how to get them
• Potential difficulties at early group stages
• Keeping record of the group
• Ethical consideration
• Use of the self and co-leadership in a group
• First session

Day 3

The Group in Action: Conscious and Unconscious Group Dynamics.

• Stages in group development and techniques in facilitating the progress of these stages.
• Developing Trust in a group
• Introduction to unconscious processes underlying a group
• Managing conflict in support group

Day 4

Working with diversity and Complexity Issues.

• Matters of racial, social and sexual diversity in a group.
• Attachment Theory and Group Work: managing endings, absences and breaks.
• Concepts of Holding and Containing and their function in group process
• How groups can affect the facilitator emotionally?

Day 5

Integration/ Assessment Day

The Integration Day takes place in a group discussion setting, where participants are given the opportunity to outline and describe how they have integrated the learning from the four core workshops and applied it to their practice. The integration Day will solidify learning, and provides an opportunity for case discussion and supervision/assessment. We will revisit most important concepts discussed during the training.

Fees: €780

Programme Leaders

Karolina Kurszewska 

Karolina is an experienced and skilled psychotherapist, group-work practitioner and lecturer. She holds BA(Hons) in Counselling and Psychotherapy from Dublin Business School and Diploma in Group Work Practice from Irish Institute Of Group Analysis/UCD. She was also trained in Mentalization Based Therapy to the Practitioner Level in Anna Freud Centre in London. Karolina is currently completing her MSc and clinical training in Group Analytic Psychotherapy in St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, UCD School of Medicine. She lectures in PCI College in counseling and psychotherapy and runs her private practice in Stoneybatter, in Dublin. 

Skills

Having completed this course, you will be able to:

• Obtain experience in facilitation of support group under supervision
• Offer support group to a small short term group, and demonstrate techniques to initiate, maintain, support and facilitate a group in its evolution
• Have basic understanding of some conscious and unconscious group dynamics.
• Understand what a group facilitator’s role is.
• Understand support group boundaries, create and maintain them
• Understand how groups affect facilitator emotionally