Initial Stage—Orientation and Exploration

Member Functions and Possible Problems Before joining a group, individuals need to have the knowledge necessary for making an informed decision con-

Stage 2: Initial Stage—Orientation and Exploration

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INITIAL STAGE

The initial stage of a group is a time of orientation and exploration: determin- ing the structure of the group, getting acquainted, and exploring the members’

expectations. During this phase, members learn how the group functions, de- ﬁ ne their own goals, clarify their expectations, and look for their place in the group. At the initial sessions members tend to keep a “public image”; that is, they present the dimensions of themselves they consider socially acceptable.

This phase is generally characterized by a certain degree of anxiety and inse- curity about the structure of the group. Members are tentative because they are discovering and testing limits and are wondering whether they will be accepted.

Typically, members bring to the group certain expectations, concerns, and anxieties, and it is vital that they be allowed to express them openly. At this time the leader needs to clear up any misconceptions and, if necessary, demystify groups.

PRIMARY TASKS OF THE INITIAL STAGE: INCLUSION AND IDENTITY

Finding an identity in the group and determining the degree to which one will become an active group member are the major tasks of the initial stage. Mem- bers often ask themselves these questions at the initial sessions:

• Will I be accepted or rejected by this group?

• How much do I want to reveal of myself?

• How much do I want to risk?

• How safe is it to take risks?

• Can I really trust these people?

• Do I ﬁ t and belong in here?

• Whom am I drawn to, and whom do I feel distant from?

• Can I be myself and, at the same time, be a part of the group?

THE FOUNDATION OF THE GROUP: TRUST

Establishing trust is vital to the continued development of the group. With- out trust, group interaction will be superﬁ cial, little self-exploration will take

EARLY STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GROUP

81 place, constructive challenging of one another will not occur, and the group

will operate under the handicap of hidden feelings.

It is a mistake to assume that people will “naturally” trust one another as soon as they enter a group—and why should they trust without question? How do they know that the group will offer a more accepting and safer climate than society at large? My view is that people make a decision whether to trust a group. Such a decision depends in part on the leader’s ability to demonstrate that the group is a safe place where members can reveal themselves. By en- couraging members to talk about any factors that inhibit their trust, the leader supports the therapeutic atmosphere necessary for openness and risk-taking on the part of the members.

Ways of Establishing Trust

The leader’s success in establishing a basic sense of trust and security depends in large part on how well he or she has prepared for the group. Careful selection of members and efforts to make sure that the group is appropriate for them are very important, and so is the way in which the leader presents the ground rules of the group. Leaders who show that they are interested in the welfare of individual members and of the group as a whole engender trust. Talking about matters such as the rights of participants, the necessity of conﬁ dentiality, the diversity that exists within the group, and the need for respecting others demonstrates that the leader has a serious at- titude toward the group and values the rights of the individual. If the leader cares, chances are that the members will also care enough to invest themselves in the group to make it successful.

Trust building is not the exclusive province of group leaders, however. True, leaders can engender trust by their attitudes and actions, but the level of trust also depends in large part on the members—individually and collectively.

Members usually bring to the group some fears as well as their hopes. Partici- pants will trust the group more if they are encouraged to expose their fears, because talking about them is likely to reveal that others share their fears. If one member, for example, is concerned about not being able to express herself effectively, and someone else expresses the same concern, almost invariably a bond is established between the two members.

Silences and awkwardness are characteristically part of the beginning ses- sion. The more unstructured the group, the greater the anxiety and ambiguity about how one is to behave in a group. The members are ﬂ oundering some- what as they seek to discover how to participate. More often than not, in these initial sessions, the issues raised tend to be safe ones, and there is some talking about other people and there-and-then material. This is one way that members go about testing the waters. It is as though they are saying, “I’ll show a part of myself—not a deep and sensitive one—and I’ll see how others treat me.” As the sessions progress, members generally ﬁ nd it easier to raise issues and par- ticipate in the discussion.

Ways of Maintaining Trust

Another characteristic of this initial phase is the tendency for some participants to jump in and try to give helpful advice as problems are brought up. It is the leader’s task to make sure that these “prob- lem-solving interventions” do not become a pattern; they may cause enough irritation in other members to precipitate a confrontation with those who are quick to offer remedies for everyone’s troubles.

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The group’s atmosphere of trust is also affected by the negative feelings members often experience at the initial stage toward certain other members or toward the leader and over the fact that the group is not proceeding the way they would like to see it proceed. This is an important turning point in a group, and trust can be lost or enhanced depending on the manner in which conﬂ ict is dealt with. If conﬂ ict is brought out into the open and negative feelings are listened to nondefensively, there’s a good chance that the situation producing these feelings can be changed. Members need to know that it is acceptable to have and express a range of feelings. Only then can the group move ahead to a deeper level of work.

As members reveal more of themselves, the group becomes cohesive; in turn, this emerging cohesion strengthens the trust that exists in the group and creates the right atmosphere for members to try new ways of being in the group. When the members trust one another, they also trust the feedback they receive, which they can use as they try to implement these newly acquired be- haviors in their daily lives.

ROLE OF THE GROUP LEADER AT THE INITIAL STAGE

Modeling

When you lead a group, you set the tone and shape the norms by the attitudes and behaviors you model in the group. It is important to state your own expectations for the group openly during the ﬁ rst session and to model interpersonal honesty, respect, and spontaneity. You need to be aware of your own behavior and of the impact you have on the group and to practice the skills that create a therapeutic milieu. To be effective as a leader, you must be psychologically present in the group and be genuine. How can you expect the participants to get involved and believe in the potential of your group if you don’t believe in what you are doing or if you are apathetic?

With regard to empathy—both cognitive and affective—you can create a therapeutic situation by being able to see and understand the world from the internal vantage point of the members. Another key characteristic is your sen- sitivity in attending and responding not only to what is said but also to the subtle messages conveyed beyond words. This applies to individual members as well as to the group as a whole. Finally, the people who make up your group need to sense that you have respect and positive regard for them.

Helping Identify Goals

Another of your main tasks as a group leader is to help the participants get involved. You can do a lot to motivate and inspire people to want to get the most from their group. It is during the initial phase that this process needs to take place if the members are to derive the maximum beneﬁ t from the group. At this stage you do it mostly by helping members identify, clarify, and develop meaningful goals. There are general group goals, which vary depending on the purpose of the group, and there are group process goals, which apply to most groups. Some examples of process goals are stay- ing in the here-and-now, making oneself known to others, challenging oneself and others, taking risks both in the group and in daily life, giving and receiv- ing feedback, listening to others, responding to others honestly and concretely, dealing with conﬂ ict, dealing with feelings that arise in the group, expressing one’s feelings and thoughts, deciding what to work on, acting on new insights, and applying new behavior in and out of the group.

EARLY STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GROUP

83 In addition to establishing these group process goals, members may need

help in establishing their own personal goals. It is important for you to help members see the relationship between group process goals and their individ- ual goals so that they can invest in both. Typically, people in the early stages of a group have vague ideas about what they want. These vague ideas need to be translated into speciﬁ c, concrete goals with regard to the desired changes and to the efforts the person is actually willing to make to bring about changes. It is clear that cultural factors need to be considered in helping members identify their personal goals. It is important for you to help members clearly identify why they are in a group. You can provide this assistance by focusing members on where they are now and where they want to go. It is important that mem- bers fully realize that group counseling involves change. They should be made aware of the possible consequences of change, not only for themselves but also for others in their lives.

One of the leader’s basic tasks, and a most challenging one, is to bring hid- den agendas out into the open. For example, some members may have hidden goals that are at cross-purposes with group goals. They may have a need to be the center of attention, or they may sabotage intimacy in a group because of their discomfort with getting close to others. If the leader allows these personal goals to remain hidden, rather than making them explicit, they are bound to undermine the effectiveness of the group.

The Division of Responsibility

A basic issue that group leaders must consider is responsibility for the direction and outcome of the group. Is a nonproduc- tive group the result of the leader’s lack of skill, or does the responsibility rest with the group members?

One way of conceptualizing the issue of leader responsibility is to think of it in terms of a continuum. At one end are leaders who assume a large share of the responsibility for the direction and outcomes of the group. Such leaders tend to function in active and directive ways. They see their role as that of the expert, and they actively intervene to keep the group moving in ways that they deem productive. At the other end of the responsibility continuum are leaders who place the bulk of the responsibility on the members for both individual outcomes and the outcomes of the group as a whole.

Both styles of leadership have certain advantages, but they have disadvan- tages as well. A disadvantage of an active leadership style is that it does not encourage members to assume the responsibility that is rightfully theirs. A disadvantage of a passive leadership style is that it does not foster a collabora- tive relationship between the leader and the members. Ideally, you will dis- cover a balanced style, accepting a rightful share of the responsibility but not usurping the members’ responsibility. Consider your own personality in the determining how much responsibility to assume and what, speciﬁ cally, this re- sponsibility will include. How you deal with the balance of responsibility has implications for other group process matters as well.

Structuring

Like responsibility, structuring exists on a continuum. The leader’s theoretical orientation, the type of group, and the membership population are some factors that determine the amount and type of structuring employed. Pro- viding therapeutic structuring is particularly important during the initial stage when members are typically confused about what behavior is expected in the

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group and are therefore anxious. Structure can be either useful or inhibiting in a group’s development. Too little structure results in members’ becoming un- duly anxious, which inhibits their spontaneity. Too much structuring and direc- tion can foster dependent attitudes and behavior. The members may wait for the leader to “make something happen” instead of taking responsibility for ﬁ nding their own direction.

In my own groups, the type of structure provided in the initial stage is aimed at assisting members to identify and express their fears, expectations, and personal goals. For example, members participate in dyads, go-arounds, and structured questions as ways of making it easier for them to talk to one another about their life issues. After talking to several people on a one-to-one basis, they feel more comfortable talking openly to the entire group. From the outset I try to help them become aware of what they are thinking and feeling in the here-and-now and encourage them to express their reactions. My interven- tions are aimed at promoting a high degree of interaction within the group, as opposed to creating the norm of having a few individuals do prolonged work while other members merely observe. This type of structuring is designed to let members assume increased responsibility for getting the most out of the group. As they learn basic norms, they tend to take the initiative rather than waiting for my direction.

Yalom (2005) believes that both too much and too little leader activity or leader management are detrimental to the members’ growth as well as to the autonomy of the group. Too much leader direction tends to limit the growth of members, and too little results in aimless groups. Yalom sees the basic task of the group leader as providing enough structure to give a general direction to the members while avoiding the pitfall of fostering dependency on the leader.

His message to leaders is to structure the group in a way that promotes each member’s autonomous functioning. Instead of inviting or calling on members to speak, for example, leaders can show them how to bring themselves into the interactions without being called on.

Research has shown the value of an initial structure that builds supportive group norms and highlights positive interactions among members. The leader must carefully monitor and assess this therapeutic structure throughout the life of a group rather than waiting to evaluate it during the ﬁ nal stage. Struc- turing that offers a coherent framework for understanding the experiences of individuals and the group process will be of the most value. When therapeutic goals are clear, when appropriate member behaviors are identiﬁ ed, and when the therapeutic process is structured to provide a framework for change, mem- bers tend to engage in therapeutic work more quickly (Dies, 1983b). Leader direction during the early phases of a group tends to foster cohesion and the willingness of members to take risks by making themselves known to others and by giving others feedback (Stockton & Morran, 1982).

Another leader task during the early stage of a group involves being aware of the nature of members’ concerns about self-disclosure. Leaders can inter- vene by helping members identify and process their concerns early in the life of a group. Robison, Stockton, and Morran (1990) cite research indicating that early structure provided by the leader tends to increase the frequency of therapeutically meaningful self-disclosure, feedback, and confrontation. It appears that this structuring can also reduce negative attitudes about self- disclosure.

EARLY STAGES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GROUP

85 In summary, although many variables are related to creating norms and

trust during the early phase of development, the optimum balance between too much and too little leader direction is one of the most important. The art is to provide structuring that is not so tight that it robs group members of the responsibility of ﬁ nding their own structure. Involving group members in a continual process of evaluating their own progress and that of the group as a whole is one effective way of checking for the appropriate degree of structure.

Members need to be taught speciﬁ c skills of monitoring group process if they are to assume this responsibility.

SUMMARY OF THE INITIAL STAGE

Stage Characteristics

The early phase of a group is a time for orientation and determining the structure of the group. These are some of the distinguishing events of this stage:

• Participants test the atmosphere and get acquainted.

• Members learn what is expected, how the group functions, and how to par- ticipate in a group.

• Members display socially acceptable behavior; risk-taking is relatively low and exploration is tentative.

• Group cohesion and trust are gradually established if members are willing to express what they are thinking and feeling.

• Members are concerned with whether they are included or excluded, and they are beginning to deﬁ ne their place in the group.

• A central issue is trust versus mistrust.

• There are periods of silence and awkwardness; members may look for direction and wonder what the group is about.

• Members are deciding whom they can trust, how much they will disclose, how safe the group is, whom they like and dislike, and how much to get involved.

• Members are learning the basic attitudes of respect, empathy, acceptance, caring, and responding—all attitudes that facilitate trust building.

Member Functions and Possible Problems

Early in the course of the group,

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