Courtney Dunn, Tony Saunders & Amel Whiteside

Definition of a Single session group:  A group that comes together for one meeting, therefore its first meeting is also considered its last. These groups are usually used to provide information, provide support for dealing with a particular issue or for crisis management.

Provide individuals with a forum to  Meet others on the same boat  Venting  Sharing  Ways of coping

 Purpose is pre-determined  Making contact with prospective members or family members  Sensitive to time and place

 Two tasks need to be accomplished: contracting and the establishment of commonalities and trust.  Although the purpose of the group may have been discussed in the pre-group interviews and recruiting, it is necessary to restate this to the members so they can ask for clarification or comment.

 Group members introductions are designed to emphasize the commonalities of their needs and goals and the worker points out these commonalities instead of assuming that it is obvious to everyone.  Timing is everything. It is important to allow enough time in beginnings for commonalities to be discussed before moving to middles for further discussions of these issues.  The worker needs to constantly be pointing out the members' strengths and how that contributes to the group.

 As members start to build trust with each other, they will start to interact more with each other rather than depending on the worker's sole direction.  By providing space for the group members to share their thoughts and concern, they will ideally start to develop mutual aid.

 Workers may need to intervene in situations where the group starts to stray from the group's goals or if a member monopolizes the group.  The worker needs to have a plan to deal with conflict and difference.

According to Birnbaum, Mason, and Cichetti, (2002)purposeful, “sessional” endings are beneficial for single-session groups. The sessional ending helps the group and the practitioner by using:  Reflection (what did we accomplish today?)  Closure  Transition (what happens next?)  Evaluation (group assessment & feedback)

The benefits to the group and the practitioner are:  Group & Individual Empowerment  Safety & Trust  Satisfaction & Accomplishment

Skills of the Worker:  Allocating Time  Developing Norms  Soliciting Feedback  Paying close attention to group content and process

 Setting the stage  Keeping purpose relevant  Group Building  Promoting Real-Talk  Dealing with Difference and Conflict  Setting and Keeping mutual Aid in Motion Challenge with single session groups: Mutual aid is not guaranteed because individuals attend a group, therefore the worker must work to develop mutual aid.