Psychology 329
Group Process
Fall 2003
Instructor: Laurel McCabe, Ph.D. Office: Stevenson 3092B
Place: Stevenson 3042 Phone: (707) 664-2130
Time: Thurs. 8:00-11:40 a.m. Email: laurel.mccabe@sonoma.edu
Office Hrs.: Tu 3:30-5 p.m., Th 3:30-4:30 p.m.

This course is a semester-long experience in group process. The goal of the course is to introduce you to the varieties and complexities of the group experience, so that you experience and understand yourself in a group in a new way. The course is highly experiential and is oriented toward personal learning, personal development, and interpersonal sharing. By the end of the semester, you will have a good working knowledge of the varieties of group experiences, what makes a good group, and how to more deeply and effectively participate in groups.

As part of the course we will learn and talk about types of groups, group structures, group dynamics, roles in groups, what gets triggered within a group within the individual, what defenses get mobilized individually and interpersonally, and how to be fully present to yourself and participate richly within a group. Since working with others is based on our own knowledge of ourselves, we begin by identifying and working on our own skills in recognizing and expressing feelings, listening within, listening to others, experiencing empathy, giving feedback, being aware of group issues, and relaxing. We bring compassionate awareness and heart-felt listening into our experience of the group.

We will be experimenting with different types of groups. We begin with Rogers’ person-centered group, which offers us the opportunity to be in-the-moment with others in a group setting. We move into a dynamic awareness of group by studying intrapersonal dynamics, projection, defenses, and interpersonal patterns.

You are asked to keep a group process journal, which you bring with you to every class. The journal is your working with the ideas we’re studying in class: ideas from the readings, from your experiences and observations in group, and from your efforts to apply the concepts we’re learning to the experiences in the group. The journals will be collected twice in the semester and reviewed.

Most students find that studying and working with this material brings their own feelings, issues, and conflicts to the fore. Part of the course is in learning how to safely explore, understand, and work with this. If self-exploration seems too much at any time, remember that you always have a choice on whether to work on your own experience, and whether to share it with others.

For the fullest understanding of one’s self, you’re encouraged to participate in your own counseling experience at the SSU Counseling Center, or with a therapist of your own choosing. There are good low-fee clinics in the area that provide treatment. Participating in counseling brings home the relevance of the concepts we're studying in a way which it's hard for a class to do. Each spring, students can receive 1 unit of credit (counting toward the major) for Psychology 494, Counseling Experience, in which they participate in a semester of counseling with Master's candidates in the Counseling Department. Students generally find this a rewarding and valuable experience.

Prerequisites
Psychology 306, History of Modern Psychology is strongly recommended.
Junior or Senior Status

Texts
Yalom, I. (1975). The theory and practice of group psychotherapy (5th Ed.). New York: Basic Books.
The Reader is available the first week of classes at the College Center Copy Shop, 1435 E. Cotati (2 lights down Cotati from campus), hours 8am-9pm Mon.-Thurs., 8am-6pm Fri., Sat. 10 a.m.-3 p.m., phone 792-0995. You will need it for Week 2 readings.

Students with Special Needs
If you are a student with special learning needs and you think you may require accommodations, your first step is to register with the campus office of Disabled Student Services, Salazar 1049, phone 664-2677. DSS will provide you with written confirmation of your verified disability and authorize recommended accommodations. You then present this recommendation to the instructor, who will discuss the accommodations with you.

Evaluation
This course is a laboratory in group process, and it requires your full participation to be effective. It is offered for Credit / No Credit only.

To receive Credit:
Participate at all meetings. One meeting may be missed for medical or other significant reasons.
Full participation in group. This means staying with yourself and your own process, and sharing this in your own time and in your own way with the group, listening respectfully to others, and engaging in the group with your own fullness of experience. If you find you have not spoken in group, sharing with the group your experience of this, is your full participation.
Participate in group exercises and learning.
Keep current in the reading so that your experience in the group reflects your knowledge of the reading.
Keep a group process journal, which records your weekly reflections on the readings and your experiences in the group.
Two 5 page papers of your central learnings over each half-semester, the first due on Oct. 28, the second due on Dec. 9. The paper should explore your own learning in the group, and show that you’ve thought about and applied concepts from the readings.

To receive No Credit:
Missing 2 or more meetings without significant medical reason and documentation.
Lack of full participation in the group.
Lack of participation in group exercises.
Failure to turn in group process journal.
Failure to have material in your journal that includes a weekly review of your reflections on the readings and your experience in group.
Papers that inadequately explore your central learning in the group, or that fail to reflect knowledge of relevant group concepts.

Schedule of Readings

Week 1: Aug. 28 Introduction, Empathic Communication and Person-Centered Groups
In-class experiential work
Handout, from Corey, Corey, Callanan, & Russell’s Group techniques, Guidelines for group members

Week 2: Sept. 4 Person-Centered Groups
Reader, Rogers, from Carl Rogers on encounter groups, chapter on the encounter group
Reader, Rogers, from Carl Rogers on encounter groups, chapter on being a facilitative person

Week 3: Sept. 11 Group Structure and Communication
Reader, from Galanes & Brilhart, Communicating in groups: Applications and skills, sections on listening, language, and nonverbal communication

Week 4: Sept. 18 Beginning a Group
Yalom, Ch. 1 through 3—therapeutic aspects of groups
Yalom, Ch. 8, pp. 235-243; Ch. 10; Ch. 11, pp. 293-307
Film: Yalom, Understanding Group Psychotherapy

Week 5: Sept. 25 The Role of the Group Therapist
Yalom, Ch. 5 and 6
Film: Yalom, Understanding Group Psychotherapy

Week 6: Oct. 2 The Working Stage
Gladding’s Group work, chapter on The working stage in a group
Yalom, Ch. 12
Film: Yalom, Understanding Group Psychotherapy

Week 7: Oct. 9 Healing in Groups
Reader, Saretsky’s Active techniques and group psychotherapy, chapter on Cohesiveness
Yalom, Ch. 4
Film: Yalom, Understanding Group Psychotherapy

Week 8: Oct. 16 Healing Processes in Groups
Reader, Rutan & Stone’s Psychodynamic group psychotherapy, chapter section on Therapeutic processes
Yalom, Ch. 13
First group exploration paper due.

Week 9: Oct. 23 The Group Therapist’s Influence
Reader, Rutan & Stone’s Psychodynamic group psychotherapy, section on Using the group therapist’s affect
Reader, Rutan & Stone’s Psychodynamic group psychotherapy, chapter on the Role of the group therapist
Yalom, Ch. 7

Week 10: Oct. 30 Projective Identification in Groups
Reader, Horwitz’s Projective identification in dyads and groups

Week 11: Nov. 6 Projection and Projective Identification in Groups
Reader, Main’s Some psychodynamics of large groups

Week 12: Nov. 13 Terminating a Group
Gladding’s Group work, chapter on Termination of a group
Yalom, Ch. 12, pp.361-368

Week 13: Nov. 20 Dynamics and Defenses
Reader, Clark’s Defense mechanisms in the counseling process, chapter on Defense mechanisms
Reader, Rutan & Stone’s Psychodynamic group psychotherapy, sections on Scapegoating, Emotional contagion, and Nonverbal communication
Reader, Saretsky’s Active techniques and group psychotherapy, chapter on Countertransference aggression

Week 14: Nov. 27 Thanksgiving Holiday

Week 15: Dec. 4 Attempts toward Integration
Reader, Scoll’s Toward a theory of self in the group

Week 16: Dec. 11 Integration
Open readings
Second group exploration paper due.

Week 17: Dec. 18 Final Meeting
Ending Potluck: Please bring food to share.
Please check ahead of time on our meeting time.

Reader References
Clark, A. (1998). Defense mechanisms in the counseling process. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Corey, G., Corey, M. S., Callanan, P. & Russell, J. M. (1982). Group techniques (2d Ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Galanes, G. & Brilhart, J. (1997). Communicating in Groups: Applications and Skills (3d Ed.). Madison, WI: Brown & Benchmark.
Gladding, S. (2003). Group work: A counseling specialty (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Horwitz, L. (1983). Projective identification in dyads and groups.
Main, T. (1975). Some psychodynamics of large groups. In L. Kreeger (Ed.), The large group: Therapy and dynamics. London: Constable.
Perlman, M. (1992). Toward a theory of the Self in the group. In M. Stein and J. Hollwitz (Eds.), Psyche at work. Chiron.
Rogers, C. (1970). Carl Rogers on encounter groups. New York: Harper & Row.
Rutan, J. S. & Stone, W. (1993). Psychodynamic group psychotherapy (2d Ed.). New York: Guilford.
Saretsky, T. (1977). Active techniques and group psychotherapy. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.