Group Dynamics

Counselors in our district were treated to a great inservice last week by the author of this book and one of the therapists in their group practice in our community. I run lots of groups at my school but like all counselors always have one or two that are hard to control. At the inservice they taught us the SOAR Method that is described in detail in this book. The SOAR Method can be used to encourage cooperation and highlight both positive and negative social interactions. S stands for Stop Action (the group is trained to freeze); O for Observe aloud "Is anyone noticing..." don't let those directly involved share use the power of the group; A for Ask for feedback "How does it feel to work together?" or "What do you think they should do to resolve the conflict?"; and R for Reinforce Cooperative Interaction "What great collaboration on the drawing!" It alwasy is great when you walk out of an inservice and think I can use that next week!