First of all, it is important to say that a group setting may not be suitable for everyone. Not specifically on the social front, even though the trend of social groups is gaining momentum and this is not always true. As a therapist you must identify whether the specific case is suitable for group therapy.

Second, as a therapist you have to create goals and examine how the group will achieve those goals.

If after all of this you have come to the conclusion that the group therapy model is the one that suits you, then this is the time to plan it.

Planning the group process

The group setting has unique therapeutic options, and enables connection with a group of peers with similar characteristics in their strengths or difficulties.

I am a big believer in the power of a group in the frameworks of the child’s belonging, which are the educational frameworks. Kindergarten, school, age group in the community or the youth movement and less so in groups that are organized in a scattered manner for the child to whom he/she does not belong.
Choosing the members for the group is very important and must be considered seriously and when you have chosen the members in the group it is time to plan the process.

For your help, I wrote the two directions for planning a social group that are presented in a systematic but simplistic and preliminary way for evaluations towards the construction of a social group:

1. Step, step and in the end we will succeed – listing topics that will advance the goal. to download the file.
2. Social group Planning the group stages and setting goals. to download the file

If you chose to build a group around the social issue, accuracy in social skills and social learning is very important,
One should pay attention to the S.E.L principles that are expressed and yes, values, norms and social behaviors are required to have social relations.
In the kit “Skills for social connection” you can find a summary table that will help you be precise in learning the skills, if you have it – use it.

You can read more about the “skills for social connection” assessment

The structure of the group social meeting:

The structure of the meetings is important and it is desirable that it be uniform throughout all the meetings.

Each meeting has a topic (which is a subtopic of the main topic. As we planned in the “step by step” file) and a goal and is structured like this:

1.Opening an experiential meeting

Recommendation – at the beginning of each game/activity/video session or round you asked what was heard?

2. Content – the guide, information and knowledge about the subject.

3. An experience that reinforces the content of the meeting presented earlier – a question for discussion, a joint activity or anything that promotes the purpose of the meeting
optional meeting activities

4. Summary and Feedback – a summary question in a round of participants “What did you learn from today’s meeting?” “What will you take with you to continue”

So much for planning a social group
For any further questions, feel free to consult.