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THE RED BOOK OF GROUPS, and how to lead them better, by Gaie Houston.
This book is dedicated to the many counsellors, trainers, managers, lecturers, nurses, social and community workers, doctors, supervisors, clerics, teachers, and others, who find themselves running some kind of informal supportive group, and would like to do it better.

Information technology is no substitute for presence, contact, and shared activity. So, paradoxically, it increases the need for face-to-face groups in which what goes on between people is looked at and perhaps changed for the better. Here is a down-to-earth description of some likely experiences in such a group, the theory behind what is going on, and exercises on topics from co-operating to confronting, from fantasy to finishing.

65 exercises, clear theory, 121 pp.

CONTENTS

  • HORSES FOR COURSES. The sort of group and the sort of leading for the task.
  • STARTING. The huge influence on group life of the way things start.
  • MAGIC, LEADERSHIP AND DYNAMICS. A de-mystifying chapter about some of the unconscious shenanigans we all get up to in groups, and plenty of How Not To.
  • RULES, DECISION-MAKING, MONEY. You guess what this is about.
  • VALUING YOURSELF. How to stay response-able and still belong.
  • FEEDBACK. Schemae for extracting the learning from experience.
  • NOTICING AND LISTENING. Spotlight on communication which happens without words.
  • INTIMACY, ANGER, AND FINDING WHERE YOU ARE WITH EACH OTHER.
  • BRINGING OUTSIDE ISSUES INTO THE GROUP.
  • THE STYMIE. The moment or scene which seems to blow your competence away. And what to do then.
  • CONFRONTING. About talking straight and minimising the hail of rotten tomatoes.
  • SUPPORT GROUPS. A special section on groups where likeness is a major characteristic.JOINING. Who to let in or let go, and how and when.
  • SKIVING, LEAVING, ENDING. More so-called boundary issues and ways of handling them.
  • SUPERVISION - HELPING THE HELPERS. A reminder of the importance of supervision in the jungle of working with groups.

The Red Book of Groups is available from booksellers or direct from Gaie Houston. You can write to her at 8 Rochester Terrace, London NW1 9JN, UK,enclosing a cheque or money order for £7.99 per copy. From mainland Europe it costs £8.50, and from further off, £9.50, always with sterling cheques drawn on a British bank, or sterling money orders, please. It is also available in Swedish from Bokforlaget Mareld, Vastergaten 3C, 113 43 Stockholm

To email Gaie click here

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